The Harsh Truth
by Shadenight123
Summary: There are truths and lies scattered in the shadows of the leaf. Conspiracies and secret meetings, decisions and backstabbings. The plot twists until the point where there is no ally, and no enemy. Only yourself, and your trust. Face the harsh truth: in the midst of the shinobi world, nothing is what it seems. Naruto is born five years prior to canon, and from there...!NidaimeNaruto
1. PC:Enigmas

**Warning for AU: **

**I Had a look at a timeline, the AU is the following: Minato was 20 as was Kushina when Naruto was born, this is the only AU that happened...thus let's see what *this* changes…considering also…another Au. **

Chapter one

It was July the twenty-three. The sky was clear, the sun was high, the clouds were white and dwindling around lazily, without a worry in the world, letting the wind carry them over the Hokage's monument, that sported three faces, the one of the first Hokage, the one of the second Hokage, the one of the Jiji, as an overactive blond called him, and the one of the current Hokage.

On that day, a blond-spiked boy stood next to a raven haired one, and, with a small, but adorable pout, made his best puppy-eyes.

The other boy stared with a slightly nervous tick mark on the forehead, before sighing, and splitting in half the popsicle he had, those types of popsicles that had two wooden sticks, and that usually were meant to be shared. The first boy, the blond one, smiled with a happy grin, grabbing it and starting to suck on it, while waiting, together with his friend, for one of their parents to come and get the two.

"The next year, we're going to be six, and at the academy," Naruto pointed out, as the Uchiha rolled his black eyes, with a sigh, "and maybe you'll find yourself a fan club, so you'll stop being this downbeat," he added, as Itachi shook his head.

"Otou-san told me that Uncle Moto committed suicide last night, he was drowning in despair," a sorrowful look appeared on the face of the five years old, he *was* born on the nine of June, a fact that made him the elder among the two, something that Naruto had more than once used for his own teasing, but that actually seemed to mark a great deal the differences between the two boys.

Firstly, one was dressed in bright orange clothes, with a pair of goggles strapped around his neck. He had orange trousers and, had he actually been a ninja, without a doubt he'd have been the first casualty in the recently ended Third Shinobi war. His clear blue eyes and blond spiked hair clearly resembled those of his father, and his cheeks sported three whisker-like marks that, coupled with his father being the fourth Hokage, had meant he had his very own fan-club, since the age of one.

He was pretty sure his mother was to blame, to claim Kushina Uzumaki was a fawning mother would be to claim the arctic wind was mildly breezy…and by fawning, it actually meant that Naruto had more strange, animal-like pajamas than any other normal boy would actually have, and there were pictures that, he could swear on Kami, had been taken with a brief distance of a second one from another, in such a way that he could actually flip them all and have a film ready, displaying things like his first day in the pool, his first walk, his first word, why take a picture for his first word? He actually had no idea about that, but he didn't want to point that out, for fear of having his own cheeks pinched repeatedly, with claims of how cute he was when pouting.

The other boy, on the other hand, Itachi Uchiha, had a serious look, a calm and collected attitude, and seemed mostly at ease *not* acting like a child. Having the Uchiha deployed on mass for the war, and having many died in the protection of Konohagakure, it was to be expected that he'd grow up mentally, seeing clansmen, cousins, or family friends die made that effect on one's mind, especially when some died after the war, the grief, the guilt, the atrocity of the war still seemingly fresh in their mind. It hadn't been a pretty war. Destructions, villages having to be completely razed, children and women killed without a minimum of piety. He hadn't obviously seen it, but he had felt the change in some of the survivors, it was subtle, at first, just a saddened glance now and then to some children, or maybe an awry smile to a pregnant woman, or things like that. Either they turned back to near normality, with the help of others or through the use of the drink of forgetting, Sake that was, or they didn't, and usually they either degenerated, or they more than likely fell prey to their darkness, and committed suicide. Sometime they brought their sons and daughters with them, other times they simply left the village and were found in the forest, their eyes crushed by their own Kunais, maybe in an attempt to erase the memories or the things they had seen.

Itachi had felt all that, and seen all that pain, and for that, he had no longer an ounce of respect for warmongers, and, hadn't he an actual need to train and learn the art of warfare, for clan's duty, he would have outright stopped going into any weapon shops, refusing to even speak with the weapon dealers.

He had yet to awaken his sharingan, a feat that some of the clan never managed to, as it was something of a fickle thing, the so called most powerful Doujutsu of Konoha, that however had a random chance of actually appearing, and sometime it never did.

He wore a plain green shirt and plain brown trousers, and, just as Naruto had pointed out, had a serious face on, something that no five year old boy should actually have.

"How do you drown on despair?" Naruto queried, perplexed, wasn't despair an emotion? Could someone actually drown in those things?

"It's a saying," Itachi replied with a sigh, for all the good their mothers had for one another, the fact that both Naruto and him were waiting just outside a clinic was reason enough to warrant a sort of twin-brother bonding between the two.

Considering both their mothers had ended up pregnant nearly at the same time, one actually in the process of giving birth on said day, and the other, the red-haired woman, at her seventh month of pregnancy, meant only one thing: both knew perfectly well how it sucked to be in their houses, or near them, especially for Itachi, in the next hours. Firstly, it would be loud yells, coming from hell itself and then it was going to be baby-talk. Hours of baby-talk. Not only to the actual baby, but also claims of how being a big-brother was going to be an extremely important and serious business. Still, Itachi *did* have it in him to be a reliable big-brother…he did make practice with an unpredictable knucklehead of a blond-boy who seemed more than able of throwing himself in utterly dangerous and insane situations.

First time they had met, Naruto had nonchalantly walked into the Uchiha's armory, and had set off an explosive tag. Only Itachi's reflexed had warranted the sole destruction of his mother's favorite potted plant, instead of the entire complex. Something about the boy being able to walk inside a most high-security level area, while wearing obviously bright orange clothing, had made him more than interested in keeping an eye out for him, that, and the fact that he was fun to hang out with, especially with the war and all.

Once more, the sounds of the hospital doors opening took both of the boys' attentions, as it had been for the past two to three hours, and there, standing with a bright smile, letting her blue eyes settle on both kids, stood the red hot habanero of Konoha, the *Tomato*, if one wanted to die a painful death by calling her with that nickname, the one and only Kushina Namikaze. The woman grinned for a minute or two, before exclaiming out loud.

"We've got an Oniisan and his Otouto now 'ttebane!" Itachi's eyes widened in shock, from the good news, as he and Naruto got up from the bench they were sitting on, moving closer to Kushina, while the blond boy, with a grin, gave a friendly punch to Itachi's shoulder, before saying in a loud and cheery voice.

"That's awesome 'ttebayo!" the next moment, a knuckle hit on Naruto's head made the boy whimper, as Kushina, with a fake frown and a nervous tick mark, gritted her teeth while muttering.

"I've got to fix this way of speech right now 'ttebane!"

"Ouch! Kaa-san! That hurt 'ttebayo!" another hit on the head, before it actually became an affectionate ruffling, as the red haired woman didn't actually put any strength behind her knuckle hits.

"Well, Itachi-kun, stop gaping like a fish and get inside, your mother's resting, but she wanted you to see your baby-brother," as Kushina smiled at the now elder brother, Itachi nodded, dashing off in the most polite way he could come up with, which meant swiftly walking until the doors of the hospital closed behind him, before going on a mad dash through the corridors, avoiding as many medics and nurses as possible, while heading to his mother's room.

Meanwhile, mother and son stared at one another with a sort of knowledgeable grin.

Five minutes later, Itachi came out with a sort of embarrassed face, and, as both Namikaze laughed, Kushina told the poor boy the number of the room his mother was in, making the Uchiha depart once more, as the two, the blond-spiked boy and the red-haired woman, chuckled for a long, long, moment.

"You've been eating a popsicle? Even though I told you not to spoil your stomach for lunch?" Kushina suddenly asked, her eyes slightly narrowing as the air around the two turned tense for a moment.

"Me? Kaa-san, you know I'd never, ever…" as Naruto said that, he had already begun taking a single step backwards, only to be swiftly bundled by chakra chains and, being held like a sack by his mother, carried all the way to Ichiraku's Ramen, recently opened, which had a really vast assortment of ramen types.

As Kushina smiled, having already become a usual customer of the stall, Naruto kind of hoped his mother would now drop him.

"Namikaze-san, Salt ramen as usual?" Teuchi queried, as his daughter, Ayame, turned a puzzled look out from behind the counter, to stare at the sort of chain-cocoon that was a pouting Naruto.

"Otou-san! Naruto-kun is turning blue!" Ayame exclaimed, with a worried face, her light brown hair already tied in a pony-tail, as her dark eyes stared with a mixture of worry and perplexity at the boy, as Kushina sighed, letting her son free, and sitting next to her.

"If you spoil lunch again, I'm having you try on that new Pajama I bought, you know, the tiger one?" at that, Naruto paled, he would rather die in shame than ever wear something that had an actual tail, though it did make Ayame giggle, as the girl already had a, clearly devious, mind for imagining certain things.

"Ayame, get back here, you need to start learning how to chop vegetables correctly for the soup," as Teuchi said that, the girl nodded, as the man took Naruto's order of Pork ramen, and, just as the blond boy was about to go *Itadakimasu* on the food, a hand ruffled the boy's hair, as another blond, wearing white robes with a flame motif at the base of the mantle, and a sort of wide trimmed hat with the kanji for fire on it.

"I knew I'd find you two here, my wallet was crying tears of pain after all," as the fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, spoke with a grin, Kushina stuck out her tongue in a childish manner, before actually showing from one of her inner pockets a toad-like wallet.

"I didn't think he could cry, you know," as the woman chuckled, Minato's face paled in shock.

"Now then, Kushina-hime, please don't go overboard, you know that the Hokage's stipend isn't as high as what many people think," the man replied, trying to catch the toad-shaped wallet back, only to find it always out of reach, seeing how Naruto's full-out didn't care, as he stood there eating ramen.

"Otou-san," Naruto said, after a while, having finished his own bowl, "do you think I'll have an Otouto or an Imouto?" he queried, looking with a hopeful gaze at his father, as the man in question coughed nervously, before replying.

"Well, we won't know until the cabbage patch has grown enough to…"

"Otou-san!" Ayame exclaimed, "Wasn't it the stork that brought kids?"

"Ehm…" Teuchi silently turned his gaze to the cooking broth, starting to whistle, seemingly trying not to take notice of the Hokage and his daughter entering a verbal fight on who, what, or how actually brought kids to be.

Such a nice memory it would be, in the years to come.

*Two Years Later*

Naruto woke up, slowly letting his hand move under his pillow, to grab his kunai, hidden in there. Then, without a second thought, he flung it straight ahead of him, at the person that had entered his apartment, his small one-room apartment that he had been relegated into after the events that had led him to become the most horribly hated individual in all of Konoha.

After all he harbored the Kyuubi in him, now. A silent prisoner, as he never heard him speak, not even once, but the seal on his right arm, the Kanji for Iron, as that was the seal on his shoulder now, showed off as the proof of who he was…no, of what he was.

The person in question deflected the flying kunai with one of his own, and in a moment, Naruto was flung out of bed and onto the floor, groaning.

"Naruto-kun, you know you should be in the academy, right now?" the boy's voice was that of Itachi, who shook his head slowly, as the blond-spiked boy got on his feet, slowly massaging his sore right arm, that had taken the blunt of him being brought on the ground, to the side of the bed.

"I hate those stares," Naruto replied, biting his lip, "and I hate knowing they are right in staring at me like that," he added, turning to look out of the window.

"Hatake-san's still out there, isn't he?" he asked, as Itachi nodded in reply.

"He's going to come in in five minutes, if you end up late for your exam," usually, to graduate from the academy one would need at the very least six years. Entering at six and coming out at twelve was the cue.

"One would think he'd be more than happy not to have two people smashing his own record of graduation from the academy," Naruto bitterly replied, as he got to dress in one of his third-hand clothes, a stint brown jacket, with a dark shirt underneath, and dark green trousers, with pale brown ninja sandals.

"Hatake-san graduated at five years old, after entering the academy at four," Itachi replied, "and he does take pride in having his private student graduating in one year too," the raven-haired Uchiha pointed that out, as the blond-spiked boy finished grabbing his pair of dirty goggles, letting for a brief second the fingers tap on the plastic borders, the plastic protection long gone from it.

_They crashed against the wall heavily: after all, the anger wasn't something that was going to disappear by magic, only by not thinking about it. Not only had he been deprived of his family, but he had also been kindly suggested to move to one of the apartment for orphan kids. He had nodded, how could he *not* nod at the Hokage's suggestion? How could he not accept the fact that *it was for his own good*? It still hurt, knowing that, after all, he had been forced into that very same position without even giving him a chance to decide! He was barely five years old, and suddenly he had to act like an adult. No father, or mother, to turn to. No sister either, for what it mattered to him. So the goggles crashed against the wall of the one room apartment, repeatedly, with strength, until they finally cracked and broke, but that didn't stop him from keeping it up, until a small bump on the wall told him he was spent, he had no more energies, he had nothing more than the tears and the sweat from the effort running down his face. He wasn't a boy any longer and he wasn't Naruto Namikaze any longer: for all effort and purposes he was the Hero that jailed the Kyuubi within himself. _

"Well, when it's either sink or swim, one doesn't have much of a choice," Naruto muttered back, his eyes moving towards his ninja equipment, that he carefully checked, not really wanting to go to school, but seeing no other way to move forward. He knew it would turn badly, he had a hunch, and his hunches were the sole thing that had made his first year as a Jinchuuriki bearable.

_When he had gone out the first time, his hunch, a nagging pull to the stomach, had been the sole thing that had made him actually *run* from the lady that usually smiled at him, and that always stopped him and his mother to speak about how he was such a pretty boy. That had saved him from getting a knife in the chest, a sure one-way kill, as the woman was a butcher, and knew perfectly well where hearts were. He had taken it in the back, however, but except for a sharp fit of pain, and the lady getting handled by some Uchiha guard, it hadn't even left a scar, and since no-one in the hospital actually took his time to look at the wound, he simply sat there for a while, before finally deciding it had already dried off and he could go back home, pain not mattering to him, he was a big boy then…he had to be, he was the Hero that jailed the Kyuubi._

"Anyway, I'm ready," Naruto muttered, as he moved to leave, followed by Itachi.

"Not having breakfast?" The Uchiha queried, closing the door of Naruto's apartment behind him, just as the blond boy scratched the back of his head, and, sighing, grabbed a chocolate bar from one of his trousers pockets.

"That's unhealthy, Naruto-kun…you know you could come over to the Uchiha's compound, mother said…"

"Itachi-kun," Naruto spoke, letting his gaze divert towards the boy, "It would only bring more ill-will around, your clan has already been forced basically outside the village, I'm not going to let it get any worse if I can avoid it," as he took a bite out of the bar, he groaned, spitting it to the side.

"Should have suspected it was laced with poison," he muttered, "Seemed too good to be true, laying on the ground like that in the park," as he slowly took the stairs to descend towards the road level, he trashed the chocolate bar in the bin, before letting his blue eyes dart towards the nearest fruit stall available.

Itachi moved next to him, nearly reading in his mind.

"Naruto-kun…you shouldn't create troubles, you know?" Naruto nodded, as he kept on walking, but he did subtly distance himself from the stalls, and actually moved towards the middle of the road, which actually emptied itself when they realized who was trudging in the middle of it.

"Itachi…" Naruto sighed, looking to his left side, and, just as the Uchiha did the same, curious as to what would make the boy sigh and turn in that direction, he realized too late the one on his left side was a mere Henge, and the one on the right, biting onto an apple, was the real one, "We better move before the stall vendor comes over," and with that, he dashed off towards the academy.

"He's unpredictable, that much is sure," the Uchiha sighed, for how much they called him a prodigy, a genius, a dashing man, Naruto was something else, and sometimes, better: he was unpredictable. Where Itachi passed his test because he knew he could, after simply studying one hour, Naruto didn't need *that*, but he passed them never the less. Itachi knew the secret all too well, and it wasn't anything grand, at all. The boy knew how to *move* around the academy, especially at night: he'd be the best infiltration specialist around, once grown up, probably even Anbu material. Itachi should have suspected that much since they were young, after all, entering highly restricted grounds in bright orange clothing only meant that, once ditched those clothes for dull ones, he'd literally become a sort of unseen shadow.

The academy furthermore couldn't compare to being homeschooled. Sure, Itachi had the clansmen, but he didn't rely on them too much, his father was too prideful to allow his first-born to show any weakness, and thus his skills were actually honed through practice, but mostly through self-improvement.

Naruto didn't mind asking. The first times, he got shot down repeatedly by people who viewed him as the Kyuubi. Some of those people actually had firstly declared they had no problem in private-teaching some things to Itachi himself, but wouldn't budge a finger, claiming a really tight schedule, for what concerned Naruto. The few people who actually did help the blond-spiked boy, however, were worthy of all the hundreds of Uchiha clansmen around and the senseis of the academy. Only five minutes with people like Hatake Kakashi, the famous or notorious, depending on the nation, copy-cat ninja, were worthy more than any sensei at the academy. Even a single minute of the third Hokage's time was more worthy than any days of training non-stop with the Uchiha clansmen, and, even better, his favorite pupil, Orochimaru, had taken a sort of interest in the boy, much to the dislike of his actual pupils, who however, never voiced a complaint.

Itachi was a prodigy, a genius, an Uchiha hailing from the number one clan of Konoha, the very same clan that, together with the Senju clan, founded the village in the first place.

Naruto wasn't a prodigy, or a genius, but he knew humility, and only with that, and a good dose of head-strong determination, he had managed to be on par with Itachi himself.

The difference didn't stop there, however. The Raven-Haired Uchiha wanted to become a strong ninja because he wished to protect the village of Konoha from harm, as he believed, strongly, that it was the duty of any Shinobi worth his salt to protect the weak.

Naruto's reason…was because he had been asked to become a civilian.

_The Hokage had the guts to say he should take on the road of being a civilian: that was the condition to return to the previous living agreement: he could go back to his home if he stopped being a shinobi-to-be. An untrained Jinchuuriki wouldn't be much of a use as a weapon, but it would make him safer for the village. He could always be trained later on. The later on part was what had made the boy feel the Hunch once more. There would be no later on. It would either be then and on the spot or it wouldn't be ever again. He wanted to know why, he wanted the truth. A truth that, the man's word had been those very same, "Was only for the Hokage's ears." That became his purpose._

_To become Hokage for the truth._

Still, he didn't like going to class, the stares of the children, of the orphans especially, had carved deeply into his skull since the first day. He only had Itachi to watch his back, and the Uchiha knew all too well the caring nature of the boy, so much like his friend Shishui, both cared for others more than themselves, though the latter had unluckily chosen to keep with his friends in the academy, not that he blamed him, even taking to Naruto was a social stigma, something that Itachi had to fight through since the first moment they had set foot in the class.

_The class had been cheery, a lot noisy, and many were already seated. The rolling call begun with earnest, at his name, Itachi Uchiha, the boy had winced, raising his hand. He had winced because he hadn't heard Namikaze coming as the surname, yet he was pretty sure that N came before U, unless the alphabet had suddenly decided to take a turn for the worst. Maybe they had skipped the name because the boy wasn't there? Still, he couldn't believe they hadn't called his name. Maybe they had swapped his class? Maybe they had sent him on a sort of special training, instead of the academy? That's when the name actually came from the teacher, the name that wasn't Naruto Namikaze, but Naruto Uzumaki. The sensei took a brief moment to look around in the class, and, in that precise instant, the door opened up, and Naruto, wielding an orange-covered book, one that the sensei knew but that he, and the rest of the class didn't, walked in, raising his arm to signify he was there. Then he sat in the furthest away corner of the classroom, leaving a dumbstruck class, and an utterly puzzled Itachi. Even the sensei had no idea *what* to say or do, and thus, did nothing._

_Naruto didn't come with books, or paper to take notes, he didn't even come with pens. Always with the orange-covered book, and as he walked in only when his name was called in the roll call register and that he dashed out first things first at the sound of the bell, he was an elusive target, at best._

_Recess was the weak point of his plan, as the boy silently retreated to a corner of the school's area, and stayed there until the bell rang again. Nobody dared to get closer, nicknaming it the Demon's Den, nobody except, obviously, an Inuzuka hell-bent on getting a piece of him for killing her cousin._

The girl had stood no chance. Itachi winced, recalling how Naruto had shown the girl just how nasty his tricks could get. He was a prankster by nature, but an actually cornered Naruto? Itachi shuddered at the thought of how the girl, the Inuzuka, had gone crying the next moment. No Inuzuka had ever cried that hard. No Inuzuka was ever thought to be able to actually cry. Yell, rant, and scream? Yes, yes, and yes, but cry? That was what quality over quantity meant. Naruto had a lot of qualities, and with good enough purpose, brought forward by good, if not extraordinary teachers in the nick of time they could spare him, he had been on par with him.

Itachi finally reached into the academy, watching as his fan-club was waiting for him, and narrowing, just so slightly, his gaze, when he realized there were a bit more people than normal, around the school.

Many walked like ninjas in their own accord, too, so they either were the parents of the graduating class of the year, a bit strange, since there were no particular clans showing up in the crowd of faces, or because something else was actually going on. Itachi inwardly sighed that his sharingan hadn't awakened, or he would have certainly peered through whatever machinations were going on, as he would have placed his hand on the fire to swear on it, but he was sure that it involved Naruto.

The Uchiha reached the hallway, where, reading the orange book, Naruto stood in silence, as both he and Itachi knew full well how it would be going on. Itachi would enter the classroom, and be probably greeted by the fan girls who he had in his own class, Naruto would wait outside until the teacher began the roll call, and then the boy would enter at the right time for his name to be called.

Once more, Itachi was forced to bath under the attention of foaming girls, one worse than the next, until he finally got to his seat, thanking Kami that the Inuzuka girl, Hana, wasn't the slightest interested in him, and had three dogs nearby who growled savagely at the rest of the fan club.

"You should pay up the protection fee, one day," the girl pointed out, with a neutral tone.

"It will be over by tomorrow," Itachi replied, letting a small smirk appear on his face, as on cue, the surname Uzumaki was called, and the door opened. The smirk slowly turned to a frown, and the frown to worry, when the man entering the room was not Naruto, but another sensei: Mizuki.

"Itachi Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki are to follow me towards the examination room," he reported, in a clear tone. Well, the exam to immediately be promoted from the academy seemed to have been settled for the early morning. Itachi got up in silence, letting the fan girls wail tears while actually cheering him good luck. The worry on his face turned to perplexity, upon following Mizuki, as Naruto wasn't, at all, outside the hallway. Nor was he in the exam room, where Iruka, on the other hand, was.

"I haven't seen Naruto Uzumaki today yet, is he sick?" Mizuki queried, feigning clearly, something that Itachi had no trouble picking up, interest in the boy. Few people actually took the boy's health by heart. One was his mother, Mikoto, who even though she usually fussed over Sasuke, now two years old, had no trouble fussing also over her friend's son. He had been sick once, for a single day, but that too hadn't stopped him from going to school. There was just something about him that made him incredibly resistant to sicknesses, Jinchuuriki or not, but he had been sick, once. Result of poisoning, as it had been discovered later on.

"He'll come when you'll roll call his name," as Itachi replied that, both Iruka and Mizuki nodded, and then the first coughed a moment, to clear his throat.

"Well, to graduate academy you need a Bunshin, a Henge and a Kawarimi, that's more than enough, usually, because we have written tests marks over the course of the years and Taijutsu practices to look and grade. Since we do not have those, in this occasion, I'm going to require you to do the above Jutsus, spar with either me or Mizuki, and finally hand in a small written test. Afterwards the same will apply with Uzumaki-kun, if he'll grace us of his presence before you finish. Otherwise, he'll be marked as a failure and, unluckily, be dropped out of the shinobi program altogether," Itachi's eyes narrowed at the implication, there *was* something off in Naruto's disappearance, if that was the case. The boy was dead-set on being a shinobi after all, and for him to be actually late, or not there, was something bizarre.

He'd take time for his friend that much was sure, but he did have to voice his opinion.

"Senseis, Naruto had been in the academy even before me," Itachi muttered, "There's no way he wouldn't be here now…I think something might have happened to him," he added.

"Well, he's probably gone to the bathroom," Iruka replied, the teacher didn't outright love the blond boy, or like him, but he had been the one to testify Naruto's ability for taking the test earlier. Probably to remove the fox demon from his class, at least, that was what everyone thought. A pity Naruto's skills were the real deal.

"I see. Would you mind if I took the written test first, Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei?" Itachi politely asked, letting his gaze move from one teacher to the other, and, as both senseis nodded, he was made to sit down at an empty desk, and, given the paper, he was told the time limit: two hours.

This was the start of it. He could simply scribble some notes in pencil, wait the last five minutes, and write on pen, he knew all the answers: it was an easy thing, so, for that reason, he waited. Hoping the boy would come in.

Naruto didn't come, at all, after an hour. He didn't come even after the second hour was just about to end, and Itachi found out begrudgingly that he was forced to write by pen the answers, neatly arranging them on the paper. Then it was the Taijutsu spar, in which he did his best to hold out against his opponent, Mizuki, for as long as he could. Obviously the Chuunin was stronger than him, and more apt than him, but still, he did his best, bringing the fight on for at least a quarter of hour.

As the two opponents made the sign for peace, after the spar, Itachi was a nervous wreckage of a boy. He knew something was wrong, and he was pretty sure it was something big, yet the two teachers seemingly hadn't even cared to look for the problem. Just where did the boy end up? Just where had Naruto gone! Did the chocolate bar actually poison him? But he had seemed fine, and he had spit it out swiftly. Did something else happen? Was it the people outside the academy? Were they responsible in some way?

As the Ninjutsu spar was about to begin, someone knocked at the door of the class.

"It's open," Iruka said, having Itachi wait, as the raven-haired Uchiha's eyes were already lit with hope that Naruto was going to explain what was going on.

The door slowly opened, to reveal a pale man with long black hair, and golden eyes, with a Jounin vest on. Next to him, slightly pale, stood Naruto, he seemed to have had his clothes shredded on the side, and on the back, but mostly, it did seem that he had received a set of bruises on the face, as one of his eyes was seemingly half closed, already swelling up for the purplish bump.

"What happened to the boy, Orochimaru-san?" Iruka queried, puzzled, and showing, if for a brief second, a moment of worry, soon replaced by simple curiosity, as, after all, it was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi that they were talking about: he was tougher than that.

"Kukuku…It seems this young shinobi had been taken by a group of rebels within Konoha, but as luck wanted it to be, I happened to find him and his torturers…he insisted in coming to take the test to become a Genin, albeit, *I*," the *I* being stressed, with a happy grin, "Can assure you that he should indeed be made a Genin, even without taking the test."

"That would be unorthodox, Orochimaru-san," Mizuki replied, the sensei *did* hate the guts out of the boy, for some reason…well, the reason was obvious, but he hated the boy even more than normal.

"Anyway, I'm sure you won't mind him being late…it wasn't his fault, after all…kukuku…" and, with a final chuckle, Orochimaru turned to leave, leaving Naruto to slowly limp towards a seat, his right leg seemingly had taken a bad twist somewhere.

"Seeing your condition, maybe you would prefer to take the test tomorrow? I'm sure we could explain to the Hokage, and he'd understand…" Mizuki proposed, feigning worry, as Naruto instead shook his head. Firstly, he was sure he'd simply be thrown out of the shinobi program without a second thought, *exceptions* didn't work for him, only against him, and secondly…

"I'll take the test today, tomorrow you'll have already decided the team assignments, if I'm not there, then who's going to take care of the worrywart Uchiha here?" as Naruto grinned, sending a wink to Itachi, the Uchiha in question sighed, speeding through all the hand signs required for the jutsus, and muttering.

"You know, next life, I'm having you drop out of the shinobi program," Itachi said, as he waited for Iruka to grade his performance. Naruto did the written test without wincing, but small droplets of sweat, and some not yet dried blood did stain the white paper sheet, then, the boy asked.

"Can I do the jutsus first, please?" Both teachers sighed, nodding. They *had* changed the order for Itachi, while neither liked doing the same for the boy: it still wouldn't be fair, especially with Itachi still in the room.

The next moment, the Kawarimi, the Henge, and the Bunshins were made. The last one created the bare amount to pass, three, while the Henge *was* a perfect replica of Mizuki, and the Kawarimi did however produce a small whine from the boy, not because it failed, but because he badly position his right leg when he touched the ground after the substitution. The last part was sparring.

Iruka was about to stand up, after all, Mizuki had already fought against Itachi, but the silver-haired chuunin dismissed his friend.

"I'll handle him too, it won't be anything more than some light sparring, after all," as Mizuki spoke, he stood in front of the brat, with a small smirk on his face. Itachi looked at the scene with interest, his leaf forehead protector already in his hands, but that fight was going to be far more interesting to watch, and he was sure Naruto was being an idiot. It had to be one of the constant of the universe: Naruto had to be a knuckleheaded idiot.

Mizuki's right fist aimed straight ahead, with enough speed to actually be considered a nearly killing fist, instead of a friendly spar one. The result was a broken nose for Naruto, who, however, wasn't knocked out, his head having at the very least moved backwards a bit before the fist had connected, to lessen the blow. Trying to keep a standing position, with a clearly sprained leg, or maybe even broken, wasn't a small feat, especially when Mizuki adopted a more versatile and mobile approach to fighting the boy, who did all he could to avoid being, doing his best to duck or parry the blows, albeit his arms had clearly started to turn sore, especially after the couple of hits to his shoulders.

Naruto gritted his teeth, pain flaring through his broken leg, as he knew this was what waited him in the test, he was pretty sure He had asked them to be merciless, to be extremely cruel, to be thorough in their actions just to make him fail...well, he wouldn't fail, he would become the greatest ninja ever, and he would become the Hokage…for truth.

_He should have known that there was no way the Hokage wanted to speak to him outside school, in the backyard. He had thought it was improbable, but he had hoped it wouldn't be a false hope that something was going to change for the better...he had refused his previous Hunch, that never ended well… That hope had been shattered by the ninja mob that had forced him to run for his life towards the other side of the village. It had been a perfect ambush, two coming out from the school's door, two to the side of the backyard, and a couple along the roads that would have possibly led him back into the school, for the exam. He had tried to avoid capture for as long as possible, but in the end, they *did* have ninjas on their midst, and no matter of training would have made him able to be on par with some of them. He was captured like a rabbit, ninja wire set at the end of an alleyway he had been running through, and then, said alley had begun his bloody trap. He was already holding his hands around his head, to protect it: "the first thing to protect is the head, the rest of the body is secondary, if you curl yourself up in a ball," had been told to him by Kakashi, once._

_He had done that: he had stood there screaming for help, until his voice had gone sore. Obviously, the blood in his mouth and the kicks hadn't helped him, or the fact that nobody would have actually moved a hand to help the demon brat. The Uchiha would have, but they weren't there at the moment. The sharp cries of "Die Demon! Die!" echoed through the alleyway, until finally, the noise of an unsheathed sword, the simple murmur of the sword's name, "Kusanagi," the flashing increase in length of the sword, that cut down his assailers, and, finally, silence, only the throbbing pain of his bruises, as he slowly managed to get back up on his feet, or foot, as it was, since the other was broken. Broken to try and have him open up from his curled position, to try and make him stop defending his frail head, maybe to smash his skull too._

"_kukuku, why didn't you fight back, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru had queried then, knowing full well he did give pointers to the boy, more than once._

"_I should be doing an exam… I'm sure he," the boy had spat out the pronoun like it was the name in question, "surely would have me detained if I did anything, and make me drop out the shinobi program…" Naruto's eyes had then settled on the snake sannin, and, with a sort of pleading gaze, had realized the man's face hadn't been one of frowning, for having been used, but more of…satisfaction? _

"_Kukuku…that was good thinking, come along, I'll bring you back to school, you have an exam to take, last I checked," and with those words, one of the three legendary Sannins had brought the boy back to school._

A shinobi needs to see underneath the underneath: that was the most valuable lesson of them all. To actually resort to Taijutsu, was a practice that few deemed worthy of notice. Why was Taijutsu learned, then? Because you never knew when the kunai you held in your hand would drop, break, or you'd have no time to grab it. Taijutsu for the academy was basic movements of fists and kicks, Taijutsu, real battle Taijutsu, was about feints, specific hits, and quick submission holds, but it all followed only one, real, rule: if it was flashy, it wasn't worthy of being learned and it wouldn't save your life in battle.

That was a lesson the Jiji had told him, so, even if he was getting the short end of the stick from Mizuki, Naruto was still pretty much capable of holding off the attacks of the chuunin, not because he could actually defeat the man, but because the man had preferred to believe in the boy's weakness. Underneath the underneath, after all, was the first law.

So, when, even though Naruto had been battered and bruised, the time kept on going, and he was still up, Mizuki gritted his teeth, resorting to a roundhouse kick on the boy's broken leg, to swipe that smug grin the blond boy had on him the entire time the spar had gone on for.

In that precise moment, the seemingly broken leg had done a side movement, avoiding the kick and becoming, itself, a kick, straight between the Chuunin's legs.

Itachi winced, averting his gaze, as he knew all too well the strength that was behind Naruto's kicks. Iruka paled slightly, going as far as verbally muttering an *ouch*. Mizuki, on the other hand, saw white, and fell backwards, seemingly passed out from the pain.

"I thought it was broken," Iruka muttered, pointing at the leg.

"I do have a broken leg," Naruto replied, gritting his teeth, as he got both his hands to support on a nearby desk, "It just wasn't the right one," he added, "and I knew he'd resort to play dirty."

"Ninjas should always use the weakness of the opponent, Naruto-kun," Itachi replied.

"Yeah, that stuff…" the blond boy said, sweating heavily, as he clearly had to be in pain, but did his best not to let it show.

"Well…I say you passed," Iruka replied, handing the boy a Konoha leaf protector, "You did defeat a Chuunin, even though it was a friendly spar, and you did perform all henges…and while your test is largely unreadable due to blood loss, it's mostly correct…and you did all this while in your state…it's more than enough," Naruto meekly nodded, making a grin to Itachi, before muttering back.

"Itachi…I think I'm not going to be able to come eat at Ichiraku's, tonight…warn Hatake-san for me…" as he finished saying that, the blond boy's eyes closed, as he fainted, not sprawling on the ground because Itachi was already there, grabbing him by the side.

"Should I call a medic-nin?" Iruka queried, worried, he should have been worried in the beginning, but if the boy was able to last till then, then he probably should have been fine, shouldn't he? He was a Jinchuuriki, tough demon jailor, and he wasn't all that bad...was he?

"No…they'd probably try and mercy kill," Itachi spoke slowly, letting the words loom the air for a moment, before adding, "him, he'll be safer in the Uchiha compound…where I'll be carrying him, now," and with those final words, the boy slowly began walking towards the door of the class, and outside, carrying his fellow Konoha Ninja together with him, for their first day as Genin of the leaf…it wasn't that good of a start.

_He always had the same dream, about the same night, the same events: at first he was happy, his baby brother, or sister, on the way, and then he was no longer in the house, having been smashed by a giant red-furred fox, that had made him really, really, scared, and crying, while his mother held onto him with one arm, and on the other was seemed like a crying baby, his father was in front of them, his blue eyes setting themselves on the three._

"_I'm sorry…there's no other way," then Naruto had seen him take the bundle of clothes, and he had even taken him too. Why didn't his Kaa-san stop him? Maybe she was too tired? Maybe she actually wanted that to happen? He only knew he had fainted afterwards, that was all he knew._

_When he had woken up, the stares had started. He recalled the stares in the council, he recalled them all, and, even though he did recall them all, he couldn't help but whimper, slightly shaking at the sheer amount of pressure being in the same room as clan's head met and spoke, about him, about his future…about who he was supposed to be, or better yet…what he was supposed to be from that moment onwards._

He woke up with a startled expression, carefully eying the room he was in, pain washing all over his body, as he could feel, distinctively, a cast on his left leg, and bandages covering most of his body. His vision was impaired, on the swelled eye, by a cold compress, as his only visible eye made him inwardly mull a thought…was that how Kakashi-san saw the world?

He groaned, recognizing the motif of the Uchiha clan on the side of the paper walls, Itachi had brought him to his family compound. He didn't hate the Uchiha clan, it was the exact opposite: when he had started getting beaten up in public, it was usually an Uchiha guard who broke the mob apart, his friendship with Itachi, who was the heir of the clan, was enough to at least warrant some help, even from those who still loathed him. Naruto, however, also knew of the consequences for helping him. It had been something clear in his mind, and no matter of telling him otherwise had convinced him of the opposite: the Uchiha clan's compound had been forced to be moved nearly outside of the village's wall, a social stigma that clearly still burned into the soul of the Uchiha's clan leader, Fugaku.

He tried to leverage on his sane foot, holding back the pain, he was good at that. To keep the pain inside, never to show any weakness that you don't want the enemy to exploit, that was another sound teaching. He kind of wondered, as he managed to get on his feet, if Kakashi was fine, maybe he had simply been distracted, since having started to read those orange-covered books, there were times he'd let his guard go off, as any sixteen years old would, but he just did that while giggling in a sort of perverted way…he had given Naruto an orange book too, but the boy hadn't actually read it, he just had taken the cover, placed it to protect his hard-obtained school book, and had then walked to class with it every day. He knew that was Kakashi's trick to be undisturbed, and thus he had thought about it in the same way: if he was reading that, nobody told him anything, even the adults avoided him, at least, the majority, and the few who didn't were distracted by his seemingly innocent appearance to let him Bunshin his way out of there.

It was survival, everything was meant for survival. Being a shinobi wasn't being nice, playing fair, yelling out loud and charging head on. It was about slicing throats from the back and punching people in the balls, where it hurt hard, to survive. Grime, blood and filth were the Ninja's companions. The rest meant nothing.

Naruto's hand slowly moved to the panel door, try as he did to make it as silent as possible, he knew all too well it would be futile. The next moment, as the door he used swished to the side, the door in front opened, to reveal Itachi, staring at him with his own dark eyes.

"Naruto, congratulation on passing the Genin exam," _"In the most foolish and possibly idiotical way I had never even dreamed about,"_ was the clear thought pattern behind the Uchiha, something only Naruto, having known the boy for quite a long time, could understand,"though do notice that tomorrow we have team assignments…please, do take some rest time, and do not try and engage in nightly activities," _"If you even so much as try and get out of the room, know that I can pretty much stay awake all night you stupid and reckless idiot, and force you back to sleep by knocking you out,"_ was the clear message.

"But…" Naruto tried to reply, only to be cut up short when a woman, in her *Early* years, walked towards the two boys, a frown on her face, as she stared at the two recently appointed Genin.

"I just heard someone saying they wouldn't mind sleeping here the night, right?" Mikoto stressed, as Itachi, on his own accord nodded.

"So it seems, Kaa-san, Naruto would like to sleep here, to recover from his wounds," _"that he even refuses to admit, just look at how much pain his face shows!"_ as Itachi spoke softly, his mother nodded.

"Hey I…" as Naruto tried to butt in on the conversation, Mikoto shushed him in a split second, replying.

"Well, you know he can stay as much as he likes, here, but I must ask if he's hungry, since he slept through lunch and dinner times," as she replied that, Naruto tried, being the key word, to claim his moment of speaking light, just so he could say he didn't need anything and would be on his way *home*.

"He's hungry alright," Itachi replied, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind eating something solid, instead of ramen, as always."

"…Itachi…" Naruto's muttered growl went unheard, as Mikoto smiled, nodding before leaving the two boys there.

"Due to your physical situation, Naruto, I'd suggest you refrain from any attempt of getting even with me," Itachi replied, "for the moment, obviously…Now, do go back to sleep," and with that, Naruto rolled his eyes, no use in arguing against one who could actually swipe the floor with him, and that when Naruto *was* in perfect conditions.

At least he'd get some solid, and warm, food that night. He couldn't shop for food, without being kicked out, but that was in his normal aspect.

The reason his Henge was top notch was that he actually needed that skill for survival. He had never had a problem in walking up front and asking someone if they needed any help, moving crates, lifting stuff, things that any five years old could do, even mowing the grass of elderly ladies. Obviously, Naruto was shunned, even if the lady in question would later give the job to either a Genin team, for a higher fee, or to another kid who'd do it for spare change. That's when he had asked Kakashi for a solution, the man had been more than willing to hire him out for odd jobs himself, but Naruto had refused. He didn't want mercy, he wanted survival skills. So, strangely enough, while he did love ramen, and that warm feeling that the hot broth had when reaching his stomach, he rarely ate it, and when he did, it was a special occasion.

The Henge had been what Kakashi had taught him, and Naruto had been able to do it, at first only a sort of mish-mash of colors, then it had become a person, and finally it had become a different person. Henges required chakra in proportion to the differences from the base form…thus the more complex and different the image required, the better it would be. Chakra control was needed both for the finer details and to make the Henge more difficult to trace. It had been the basic Henge of the academy, but when you need that to survive…it became extremely important to know how to do it well.

So, Naruto survived on Henge use to make odd jobs, go shopping without being thrown out, and actually to just have a bit of respite in the park, unknowingly training his own chakra control in the meantime. Still, spare change wasn't enough, and that usually meant that, being too stubborn to ask for help from anyone, even Itachi, he had, more than once, resorted to scavenging and foraging. There wasn't a single fruit plant that, left outside at night, survived his passage. Obviously even the farmlands on the nearby outskirts of the village, or the forests, weren't left unscathed. Forests were the best place to hunt, rabbits, birds, things like that.

It was practical, and it worked. Sure, usually most stuff was cold, or had to be thoroughly cooked and cleaned, before being eaten…but the satisfaction of eating a morsel of self-caught rabbit? The teeth gnawing upon a freshly…*taken* cabbage? His classmates had Bentos, he eyed the birds' eggs in their nests, his classmates had apple juice and he had the tap water from the school's bath: all in all, he survived.

So, he wasn't one to spoil food, even when he would have preferred being home, the empty one room apartment that waited him, with no-one in there. He simply felt better knowing that there was one door and one window as entry and exit points, instead of the paper-made doors of the Uchiha compound, heck, he was sure that, in case of a fire, it would all burn up really fast!

Mikoto came back with a tray, on which a vast assortment of food was, food that Naruto took no moment to dig in, after the usual Itadakimasu, and that gave the woman the time to give a slightly sad look to the boy's face.

She didn't know what made her sadder: the fact that the boy harbored a demon, or how he had been treated after becoming the container of the demon in question. Sure, the Kyuubi might have nearly destroyed Konoha, killing a lot of good people in the process…but how was the boy responsible for that? The sweet boy had obviously changed, but certainly not because he had become the nine-tailed demon! Itachi had the pressure of being the next clan heir, and she couldn't fawn too much over him, but still, she had been really glad when Naruto and him had struck a strong friendship, it had also helped her son immensely, especially when Sasuke had begun walking…it was Itachi who seemingly knew where the younger one was, or what he was doing…and when queried on his sixth sense, he had always replied, that it was something he had already witnessed.

"Uchiha-san…" Naruto said, after the food, "I really should be going…" he whispered in a barely audible murmur.

"Now Naruto-kun, we went over this already: just call me Mikoto-san," the woman replied, "and don't you even think, for a moment, of escaping through the window, you have a broken leg, you need rest, and the cast won't be of any help if you keep on moving around," she added.

"I'll be fine by tomorrow," Naruto muttered back, "team assignments are tomorrow," he added, slowly drifting to sleep, did he actually feel that sleepy? He didn't bother much about it, and as his eyes closed, he couldn't help but shrug off the feeling that he shouldn't be sleeping that heavily, moments after finishing his dinner.

Mikoto stood up, with a sigh. Really, if she hadn't known the knucklehead by heart, she wouldn't have resorted to giving him a good dose of sleeping medicine. The boy would have probably left at night, worsening his leg condition minimum, and clearly that wouldn't have helped him at all. She bit her lip, as she moved out of the room, giving a wink to Itachi, who had opened the door of his room once more, only to be *updated* on the situation, before nodding and turning back to enter his room, to get some sleep. Mikoto's walk didn't stop until she reached her husband's study, where she entered after politely knocking on the door, and closing it after having walked through the doorway.

"Mikoto?" Fugaku queried, perplexed at the late hour visit of his wife.

"I'd like to ask why no Uchiha Guard realized that Naruto-kun was being severely beaten in an alleyway, today," the woman spoke quietly, her dark eyes not daring to accuse, but still showing off worry.

"I can't tell you," Fugaku barely replied in a whisper, his eyes moving sideways. This was the signal that he actually couldn't, meaning the Hokage had a hand in it. Mikoto nodded, her husband wouldn't actually do something like that for petty reasons, and having his guards not do their jobs only to have a mob hit a boy would have been stupid, and her husband wasn't, at all, stupid. If he wanted to kill someone, Fugaku knew he could count on highly trained Uchiha's clansmen, so there would have been no need to bother with something like that, meaning he had been ordered to have his own men stand down, while the beating took place. Knowing he couldn't speak meant something else entirely too: it meant he had been ordered not to speak, and to respect said order…one had to be the Hokage.

Mikoto's face turned for a moment sorrowful, before shaking her head gently.

"The boy can stay for the night," Fugaku added, "Itachi was smart enough to use a Henge to transform him into a sack of potatoes, to have him enter…but he has to leave first thing in the morning…understood?"

"Yes, husband dear," Mikoto replied, a small smile on her face, her husband was one of the toughest shinobis that Konoha could ever birth, but he did have a weak spot, one that she wasn't afraid of using: he never liked seeing her sad face.

The next day, Naruto's eyes opened slowly, as he felt the uncomfortable weight on his left leg, he recalled the events of the previous day. A bloody way to become a Genin that much was sure. Still, he was a Genin now. It was the first step. Wherever through blood, tears, or words he'd strike true to his purpose: to become Hokage.

Only then, would the Truth come to him.

As he begrudgingly stood in a sitting position, he took the weight of his body on the right leg, sighing as his left still seemed to pain him a great deal. Not as much as the day before, but he wouldn't be pushing any weight on it that soon. He saw breakfast on a tray, next to him, and sighing, he ate it as fast as possible: he wouldn't renounce food, no matter what it would be or where he would be.

One thing he was sure of was that he still had today free: tomorrow would be the Genin test time, and by then, he simply had to have his leg fixed. He valued his options. He needed a medic-nin and the medical jutsus to have it at least bearable for whatever the test was, and he did have the money for it…at least, he hoped it would suffice what little he had managed to put aside. The problem was with the fact he needed to find someone willing to heal him, without overpricing. That would be difficult, but not impossible. His Henge would probably work, had he broken something on his face it would have been worst.

He slid his door open, sighing as Itachi did the same, with his leaf protector already on his forehead, and another one in his hand, handing it over to the blond boy.

"This is yours, Iruka-sensei gave it to me after you fainted," the Uchiha spoke quietly, making Naruto nod as he took it and tightly tied it on his forehead.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Naruto muttered, his voice serious, albeit a bit trembling, as Itachi simply raised an eyebrow, it was a first, to actually be asked a favor from Naruto, which meant it had to be something fairly important.

"Whatever happens," Naruto said, "I'll always have your back… just…don't leave me behind, okay?"

Itachi made a small smile, nodding.

"If I did leave you behind I'd probably be more worried than satisfied, we go through this together, as friends," as Itachi raised his right hand, Naruto caught it with his own, and as both boys squeezed each other's hands, a serious look settled on their faces.

"Let's get going then," Naruto said, a smile on his face, as he slightly winced, when he inadvertently placed some weight on his still broken leg.

"We did wake up early…we have time," Itachi replied with a sigh, as, at a snail's pace, they both made their way outside, they had to be early for the team assignments, and as such, they had woken up early too.

By the time the two reached the academy, they both sat, without showing a trace of nervousness, together with the upperclassmen, those who had actually graduated on time.

"Ohi!" a female Kunoichi spoke, moving closer to the two, "What are two gakis like you doing here!" the girl had purple hair, tied at pineapple, and her pupil-less brown eyes settled for a brief moment on the two, before wincing, at the sight of the blond boy's whisker marks, a fact that only one other person possessed, actually.

"Well, huh, never mind asking," the girl said once more, slowly moving out of the way, without even waiting for a reply from the two.

"You're a party killer, Naruto," Itachi pointed that out, barely repressing a grin, as the blond boy simply took on a seriously saddened face, albeit it was fake.

"Aw…you know I'm the soul of every party," he replied, letting his gaze wander towards the rest of the class, who knows who he'd end up partner with?

Itachi would probably have all the luck, as usual, pretty Kunoichi, obedient second Shinobi, with Naruto's luck, instead, he'd end up with an arrogant ugly hag of a girl and an utterly arrogant bastard who would claim *Alpha status* like an Inuzuka.

The teacher, Iruka-sensei, walked in alone, earning Naruto a puzzled expression, where was Mizuki?

"Mizuki-sensei is currently undisposed, after yesterday's exams…" Naruto couldn't repress a chuckle.

A chuckle that was heard both by Iruka, by Itachi who was next to him, and by the purple haired Kunoichi.

"Ohi! What's there to laugh about Mizuki-sensei being sick you brat!"

"He's not sick," Naruto replied, between a chuckle and another one, "He's probably holding a cold pack…over it, ahah…ahahaha!" as Naruto began laughing, Iruka sported a nervous tick mark on his forehead, while Itachi sighed.

"He will stay in the hospital for the next days, to…repair all damage he has suffered from," as Iruka kept talking, a boy raised his hand, to ask.

"Did he break a bone?"

"AHAHAHA! I doubt he'd ever break that bone! Uhuhuh! He might have a broken muscle though!" Naruto couldn't help but exclaim that, with a wide laughter following, as Itachi sighed once more.

"Uzumaki!" Iruka snapped, "You are now a Genin of Konoha, please, control your outbursts…"

"Fine…" another chuckle, and then Naruto calmed down, while the eldest Uchiha slightly shook his head, he knew all too well the boy did that when he was stressed. He'd probably end up with unknown teammates and teachers, so it was only obvious that he'd probably flip out in some way…and Naruto's way to vent off stress was to yell something out loud.

Iruka, once silence reigned in the classroom, began announcing teams and their members.

"and Kakashi Hatake will be the Jounin sensei of team 7, Team 8 made of Naruto Uzumaki, Mitarashi Anko," the purple haired Kunoichi from before had her face fall down on the hard wooden surface of the desk, whining about Kami hating her, "and Itachi Uchiha," Naruto literally hugged Itachi, nearly breaking the boy's spine by doing said motion, and dropping it after a few seconds, coughing to slightly recompose himself, not before the entire class had outright began laughing at the scene, "SILENCE!" Iruka snapped, "And their sensei will be…Orochimaru of the Sannin," at that point, whines and yells and exclamations raised themselves through the class: Itachi Uchiha, being taught by a Sannin? Fine for everyone, even the older fan girls of his fan club, but the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi? That monster? And Mitarashi Anko? Some words were set even on her, a war orphan who had just gotten lucky, and with that, spite came too in her direction, making her actually look uncomfortable, as she had never believed someone could come up with reasons to give her faults on being a war orphan.

"Hey Itachi," Naruto said out loud, "You think you can show me that Genjutsu you mastered, that one to send a bunch of whining kids crying back to their mothers? You know: the ultra-secret one that only those of the Uchiha clan know how to make?"

"But Naruto-kun…that makes the whining kids die after I use it," as Itachi seriously replied to the boy, even Iruka slightly paled, did said jutsu really exist? The serious way Itachi had replied to the blond boy…

"Well, anyway! Wait for your Jounin-sensei to come along, and then off you will go," as Iruka left the now silent as death room, after his words, the first Jounin to actually enter was Orochimaru himself, the pale skinned man had an amused grin on his face, as he watched with delight the looks of envy from the other students, but he silently noted how there wasn't a hint of pride on either the Uchiha or the Mitarashi…Naruto showed relief, but of that, the man was sure. He had taken an interest in the boy since seeing him actually be taught things by his teacher, Hiruzen, not much, actually, just pointers, but the boy had absorbed them like a sponge, where others kids in the park played, the blond boy of barely six years old was absorbing knowledge like it was air that needed to be breathe by the old man.

It had been more than enough to warrant the pursue of his interest, and the boy *was* the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and he just kept being interesting, just like the events that had brought him there…

*Somewhere else*

"Don't you have a Genin group to teach to, Kakashi?" the Hokage queried.

"Hokage-sama…with respect…why wasn't he put on my team?" Kakashi had been Jounin for quite a while now, and he *was* taking students since a while, so why not assign him one of the few boys he actually could try and teach something?

"He who?" The Hokage replied raising an eyebrow.

"Naruto," Kakashi said the name, his only visible eye showing a brief glint of sorrow, as the Hokage's tone turned snappish.

"Orochimaru of the legendary three wished to teach him…and for that reason, he was chosen," as the man spoke, turning his gaze towards the village, he muttered, barely containing his anger, "the boy refused any attempt at conciliation, he insisted on this path, so now he will carry it on till the end, and I made sure that Orochimaru himself shows no leniency towards him, or the rest of the team…if he does actually pass the Genin test, while facing off a legendary sannin, then maybe, maybe he'll be worth enough of my time to sort out some D-level missions for him."

"But…" the silver-haired Jounin tried to come up with a reason, for such a messed up judgment call, but couldn't, as the Hokage interrupted him, letting his voice carry over the thoughts of the copy-cat ninja.

"Kakashi! He is extremely important to the village…did we understand each other?" at those words, Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," as he turned to leave, the door of the office opened, and a woman, carrying a two-years old in her arms, entered with a smile.

"Kakashi-kun," Kushina spoke, with a smile, "How are you doing?" The two year old girl, with red hair, tied in a pony-tail, stared with her clear blue eyes at the silver-haired Jounin, who took on his smile-eye, before replying.

"Everything is fine, Kushina-san, I'm a bit in a hurry though, I'm sorry I can't stay any longer, see you too, Katsumi-chan," and with those words, said towards the shy two-year old girl, Kakashi left in a hurry, leaving behind the red-haired woman, who, cooing over her two-year old, moved towards her husband, the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

The man who had disowned their very own son, claiming he was too disrespectful to be a Namikaze.

The man who had thrown him in an orphan's apartment, because he had considered his very own son to be too dangerous to stay around, after sealing the Kyuubi within him, but had never the less offered the boy to come back to a loving family only if he refused being a shinobi, the man who seemed to consider Naruto more like a tool, an object, a furniture piece, than a real breathing boy.

He didn't know which of the two he hated the most.

His sensei for what he had done, claiming the boy should be considered a hero, but never the less throwing him out in the streets, or his sensei's wife, for having not lifted a finger to protect her firstborn.

He truly, actually, didn't know, but he, like a couple of other close friends of the family, had pried for the truth, and hadn't found it, too tightly kept within the mind of the Fourth Hokage himself, just what was it, the truth?

**Author's notes**

**Did I just start another Narutoverse fic? That I did.**

**Did I just give off a familiar vibe from the previous one? That I did.**

**Did I just make it extremely different by using a different timeline? That I did.**

**Did I just push the accelerator on something even more angsty? …*Whistles innocently*.**

**General Questions:**

**NO. This is NOT. Will not be, EVER, a Yaoi fic. NOPE. Not a chance in frigging hell, no ItachiXNaruto, never, ever, not even if you send me a million dollar cheque. Nein, nada, non, no, *no (Italian pronunciation)***

**Yeah, I do tend to keep some names from the previous fic, making an actual Au with the previous verse…*But* and here is the *but*, this Naruto will be on a completely different *mentality* than the previous one. Grimmer, darker, survivalist, but not because of enemy territory, or things like that, but for the sole purpose: Truth.**

**That said, as always, until he hits the 18 years mark, there will be no fixed pairings, but obviously, considering his age, it will be with one of the older kunoichis.**

**And no, no godlike Naruto, no talking snakes, not even one! (Well, maybe I'll have Kuro make an appearance, but you know, Kuro is just Kuro, awesome)**


	2. PC:Recollections

Chapter second

Orochimaru had brought the team, his team, towards a training ground. He had taken in the seemingly expressions of Naruto slowly turning darker and grimmer by the second, and had been more than right about his leg being stiff because of a cast.

The training ground had a lot of undergrowth, bushes, trees, and was maybe a bit too closer to the outskirts of the village than any other training grounds, but it still wasn't something as bad as the training ground forty-four.

The snake sannin turned around, letting his smirk become evident, at the sight of the three Genins, three naïf, little, whiny, Genins, that he was either going to find something interesting in them, or would send back to the academy without a second thought.

Naruto was interesting, that much, Orochimaru had been certain of since setting his gaze on him. Itachi was interesting too, being an Uchiha, but without the sharingan, he was a bit less worthy of notice. The third was a war orphan, a no-one, and she was scared. He could feel fear, like any snake would, it was the same fear of the mouse standing in front of its predator, and right now, the snake Sannin could actually read, clearly on the girl's face, what her thoughts had to be.

That was what made him grin, maybe he'd keep her around, just to see her scared senseless face, and if not, he could always mentor the two boys and throw the Kunoichi back into the academy, or into one of his latest experiments.

"Present yourself," Orochimaru spoke quietly, crossing his arms over his chest, and letting his back move against the tree's bark.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, as Anko too had no idea what the man was saying, but he was a legendary Sannin, so maybe he was simply saying something too complicated to be understood? Damn, maybe it was some sort of sensei-ish stuff she should have learned at academy? Maybe it wasn't covered by the second hand book she had bought…she gulped, nervously, as Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Orochimaru-sensei," the boy spoke, sporting a small bitter smile, "I have no interests worthy of notice, and my sole purpose is surviving while seeking the truth," he added, making Anko's face turn perplexed, what truth was there for him to find? Except him making no sense at all when replying to their sensei, who must probably was going to eat him alive, minimum, for saying such nonsense.

Orochimaru simply nodded slightly, before turning his gaze to Itachi, who, following the preset made by Naruto, replied.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, Orochimaru-sensei," the boy spoke in a polite, and calm manner, his eyes trying to take in the entirety of the snake sannin's presence, "I enjoy visiting Japanese café, and my dream is to bring peace to the shinobi world," as Itachi actually spoke, the frown on Orochimaru's face appeared visibly, making the Uchiha's face puzzled, as it seemed something he had said had made the snake Sannin wince.

"Dreams are fickle," Orochimaru hissed, "Purposes, Objectives, Ambitions, Determinations, Achievements, those are strong things. Ideals, dreams, hopes, those are things for the weak willed. If you seek something, achieve it, if you cannot, then you are not worthy of being a shinobi."

Itachi nodded silently, letting the words echo in his head, trying to make sense of them, what the man was saying was basically that he should simply strive harder, to obtain peace, and not let it be a dream, but an objective to reach.

Finally, Orochimaru's gaze turned to the Kunoichi in the team, who was slightly nervous, as she spoke, in a barely audible whisper.

"My…My name is Mitarashi Anko, Orochimaru-sensei," she said, carefully making sure to say the appellative correctly, "and I like…conducting tea ceremonies," she added, slightly holding her breath in wait for any reaction, that, however, didn't come, from either of the men in front of her. Well, the two young ones didn't know her usually brash attitude at all, and Orochimaru probably didn't care at all, "and my…" don't say dream, don't say dream, "ambi…objective, is to become one of the best Kunoichi of Konoha," she finished, hoping not to have made the man angry.

Orochimaru simply said nothing, not a scoff, a scowl, or a smile. He simply waited for a couple of seconds, and then muttered back.

"Boring," as he said that, the lower half of his body merged with the tree behind him, letting only his upper half show, "well, might as well get this over with," at those words, Naruto winced, just the worst fear he could suspect of was going to happen right then and there: the test, that should have been meant for the next day, was instead going to be done that precise day. Meaning he'd probably fail, since he *did* have a broken leg, and would be forced to take it again, the next year.

He couldn't permit himself to lose the chance to finally upgrade his meager diet from powdered ramen and cabbages to normal ramen and fish. He also couldn't let Itachi down, they'd both rise together: that was their promise.

Anko didn't know what was going on, but did see both Naruto and Itachi tense up, the first moving to grab a Kunai, it even seemed a new one, where did he get the money to buy one? And Itachi taking out a small Tanto, with the Uchiha symbol on it…she didn't bring her weapons behind: after all, she didn't expect them to begin training so soon, and why were the two already equipped? Did they know about this before? She had to ask them, eventually, when she got a chance.

"I will give you fifteen minutes of time to hide. Then I will need five minutes to capture you. Survive five minutes, and you'll be fine," as he said that, he placed on the base of the tree a small alarm bell, setting the time for twenty minutes, as most of his upper body had already merged with the tree, and as his face was the last thing to disappear, he added with a smirk, "obviously, if you fail…you will go back to the academy," and with those final words, he disappeared into the tree bark.

"_So that was what this was all about"_ Anko thought, miserably watching her teammates stare at each other, and then looking at her…yeah, she could understand the stares that they were giving her. The Kyuubi would probably eat her, and the Uchiha would probably tell his clansmen that it had been all her fault. The poor war orphan was going to take the blame for everything, obviously. She gritted her teeth, and was about to bark how they wouldn't give the fault to her, when Naruto simply handed her over the Kunai he was holding, letting the cold metal's handle rest upon her palm, that had begun to sweat since the beginning of the test, and that, that shocked Anko into silence, as Itachi nodded, starting to look around for hiding spots.

"Mitarashi-san," Naruto spoke, "We'll get out of this together, okay?" Why was the brat, the what, seven years old brat? Calming HER down? She was the oldest one, right? She was the one meant to actually take point for…experience, yet the two boys, the two seven year old boys, were making her feel safe, although they both were smaller than her in height!

"I don't need you to tell me this, brat," Anko replied with a snapping tone. She didn't actually want to snap at the boy, but all that she got back wasn't a rant, or a yell, just a sorrowful gaze. It lasted for a brief second, the second needed for the boy to probably process the words, and the tone used, and then he was back to his sort of normal face, not a hint of a smile, but neither much of a sad face. Some sort of middle ground between tense and worried.

"Naruto-kun," Itachi muttered, "What's our plan?"

"Hey, since when does an Uchiha ask for a plan from someone else? Aren't you a stuck-up clan of Doujutsu users?" Anko asked, since Naruto had taken time to think.

"That we are," Itachi replied, making Anko's eyes bulge, did the boy just admit her insult! It was not funny at all to be stuck with two boys that looked too old for their age! She was sure she was going to die of boredom, clearly.

"But," Itachi continued, "he is more unpredictable than me," the boy continued, "thus he is best suited for planning out."

"What does being unpredictable have to do with the rest?" she queried, perplexed.

"I've got an idea," Naruto pointed out, "But we have to move…sensei could still be in the bark of the tree, for all that we know, let's walk in that direction," as he added that, precisely within the tree, Orochimaru chuckled mentally, Itachi had undoubtedly made the right call, even if skills made the Uchiha the strongest, thought patterns were Naruto's forte, and he was unpredictable, and full of surprises, just like the first time he had met the boy.

_Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sannin, who completed S-rank missions without batting an eyelid, and who was currently thirty-eight and counting, had a secret. Not counting the experiments he subjected orphans regularly to, or the kids kidnapped from the streets at night, or the laboratories spread through the world, accessible only to him and those he hired. His deep dark secret was that he enjoyed reaching Konoha's aviary, and taking some of the bird's egg to eat raw. It was *his* secret. It would be a really sore drop in his reputation, if it came out the Snake Sannin, renowned for his strength and for being a prodigy and a creator of techniques, actually gorged himself with pigeon's and hawk's eggs._

_As he actually entered the aviary in the deep of the night, he heard his heart stop for a moment, someone was in there, a boy, maybe no more than six, was there, a straw basked in one hand, and he was deftly, and as silently as he could, grabbing the biggest and obviously must juicy eggs. The boy was handpicking them, meaning he either knew what he was doing, or he had been doing this for a good while._

_The snake sannin had silently moved right behind the boy, intrigued as to why neither of the two guards stationed there had so much but heard him move, and he admired his handiwork. Sure, it was crude, and some hawks had already woken up, but it was also smart. The woken up hawks were left in peace, those who slept lost their eggs to his hands. Then, in silence, the boy had left through the aviary's window on the first floor, and that had showed Orochimaru his way in: a crude wooden grappling hook, tied to a tightly knitted rope that had been made out of bamboo fibers. He had been a lot interested in the boy since then, especially when he had discovered who he really was._

As they slowly made their way out of the area's proximity, Orochimaru smiled, slowly letting his body move underneath the tree, and into the ground, to keep a close eye on them, when the time would come, he'd simply jump up on their backs, he would have eagerly passed them, especially after what the Hokage had asked him to do, that being making them fail, but he simply did what HE wanted to do, that meaning, they had to show something interesting to pick his curiosity, if they wanted to become his Genin team.

It was three minutes later that Orochimaru realized the brats were moving towards the village, yet they hadn't said a single word, albeit being a bit worried, the Kunoichi had actually reeled in her pride at being the oldest, and had followed the two boys' counsel, for all the good it would do to them.

Well, they had just marked their own failure, even if they did try and hide somewhere in the village, it would just make things easier for him to track them down, though he could see the thought process of the blond boy: _"Kukuku if Orochimaru, the greatest Sannin out of the three, can merge with natural stuff, then maybe he can't do the same with concrete…kukuku…nice thought Naruto-kun, but it won't work with me…"_ he never said he wouldn't pursue them, he only said he'd give them fifteen minutes to hide, and of those, seven were already taken as the three reached the main gate.

"Itachi, Anko, I can't run to destination, so I'll have to ask you to carry me," Naruto whispered, just as his luck had deemed necessary to have the gates in the rush hour, as merchants carrying their wares made their roundabout trips.

"What's the destination?" Itachi queried, as Anko narrowed her eyes, she wasn't going to play babysitter on the boy: she had even yet to hear about the plan, for Kami's sakes! The boy *did* gift her of a shiny new kunai, so maybe she wouldn't try it on him, but never the less, she wanted explanations, and she wanted them on the moment!

"Ehi…"

"Not now," Naruto whispered, shaking his head, "When that wagon moves, you both start dashing, Mitarashi-san…I'm sorry, but could you please carry me?" he whimpered.

"Why would I? You do have two legs, don't you?" The Kunoichi replied while narrowing her eyes, she wasn't going to give out a free piggyback ride.

"Naruto-kun has a broken leg," Itachi pointed out, "and he wouldn't ask you if it wasn't necessary," the Uchiha said.

Anko looked for a brief moment, her jaw nearly unhinged, at the blond boy in question, the boy who was seven years old, with a broken leg, and broken legs don't heal in one day, that had taken the exam the day before, clearly, and that was now whimpering. He had to be in pain, clearly, and he had kept it all in. Well, so much for having a team of sucky kids, one of them clearly had balls of steel and wasn't a wussy.

"Fine, but if you grab a touch I'm breaking your other leg," the girl replied, as she turned around, to bring him up in piggy back style, "now what?"

"Itachi, you take point behind to the left, when I say *go* you throw this to your right side, okay?" as Naruto handed a smoke pellet to Itachi, the boy nodded, why the right side wasn't a thing he was going to question.

Underneath them, Orochimaru listened with a sort of interest to the boy's discussions: did they really think he was working on a sight-basis? He could feel tremors on the ground, their body heat, their chakra signatures, didn't they realize he had more than a hundred different ways to track them down? Whatever Itachi was going to throw wasn't going to help them, not in the slightest.

Then, when the wagon moved, so did the Genin group. In that moment, the horse carrying the wagon let their hoofs clop the ground, for a brief second disrupting the tremor-sense of the sannin, and, as Orochimaru seemed unfazed, he slowly collected once more the vibrations of the three running Genins, they were faint, however, and then, after a moment, they were no more. Puzzled, he decided to appear on the street, letting his gaze wonder where the brats had gone, seeing the smoke of a smoke pellet coming out from a side of an alleyway, he nodded at the thought…so the Genins had thrown it to the right side and had moved straightforwardly then. What was in that direction? The Hokage's monuments? The Sarutobi compound? Was that their destination? He didn't say anything about hiding into other people houses, heck, he only told them they had *not* to be caught by him in the five minutes after fifteen minutes of hiding, they were loose, set free, and they were doing their best, albeit it wasn't enough, obviously. He realized they would probably try and hide at his sensei's house, which did have wards for intruders, and would make it tougher for the snake Sannin to actually pursue them.

So that's where he went, going from rooftop to rooftop, and just as he went that way, in the alleyway, covered by the smoke, stood three very still Genins, all three holding their breaths and keeping their eyes closed.

"_Mitarashi-san smells of tea leaves,"_ Naruto thought, and, after a brief moment, just as the smoke dispersed, the blond boy whispered.

"We head back to start," it was nothing more than a murmur, and, as Itachi nodded, Anko followed, she did witness the boy's decision making, she just hoped it would work.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, reached the Sarutobi compound, and waited patiently, as he couldn't come out immediately, he wanted to wait all the fifteen minutes before *officially* giving chase, he slowly let his chakra prod at the compound's wards, finding an easy weak spot, and starting to expand it to try and pick off where the three could have been hidden. They didn't even seem to be in the compound that looked deserted, devoid of life.

"Orochimaru-kun," as an elderly voice talked to him, it made him relent from continuing his actions and turn around in the dark alleyway he was in, coming face to face with the ex-Hokage, who was smoking his pipe, while wearing loose black dojo robes, "Care to explain why you're probing my house's security?"

"Sensei," Orochimaru said, "I am testing my Genin team," he added.

"Did you ask them to infiltrate my house, as a Genin test?" Sarutobi queried, perplexed, "While I'm sure it would help with team working, there are far too many dangerous wards in there," he added.

"Actually no, I had them run while I gave chase, I think they thought it would be smart to hide from me in a tightly secure compound, obviously, if they can get in, so can I…but I don't know how, being Genins, they thought they could get in the third Hokage's compound," as he pointed that out, Hiruzen mulled a thought over a puff of smoke.

"I did set the wards to allow Naruto in, if he ever needed something…he's in your team, isn't he?" at that, Orochimaru nodded.

"Well, I can tell you this much, since I don't want to be unfair: they're not in there, Orochimaru-kun, the wards would have still warned me if somebody had entered the house, and since nobody did, there is no-one in there…seems they managed to trick you," as the old man said that with a smirk, the snake Sannin's eyes narrowed, he wasn't going to be played like a fool. Not if he could avoid it.

"I see," as he moved to leave, Hiruzen took one more puff, before letting his eyes wander on the man's back.

"_Orochimaru…I just hope the news I received about you aren't true, because if they were…just when did you stop being a human?" _

The Sannin moved backwards, using his highly enhanced senses to track down the three, they had to be somewhere in the village, right? Then he narrowed his eyes. No, he was thinking like any idiotic chuunin not even worth a split second of his time. They were led by an unpredictable Ninja, one who could enter the Konoha's aviary, avoiding detection, by self-creating a grappling hook from a broken chair and some bamboo fiber. They weren't in Konoha at all, so, the only other place they could actually be would be outside.

"Now, if I were a normal Genin, I'd hide near a river stream, or inside one, to avoid scent detection. Since, however, that's how *I* would think and thus would be where I would look, they must be in the last place I'd search for them…the starting point," Orochimaru chuckled, as he slowly made his way back, realizing, quite truthfully, that the thought had been dead-on.

He had been slow deliberately, as he would catch them up in the last three minutes, giving them hope, just to take it away, would be delicious.

The three Genins were precisely there, silent, albeit Orochimaru could smell the fear coming from the Kunoichi, the tension, barely hidden, from the blond boy, and the pretty well hidden nervousness of the Uchiha. He waited just for a brief second, before finally appearing in front of the three Genins, already expecting them to scramble away, or try running, instead, they simply sighed.

"Seems we got caught guys," Anko said, albeit her tone of voice was shaky, "I told you we shouldn't have believed the brat's words!" she exclaimed, grabbing Naruto by the collar of his jacket.

"Kukuku, well, it's not that I'm a legendary Sannin for nothing," Orochimaru smirked, as Itachi, for once, nodded.

"Orochimaru-san, we see there's little reason to continue this, it seems we will be forced to take another year at the academy, since any and all form of fighting or confrontation would clearly result in us being the losers, and with Naruto's broken leg, our attack power has been sufficiently cut off," as he said that, Anko's forehead bulged a tick mark.

"What is THAT meaning? Huh? Care to repeat, Stick-in-the-ass Uchiha? You mean this brat is stronger than me! I've got the best aim of all my class, and I was ranked third among the written test ranks!"

"Itachi ranked first always!" Naruto exclaimed back, still being held by the girl's hands by the collar, "And I was always second, so, clearly, I am stronger than you!"

"Oh now you're on brat! I'm going to wipe you on the floor and…"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he chuckled, before outright laughing out loud.

"Orochimaru-san?" Anko queried, gulping in fear.

"Oh Naruto-kun…really? You thought this trick would work?" The Sannin replied, as from the very ground, snakes sprouted to capture the three, "I have you all captured now, so I say you can go back to the academy, and look, you just had thirty seconds left of time," as he said that, pointing at the alarm bell, Naruto's turn to smirk came into view.

"Sensei, then I'm really a lucky guy, because I did tamper with the alarm bell of thirty-three seconds," as he finished speaking, the bell rang, letting his words enter Orochimaru's ears, who, mulling back his thoughts, let the three go, the boy wasn't lying, his snakes did pick that up, still, he didn't think he'd screw up on a matter of seconds.

"So you set it backwards? That was a nice trick, you used my arrogance against me, did you not?" still, recalling the time he had spent looking for them, there was something off. Maybe he had mistakenly taken one more minute, since he didn't actually have a watch, instead using the sun, and calculating minutes with the sun was sometimes impractical. The three stared at each other nervously, for a moment, before turning their gaze to Naruto who, scratching the back of his head, muttered after about half a minute.

"Well, yeah, the only problem, Orochimaru-sensei, is that I set the watch forward of thirty-three second, instead of backwards," as he sheepishly admitted that, Orochimaru's eyes bulged, wait, did that mean…

"Ku…Kukuku!" as the snake Sannin chuckled, he realized how far the boy had thought: if captured, the bell ringing would mean they would yield easily, be dropped, and then when the actual time was passed they'd claim freedom as the mean to pass the test. It was a double-edged sword, a gamble, because if Orochimaru hadn't dropped them, they'd still have lost, and that was the reason the tampering had been said of thirty-three seconds. To allow them freedom, without telling him if it was backwards or forwards.

"We start training tomorrow," Orochimaru said, with a grin, "let me look at your leg, Naruto-kun…I'll fix it," and as the blond boy moved closer, between the happy face of Anko, who had just scored being taught by the Snake Sannin himself, and Itachi, who was making a slight smile, Orochimaru gently pressed his right finger on the cast of the boy, cutting it open, and then, with a quick movement of the hand, set the bone and injected a cellular growth remedy…something he had created to try and mimic his teammate's Yin Release ability and Creation Rebirth. Adding a couple of painkillers to the mixture, and it would have his leg set in the next two hours, without even letting him feel pain.

"No training with it till tomorrow, though," their sensei said, as he got back up from the kneeling position he had been in, to *heal* Naruto's leg.

"And be here, punctually, at five in the morning sharp…no tampering with the clock, ever again," he added, the last words said with his golden eyes narrowed, and letting a threatening tone linger within them.

"Yes sensei!" the three Genins replied, nodding furiously, as they waited for their new sensei to leave, before dropping on the ground, panting and breathing raggedly from the fear, and the stress, of having passed the Genin test.

"Damn that was wicked!" Anko yelled, "Underneath the underneath stuff all the way! Brat, I like you!" as she lunged forward, hugging tightly Naruto, the blond boy slightly blushed at such a display of affection from the older girl, while Itachi's grin was becoming more like a permanent feature of his face.

"Let's go eat some dangos to celebrate then!" the purple-haired Kunoichi exclaimed, standing back up, her cheery attitude strangely contagious, as Naruto and Itachi followed her.

The Uchiha was sure his father would have a heart attack, knowing that his son was getting training from none other than the snake Sannin himself, while his mother would probably smile at the thought of him being in the same team as Naruto. Itachi was glad the boy had been in his team. Without his philosophy of underneath the underneath, they would have probably failed, badly, from the very start, instead Naruto held true to what every shinobi should think, in every single moment: better safe than sorry, and break all patterns to get the upper hand.

Anko, on the other hand, was chuckling, she just had two young boys she could probably mold to view her as a sort of princess, once her charm worked full way, and through the use of dango, which meant food, she'd grab them by the stomach, of that she was sure.

"Oh, by the way," Anko said as they neared the dango stall, "Everyone pays his own, I'm not offering," as she said that, Naruto winced slightly, before mentally shrugging, as Itachi sighed, he was starting to get it as a bad habit, sighing.

"Shouldn't elders set the example?" The Uchiha queried, as a nervous tick mark appeared on Anko's forehead.

"Are you calling me old, brat?" Anko replied, her tone threatening.

"No, but stingy should be used to describe you," Itachi replied, as the girl's eyes narrowed.

"Listen up, clan-boy, I'm sure you get a weekly allowance that's higher than my monthly check for being an orphan, and since this month I'm going to be a Genin, until missions roll in I'll be short on cash, so, you can suck it up and pay your own dangos, or you can watch me eat mine, most graciously, I must add," as she said the last sentence, Itachi's eyes softened.

"Oh…sorry, I didn't…"

"You didn't know? Well yeah, it's not like I go around parading it," Anko replied, getting her own dango stick, as, on the other hand, Itachi took one too, and realizing only then that Naruto had been waiting for them a bit far from the stall.

"The other brat is not getting any? Does he feed on souls or…" she didn't finish the sentence, because Itachi's gaze on her was nearly murderous, making her stop and slightly pale.

"Do not insult him without knowing, and don't you dare joke on him…" Itachi whispered, "If you think you have it tough, he has it tougher," as he muttered that, he moved closer to Naruto, resuming his normal smirk.

"You don't like Dangos, right?" Itachi asked his fellow teammate, who nodded with an awry smile, while Itachi knew that wasn't the truth, since the boy ate anything, as long as it was edible, he knew that the sole other reason would be monetary, and Naruto was simply too prideful to accept a dango stick from him: he never wanted charity.

"Well, tomorrow, after training, we'll go have ramen at Ichiraku's then, it's just fair we all take turns with food," at those words, Anko mentally recalled how Ichiraku did have cheap ramen, even cheaper than her dangos…so she actually could go too, was the boy surviving on ramen, whereas she survived on Dangos?

Sure he was a Jinchuuriki, but he once was a member of the Namikaze clan, damn, he once was the son of the Fourth Hokage! He'd just been disowned for what, two years? Didn't he have any money on him when they kicked him out? Or a bank account, rich kids already had bank accounts, didn't they?

"Say kid," Anko started, turning her gaze to Naruto, who looked back in wait for the question, while Itachi was slightly tensing, if the girl tried anything, respect for age to be damned, he'd fling a kunai through her back, "you should speak up if you don't like Dangos!" she cheerily said, making Itachi mentally sigh, as Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"I didn't want to disrespect you, Mitarashi-san," as the blond boy said that, with such a cute tone, Anko's eyes sparkled, making Itachi tense, just for another, completely different, reason.

"Aw! You're so kawaii!" as the girl said that, hugging the lights out of the blond kid, literally rocking him left and right in her tight hug, Itachi sweat-dropped…well, maybe it was fellowship between tough childhoods?

"Yoh!" the exclamation came from a silver-haired Jounin, who suddenly appeared in the middle of the road, bright orange covered book in hand, and staring with his only visible eye, the other covered by his forehead protector, at the Genin group, "I heard congratulations are in order, Naruto-kun!"

"Hatake-san," Naruto replied, politely bowing his head, as the Jounin's face lit up, yeah, the boy knew perfectly well how to address his elders with respect, he was just the most polite student ever…the copy-cat ninja had found it of no trouble at all to teach him some basics, or give him pointers.

"Wait, isn't that the copy-cat ninja Kakashi Hatake? The son of the white fang?" as Anko said that, pointing towards the silver-haired Jounin, the boy in question, of sixteen years old, closed his book, to give an eye-smile to the purple-haired kunoichi.

"Hatake-san and Naruto-kun know each other since a while ago…" Itachi explained briefly, as Naruto walked forward, a lot less limping than mere minutes ago, with a sort of small smile on his face.

"Well, a promise is a promise," Kakashi said, as he handed the boy a small Tanto, "Now that you're a Genin, I expect you to keep to heart your promises, got it?"

"Yes, Kakashi-san," at the change of way to call him, the silver-haired Jounin nodded, mentally holding within his head a *Victory* sign.

In the Hokage's tower, meanwhile, Minato Namikaze banged his fist against his desk.

"I told you to make him fail!" he exclaimed, glad for the soundproof walls more than ever, in that moment, and the privacy seals.

"It appears, Hokage-sama," Orochimaru hissed the last part with ill-hidden disdain, "That he has undeniable qualities for being a shinobi, and for that alone he would be more than worthy of being taken as an apprentice by myself, exclusively…but since you barred that out, I took his team, and they all passed," as he finished speaking, Minato's blue eyes shot an accusing glance at the snake Sannin.

"They passed, or you made them pass?" he queried, "A legendary Sannin played for a fool by three Genins? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"I would never claim such a thing, Hokage-sama," Orochimaru held barely the need to add a sarcastic tone in his voice, "but whether that is the truth or not, it does not matter: I passed them, they are a team, and I will take them on missions, and train them to become the very best," the tone wasn't an overly enthusiastic one, or a promise one, it loomed in the air like a sort of threat, each word carefully placed in a way to signal that indeed, he'd train them, but maybe he'd do that for purposes other than what one could think about…and mostly life threatening.

"Well then tomorrow afternoon, they will have the honor, together with you, to go on their first mission, a D-rank one," as Minato finished speaking, the window's glass panels neatly creaked, lightly, like if some sort of pressure had suddenly been applied against them.

"Hokage-sama," Orochimaru hissed, his eyes narrowing, "I say they can start with C-missions as soon as I finish training them," as he said that, Minato's blue eyes lit up, together with his face assuming a cheesy grin.

"Good thing then, that I am the Hokage, since you will be doing D-rank missions until there are no more available," as his tone was sort of happy, as he said that, Orochimaru simply turned to leave.

"I will not tell a Hokage that he is making a mistake…I did it once, and it didn't work," and without turning around, he was already out of the office.

"_Him as Hokage?" the screech had been the first possible display of emotions that weren't glee, laughter, sadness, or things like that, it was pure rage, something that the pale man had never shown, before. _

"_Orochimaru-kun…He'll do what the village needs before what he, himself, need…that's what being a Hokage means: to put the village first, before anyone else, could you really do that, my student?"_

_Obviously, Orochimaru hadn't replied immediately, but then his eyes had narrowed, and he has hissed, back at his teacher, the Third Hokage._

"_You are making a mistake, Hokage-sama," and with those cold, harsh, words, Orochimaru had left the office, not caring that Jiraiya, that old fool, had tried to stop him from doing so. He didn't need to hear his sensei's talk about how they should help and counsel the soon to be new Hokage._

Minato turned his gaze once more to the village that thrived and spread its strength and influence under his guide.

"To be the Hokage, one must put the village before his own needs, his own interests…I fail at that, it seems," and with an awry smile, he turned once more to fight off against his most horrible enemy: Paperwork.

In the meantime, Kakashi had left the Genin group to their own devises, and the three were now sitting on a bench, in the park, which, even though it was crowded with people, had left them in a sort of hole, devoid of noise, and the few who had to pass near the bench, to get somewhere, did so quickly, and with an utterly nervous look on them.

"Hey brat," Anko said, in a teasing tone, "Can I ask you a question?" as she asked Itachi, the Uchiha raised an eyebrow before waiting what the question actually was.

"You're of the Uchiha clan, right? So, where's your sharingan?"

Itachi sighed: it was a common misconception that being an Uchiha meant having the sharingan, some never awoke it, others did late, others did soon…it depended.

"It might come out soon, or later, or it might not come out at all," as he finished saying that, Anko nodded, before tapping slightly on her knees.

"Well, let's get to know each other better! My name is Mitarashi Anko, you can call me Anko-sama, or Anko-san," as she said that, she turned to Naruto, saying with a grin, "You can call me Anko-chan!" then, resuming her speech, she added, "I've got a hell of a good aim, and my reflexes are top notch, I'm also very studious, by the way, and my favorite spot is in the library!"

"I wouldn't have thought that, Anko-chan," Naruto muttered, looking at the purple-haired girl, who was staring perplexed at the boy, was he really teasing her? Did she completely misread his character? "You seem so much cheery I thought you'd like hanging around the commercial district, like all over girls…What's funny now? Why are you repressing a chuckle?" as the boy queried that, perplexed, Anko couldn't help herself: the boy wasn't rude even when he expressed his opinion.

"Well, nothing, nothing at all, what about you, Naruto-kun?" as she queried that, the blond boy replied.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki…you know that already, and I'm good at surviving, and I can hide very well," saying those things, especially the first one, with a lot of pride, made Anko sweat-drop, was *surviving* something to be proud of?

"Naruto-kun can enter high-security areas with little problem," Itachi added, seeing as his friend was selling himself short, "he can also come up, like you have seen, with more than one way of dealing with a problem. His Henge is top-stuff, sometimes even the Uchiha guards are caught by it," as he finished speaking, Anko whistled.

"Well, if you did get promoted ahead of time it just meant you had to be good, didn't you? What about you, clan's boy?"

"Can I please be called Itachi-kun?" Itachi queried, as Anko's face lit up with a teasing tone.

"Oh…jealous I call Naruto-kun with the kun?" as the girl ruffled the blond boy's hair, the blue eyed boy whined, while Itachi simply sighed, he was going to get old really fast, he had a feeling about it.

"No, but I do believe it would help if we consider each other equals, instead of bringing up hierarchies or age gaps," as Itachi pointed that out, Anko frowned for a moment, but then shook her head in dismissal.

"Fine, fine, Itachi-kun, your proud and beautifully mature Kunoichi teammate will take care of everything! Now spill the beans! What can you do?"

"I know how to do the Katon jutsus typical of the Uchiha clan, and I was first in Genjutsu practice and use," Itachi pointed out, only for Naruto, this time, to butt in.

"Itachi-kun knows how to do those cool things with chakra that make it seem sort of like a dream, like him turning into crows or things like that! He's sometimes better than me at Taijutsu, but that depends if he gets first strike in or not!"

"I see…you two look out for each other a lot, huh?" Anko said, actually feeling a bit jealous. Sure, she had friends, but these two looked like having come out from a bucolic story about male friendships…that usually turned a bit dirtier because of said Kunoichi's devious mind.

"I think it would be irresponsible to leave Naruto-kun alone…for the safety of the village," Itachi said, with a smirk, as Anko raised an eyebrow…was he afraid of the Kyuubi? But then, Naruto didn't seem much puzzled by that, so what was the deal?

"So you're afraid of…" as she began talking, Itachi realized the misunderstanding, and chuckled.

"No, not that! He is truly a force to be reckoned with, but not because of what he harbors: left alone he tends to get himself into really dangerous situations…for him and for those next to him. Like that time he strolled into the Anbu department," at those words, Naruto winced, recalling the scene.

"It wasn't my fault! What did I know that tree stumps aren't supposed to be hollow? I was just curious! I did get myself some nice stuff though, but it's too big for me to use anyway," as soon as the blond boy said that, Anko raised an eyebrow.

"Nice stuff?" Naruto nodded at the question.

"Yeah…want to see it? My apartment is nearby," he replied.

"Oh…already making a move on your teammate? That won't work gaki, but you got me curious, who knows what it *could* be…" as they hopped off the bench, Anko's mind was filled with thoughts about giant magic Katanas or enormous juggernaut like armors, or dango-maces, or things like that.

As they slowly made their way towards his apartment, the blond boy grew incredibly quiet, until he simply stopped just on the hallway that would lead to his door, which was slightly open.

"Could you wait here for a moment, please?" Naruto whispered to the two, as he moved closer, towards the open door and entering it after a brief moment of uncertainty, actually showing off a bit of fear, while doing that.

"What, hiding the porn stash? I don't care!" Anko exclaimed, just as Itachi's gaze narrowed slightly, before turning to face the kunoichi.

"You remember my previous words?" The Uchiha whispered, as the purple-haired girl looked back at him, perplexed, "Well, let's go," and with that, Itachi entered the apartment, followed by Anko, who, however, stopped on the doorstep.

To say the room was trashed was to say her room was tidy. Her room was a mess, but that was because she didn't keep much of an order. His room? His room had been stomped, his pillows torn apart, there was a dead dog's carcass in a corner couple of weeks old, that sent an horrible stench throughout the room, paint marks covered in red obscenities the boy's walls, the few clothes he had had been tattered and trashed, and what little remained of salvageable wasn't even good for a single night. In the middle of the mess, Naruto was simply, and calmly, moving the broken pieces of his bed out of the way, sighing in relief as he removed a wooden loose plank, taking out an actual adult trench coat, and what seemed like a Kunai pouch, followed by a frog-like wallet, and then, after putting the pouch and the wallet in his inner pockets, he turned to stare for a brief second, with a shocked face, at the two who had entered his apartment.

"Well…seems there's been a theft in here," he said, carefully, trying a smile, that simply looked too fake to be real.

"Did they steal anything?" Itachi queried, slowly, but as Naruto shook his head, the Uchiha's eyes turned a bit sad.

"Naruto…it's not a theft if they don't steal stuff, this is plain vandalism, come on, you could sleep…"

"Itachi, no," Naruto replied, shaking his head, "I'll just need to survive another month, maybe two or three, with the mission money coming in, I might be able to rent an apartment on my own, and that should be enough," he added.

"Ehm…Gaki," Anko said, in a barely audible whisper, "You know you can have another apartment assigned to you by the Hokage, right?"

"I could…but I won't trouble him," the tone in which he said that, however, was meaning something else, it was him, the blond boy, that didn't want to deal with the Hokage, and not out of sympathy, "And I'm going to be fine, really," he added, as Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"Fine, but you will file a formal accusation against unknown, at least it should force the Hokage to cash out money for the repairs," at that, Naruto shook his head.

"You know how it would end, Itachi, come on, I already did it once: they'll find out that I didn't close the door, or that the window wasn't safely locked, and the fault will be on me, and I'll have to pay for the damages myself," his smile was making Anko's heart hurt, it was simply so much…resigned.

"Ehi now!" the purple-haired Kunoichi snapped, "I ain't having a whiny boy as a teammate, you need to get some balls and go talk with that man, come on, he was your father for Kami's sakes, he should at least…"

"Anko! That's enough!" Itachi yelled, for once, he actually yelled that, a seven years old yelling to an eleven years, going for twelve, actually, years old, and as he did that, Naruto's face simply darkened, looking on the ground, while Anko stood silent, she knew the boy had been disowned, it had made a bit of a ruckus, especially since the reason given had been *disrespect* of the clan head. Yet Naruto did seem such a polite boy, so surely it had to be political, maybe…she didn't believe a father would actually hate his own son, right?

"Ouch, got some dust in the eyes," Naruto muttered letting his sleeve wipe his eyes for a moment, "Well, anyway, this is what I took from the Anbus," handing the trench coat to Anko, the kunoichi realized his eyes had a little water in them…probably the dust.

"_Yeah, earth calls Anko, he's still seven years old, you can't expect him not to cry, come on, you cried your own fair deal too! Now stop being a prick and hug the poor boy," _that was probably the genetic instincts tied into any female since birth, that made them immediately fawn over a crying boy, at least, the majority of them. Still, she decided to break the tension in the air, by unraveling the trench coat, and admiring it for a moment, putting it on, she realized she at least needed a good growth spurt more, before being able to wear it without stumbling.

"Well! IT'S nice and all, a bit big, but it should be a nice fit for you in five or six years," as she said that, Naruto meekly smiled.

"You can have it," he whispered, "I don't know if I'll be around in five or six years, after all," as he finished saying that, Anko's face was puzzled.

"Now come on, no need to be so macabre!" the purple-haired girl said, "Sure being a shinobi is a sure way to die young, but with me around, don't you worry, I'll keep an eye out for your back!" as the girl tapped on the boy's shoulder, and did the same on Itachi, she added.

"I'll be here also for clan boy, I'm sure he needs some time off from babysitting," as pouts and sighs echoed in the room, a new team with tight bonds saw the light of their first day together...

Their second day, on the other hand, saw Anko at five in the morning being hauled off the bed by a giant snake, while an apologetic, and still half sleepy, Itachi, stood tightly into the spires of another one. Naruto was the only one spared said treatment, as he also *was* the only one dressed.

"Training begins now," as a perfectly dressed in Jounin-sensei attire Orochimaru said that, Anko muttered.

"But sensei, you said five in the morning! It's barely three!"

"I lied, you should have expected me to do that," the snake Sannin replied, before hopping off, from roof to roof, followed closely by Naruto, who had a small backpack held tightly to himself, and then, the three reached the training grounds, and there, the snakes dispersed in smoke, and as two still in pajamas Genins started to slight shiver, Naruto's gaze was a bit sad, as he rummaged through his pack.

"Now, first rule I want you to follow: Always be ready for anything," the golden-eyed ninja said, "I don't care if you're in the bathroom, if you're having a fever or if you're sleeping, when I come around to get you for training, I expect you to be ready to train, forget your equipment, and you will do the exercises, even if you have to build your own shurikens to do so, understood?"

"H…Hai sensei!" Anko muttered, her hands strongly rubbing her arm's sides, trying to warm herself up from the cold breeze of the night.

"How?" Itachi's question was more referred to how Orochimaru had managed to slip inside the Uchiha compound, with a giant snake, and move out of there without being noticed, especially by the guards.

"Well, that's a shinobi's secret," as the snake Sannin spoke, his mouth forming a small grin, he looked with a moment of surprise at Naruto, who had taken out a chocolate bar, and had neatly cut it in half, giving one part, with a deliberately careful and polite gesture, to Anko, and the other to Itachi, who took his half and, splitting it in half, handed the quarter back to Naruto, who nodded, before turning to Orochimaru to hand it over.

"Chocolate?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, puzzled, it *was* the first time one of his Genins actually had the guts, the gull, or maybe simply the audacity to offer him…chocolate, usually some annoying Kunoichi would go all out and bring him flowers, or boxes of chocolates, things he wouldn't accept at all, but this gesture from the boy...it simply seemed deliberately made with a precise objective, and he was just curious about what it could be.

"It's cold outside," Naruto replied, "chocolate makes one warmer," he pointed out.

For a brief moment, nobody spoke a single word, not even daring to take a bite of the chocolate, as Anko, sheepishly, broke her own piece in two, she couldn't eat half and leave the boy without a piece, after all.

Orochimaru, after what seemed like an eternity, slowly used two of his finger to grab his quarter, and just as Anko gave half of her half to the boy, everyone slowly ate the quarter worth of chocolate, in an utterly silent moment of sheer impossibility…that however, happened.

"_If Jiraiya saw me, I'm pretty sure he'd use this as a way for his research…well, the boy was said to be unpredictable…but I never expected this much, it will prove to be interesting to teach this group, it seems," _as the thought lingered for a moment, the Snake Sannin pointed at Itachi.

"I'm sure you know the Katon jutsus of your clan," as the boy nodded, Orochimaru spoke to the entire team, adding, "and, while I'm pretty sure you lot do not possess the necessary capacities to use other elemental jutsus effectively right now, especially since you still need to develop the chakra control and chakra reserves, I'll teach you methods to refine your chakra needs for the techniques: by the time you'll finish this, you should be able to effectively half the chakra cost for jutsus…first step, however, is to climb that tree," as he said that, he pointed to the tree in question, a normal looking tree in the middle of the training ground.

"That's…easy!" Anko said, as she dashed towards it, quickly using her hands and her feet to climb it, she wasn't an expert, but she had the strength of desperation, and she did want to warm up, and go home as quickly as possible.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!" a small amount of wind blew her on the ground, making her wince in pain as she ended up in a bush, that luckily held no thorns, or painful stuff like scattered kunais forgotten after practice hours.

The latter wasn't there not because of luck, but because Naruto did take some time every night to clean through the training grounds, and scavenge anything he could use for his own benefit.

"Ouch! What was that for, sensei?" Anko whined, getting slowly back on her feet.

"You must climb it by using chakra, like this," a bit frowning, Orochimaru simply defied gravity, letting his feet stand on the bark of the tree, as he climbed it, but only of about two steps, not wanting to waste time, and then simply jumping down from it, with practiced ease.

"Wow! What do we have to do for that, sensei?" as the Kunoichi asked it, once more, the golden eyes of Orochimaru turned to the other two boys, and, seemingly sporting a grin, the snake sannin replied.

"Kukuku ask Itachi-kun…he should be familiar with this exercise…I'll come back when you all have passed the exercise, don't worry about that," and as Orochimaru turned to leave, he was a really busy man, even at three in the morning, Anko's gaze turned to Itachi.

"Well…" Itachi said, "You concentrate chakra to the sole of your feet, and once you're done, you should be able to stick them to the surface of the wall, or in this case, tree bark, with ease…you need just the right amount though…too much and the bark breaks, too little and it doesn't stick," as the Uchiha finished pointing that out, he demonstrated it by walking all the way to the top of the tree.

"This works also on walls, to reach windows, apartments, and with correct usage, you can even walk on water, paper doors and the likes," Naruto added, to the purple-haired girl's surprise.

"So you got this down too?" as she queried that, Naruto nodded.

"Itachi showed it to me, and I learned it… it is survival material," as the blond boy said that with a small smile, he added, "Itachi-kun, you can go home and get your clothes, possibly a spare change for Anko-chan too? In the meantime we'll start, while I trust Anko-chan will get this down soon, she might still take some time, you should use it," and with that, Itachi nodded, dashing off.

Orochimaru, hidden nearby, couldn't repress a grin…already a team, and already there was a leader, a worker and obviously a weak link…he'd have fun messing around with them, oh he would.

*Some months later*

Taru, Teru, Tiru, Tara, Tuna, Tiara, and finally Tora, those were the names of the cats the daimyo's wife possessed, all of them found dead, only their furs, with little to no blood, delivered to the palace's door with a sign saying that animals shouldn't be lost, especially with recent cuts in funds issued to the war orphans, or things like that.

Obviously, there was no proof that Orochimaru, or his Genin team, had done it, but it was starting to be the common murmur, that somebody captured, skinned the pets of the Daimyo, and then ate them with stew. That was stupid: Naruto could swear that cat stew tasted horrible. Now, cat barbeque on the other hand was a different thing. Still, without a cat to hunt, the D missions around town finally came to an end.

As always, the team had Orochimaru standing behind them, Anko in first line, Itachi to her right, Naruto behind the two and leaning towards hiding as much of his body as possible from the Hokage's view, who, saying nothing, simply looked over the mission roster.

"It appears there are no D-rank mission any longer," he muttered, "Which seems strange," he added, turning his gaze to Iruka, who, however, had nothing to say, it could happen, and they had been lucky coming in for another one during said period.

"So we'll get a C-rank finally? I mean, Hokage-sama…we've been on over fifty-seven D-rank missions till now, we have cleaned the Aburame's hives, the Inuzuka Kennels, the Akimichi latrines," and that wasn't a good thing, as Anko's face showed disgust just by saying that, "the Yamanaka flower shop has been rearranged, the Uchiha compound is sparkling clean," that day Mikoto had actually started chuckling, and hadn't stopped till they had finished their work…something about seeing her son and his friend using dustpans simply had made her start giggling like a mad-woman, "the Nara clan has all their deers accounted for and vaccinated," a troublesome thing, certainly, "and the Hyuga had the new dojo mats placed, we did all the works that any sucky Genin team should do, we want a higher level mission!" as Anko exclaimed that in the end, Iruka's forehead showed a nervous tick mark.

"Is that the way to show respect to the Hokage, brat!"

"Kukuku, is that the way to talk to one of my personally trained Genins?" Orochimaru replied, his eyes narrowing on the chuunin-sensei that paled slightly, before turning to the Hokage whose clear blue eyes had settled on the group, before muttering.

"Fine," at that, the group sighed in relief, except Naruto, who kept being tense, "There *is* a C-rank mission available: you are to head to Tanzaku town, and once there, retrieve a package from the famous doll-maker Kokuyo, and bring it back here. It will be your first time out of the village: you are to expect nothing more than a long-term trip, but once you do retrieve the package, know that the doll inside *is* precious and highly sought…expect thieves to try and claim it," as the Hokage finished speaking, Orochimaru's smile was something warranting a bit of a worry, but the Snake Sannin simply nodded accepting the scroll with more details on the mission, turning to leave together with his Genin team, not before having done one of his famous, and trademarked, chuckles.

The group slowly reached for the gate, without moving to pack up stuff, since there was no need to: by now they knew how their sensei worked, a combination of doing things immediately, without beating around. You either had to be prepared to take any mission, at any moment, or you were to be prepared to be sorely beaten, defeated, or in some other way humiliated by still going on the mission, but without the equipment. Meaning that once, Anko had found herself forced to do a D-rank mission of weeding the grass with her pajama still on, and no amount of plead or prayers had moved their sensei. You either were ready when he came to get you, or you weren't, and you paid the price. There was neither sympathy nor hate: it was just the job description, and Orochimaru followed it by the rule. He seemed to care about the wellbeing of his team, but only when he found it would be worth his time, thus Itachi had simply been given pointers, Naruto had barely received much attention, and Anko had been toughened up to be on par with the other two. The Uchiha didn't need to be fawned on to grow, and neither did Naruto, the girl, on the other hand, cherished on such display of interest, and, while having developed a bit of an arrogant side, she kept it mostly in check.

As the group departed from the gates, Anko, sporting a smug grin, stretched for a brief second, letting her fishnet shirt loose for a moment, as she wore a dark green jacket on top of it, closed till her cleavage area, which was still sorely lacking. She had a pale purple skirt, that, while not being extremely short, wasn't all that long ever, to guarantee mobility.

Itachi had a plain brown shirt, with the Uchiha symbol on the back, dark beige shorts and a small belt with kunai pouches.

Naruto had a seemingly normal grey long sleeved jacket, underneath which a stint black shirt was visible, his trousers, long and cream color, finished in a sort of leaf motif. Needless to say, shopping at night hours, when the shop is closed, doesn't warrant for much time to pick a choice of clothes.

Orochimaru obviously knew of the boy's nightly activities, but he said nothing, he had done so in the past, and he still did that, albeit recently his targets had been more…lively, he was just sure that one night, he'd be going one way on the rooftops with a big closed sack, with some new test subject inside, and he'd cross Naruto going the other way with stolen clothes, and they'd simply salute each other without problems, both going their way with a grin on their face.

"Tanzaku town is known for being a gambling den, and is filled with casinos," Anko said, true to her words, she was a bookworm, and since she couldn't go check their destinations beforehand, she had come to terms to memorize at least a geography book, to always know something of where they were meant to be going.

"Is this Kokuyo guy famous?" Naruto queried, seeing as he never, ever, saw a doll, nor played with one.

"He is, actually," Itachi said, "I overheard my mother saying how glad she was I wasn't born female…so she wouldn't have to gift me one of his dolls, some get to cost as high as two hundred thousand ryo," as Naruto's eyes blinked for a moment, the blond boy turned to Orochimaru.

"Ehm…sensei?" the snake Sannin's eyes turned with interest to the boy.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"How much are two hundred thousand ryo?" at the question, Orochimaru sighed.

"Naruto, Ramen, the priciest one with everything inside, costs no more than a two hundred ryos…so, imagine two thousands of those ramen," as Naruto slightly moved his head to the side, mulling the thought over, he suddenly realized something…

"So, basically, instead of a doll of his, we could feed the entire village on ramen for lunch?" at that, Orochimaru nodded.

"So instead, someone bought this *doll* right?" Once more, Orochimaru nodded.

"What idiot would do something that stupid?" at that, Anko sighed, well, it was stupid to her too, but it was life: some people had it rough, and others had it easier.

"There are a lot of people, Naruto-kun, who would do that, Daimyos, for example, have a lot of money, and they can use it as they wish, but anyone with a lot of cash could buy it, think about it: Sensei has done a lot of S-rank missions, he is very rich, he could probably buy two thousands of those dolls if he wished for it, just like, with the money for a single doll, you could buy two thousands ramen from Ichiraku, thus…it depends on the person's own possibilities," Itachi explained, slowly.  
"Duh, but if you want one of those dolls so badly you can always steal it," at that reply from Naruto, Orochimaru chuckled.

"Naruto! Stealing is bad! Sensei, Naruto isn't stealing anything, at all, I know it!" Anko said immediately, just as Orochimaru's chuckle turned into a small smile.

"A shinobi is first and foremost a thief, Anko-chan," the snake Sannin said, "we steal information, we steal treasures or weapons needed for our own cause, we steal lives from our enemies. A shinobi is also a murderer, a tool, a weapon, an object, it is also a person, and a human being. There are many faces to the coin called shinobi, so stealing, while certainly illegal, is only bad if you get caught," as the pale-skinned man finished talking, his golden eyes set themselves on Itachi, who said nothing, thus making him add, "albeit I shouldn't probably say this with the son of the private Konoha police department's chief in my team."

"Stealing to survive isn't stealing," Itachi spoke, after a brief quiet moment, "It's simply balancing the scale, stealing for fun, money, or for the sheer thrill of it, that's what is wrong."

"Well, if that's your opinion…just don't let Fugaku-san catch you saying that," with Orochimaru's warning, silence fell once more for the trip, until at the first night of rest, while Naruto was doing the first turn of guard duty, Anko suddenly sat down next to him.

"So…you like the Ichiraku's girl?" she asked, in an innocent tone, making the boy's face turn slightly sad.

"No…I can't," he replied, in a murmur, his head shaking.

"And why can't you?" Anko queried, perplexed.

"After…the Kyuubi stuff, and the seal…the Hokage declared me a hero, you know? He said it out loud, *My son is a hero! He harbors the Kyuubi in him, and thus is a hero to be respected* then, the next day, I was forced to pack few things, and thrown into an orphan apartment, claiming I was a danger for myself, and those around me…" his tone grew bitter, "And I was disowned for disrespecting the clan leader, and with that, the Hero that Jailed the Kyuubi became simply the Kyuubi in a human skin, everyone feared me, they thought I had even attacked the Hokage himself, since he did sport some bandages later on…probably cut himself to act the wounded part," Naruto muttered, his eyes wincing, "and finally, after a while, he came back, offering me to come back…only if I stopped being a shinobi," Naruto had a smirk, on his face, "I wanted to know why, why he did that, why couldn't he do that in the beginning? What was his game, his reasons, I wanted to know…and he didn't tell me, he said only a Hokage could have understood…that's the day I decided I'd seek the truth out…" as Naruto spoke quietly, he threw another wooden stick into the fire, unknown to him Orochimaru was obviously wide awake, and keen on listening.

"How does that tie to the Ichiraku's girl?" Anko queried.

"Well…Before everything started…before being a Jinchuuriki, having the Kyuubi inside, I usually went with my mother there, you know? She was my same age…so we became friends, and I usually came around to play with her and Itachi, that's why Itachi doesn't have a stick up his ass like half the Uchiha of the compound…no offense for them," as he said that, he could have sworn Itachi had mumbled *none taken*, but he was sleeping, right?

"Get to the point boy, the point!" Anko whined, why couldn't he just get to the damn point? It annoyed her to see a seven years old speak like one of her age group.

"I didn't go back to Ichiraku's for a while, and when I finally did, she was scared, in the beginning," the smile was awry, as he recollected that memory.

_Well, he officially had gone long enough without food. He was starving. He had some money in his pockets, and he knew they'd be enough for some salt ramen. It was his mother's, or well, his ex-mother's favorite, and he could get only one…but he was hungry, he didn't know what to do with the paper slip, the guy who had delivered had just thrown it at his face, after spitting on it, so he had no idea what to do with it…was it a spit cleaner? Did spit cleaners actually exist? In the end, he was starving, and he was there. Usually he would have simply entered, saying the normal greeting, right now, however, he was afraid he'd scare them, make them kick him out, he was still a bit suffering from his shoulder wound, but not that much any longer, so…he slowly moved in, his eyes nervously glancing at the face of Teuchi, who had stopped in his doings to look at him with a perplexed face, Naruto could see the shock, he could see it, he couldn't hold that feeling of pain in his soul any longer, his heart ached but it was fine, yet he did manage to meekly say._

"_Hi," it was all he could say, his throat was a bit parched, even though water had been his sole companion for a while, being tap water something his apartment had. His one room had a small sink, and that was all that he had eaten…or drank…even if to just pass time._

"_Hello, Naruto-kun, what would you like to order?" Teuchi had asked the boy, trying a smile, as the boy seemed, to him, like a rabbit ready to sprint out, away from there, at the minimum noise._

"_One salt ramen, please, Ichiraku-san," Naruto muttered meekly, taking a seat and staring hard at the counter, his gaze not even daring to look upwards, from fear, he was actually shivering, slightly, and the back of his jacket seemed torn in a point, and a dirt red color._

_Teuchi had frowned, the boy was doing his best to be as formal as possible, the rumors of him being disrespectful were clearly false, but more than that, the problem was that he couldn't believe someone could disown a child over saying *No* to a parent, would he disown Ayame for saying *No* to him? No he wouldn't! A kid shouldn't be disowned, but taught. _

"_Coming right up, Ayame-chan, help me out," the girl was behind the counter, and, nodding to her father, moved to help, but her gaze, every time it stopped to look at Naruto, it seemed a bit frightened, something that the boy picked up, when, every now and then, he let his gaze wander from the hard counter's surface to the broth cooking, the salt being added, and finally the bowl being served to him, as he meekly nodded and began eating, in silence._

_It was filled with nervousness, the air around them. The boy wasn't being his usual smiling self, but nobody could fault him, and as he slowly ate his ramen, Teuchi could actually see the boy was famished, he knew malnourishment when he saw it, and so, as he prepared another bowl, he could hear the meek voice of the boy ask._

"_Here…I've got to…"_

"_Wait a moment, Naruto-kun!" as Teuchi said that, trying his best comforting tone, Naruto stopped dead on his tracks like a deer when a loud noise startled one, it would be a quick split-second decision, either he'd calm the boy down in a second, or he'd see him running away like a thunderbolt._

"_Another's coming up on the house, it's a special day today, after all," as he said that, Naruto slowly sat down, looking perplexed at the man, and at Ayame. Normally, he would have already asked, but it would be rude, wouldn't it?_

_So, when the bowl came, one of the really costly one, and thus the biggest, Naruto's face was a mixture of joy and happiness, and as he turned to stare at Teuchi, with a puzzled expression, the man replied._

"_Well, today's the day my favorite customer came back to my stall…remember kid: I have only one law, I never kick out any customer. No matter who he is," and with that, Naruto nodded, eagerly, for once, exclaiming *Itadakimasu*, as he began eating with gusto._

"_Naruto-kun…" Ayame muttered, after a moment, staring at the boy who stopped eating, a sort of panicked expression on his face, as he had dropped being polite! Would that mark him out as one of the favorite customers? He hoped not…_

"_Did you become the Kyuubi?" as she asked that, Teuchi nearly paled, if there was one thing that he didn't expect, was his daughter to actually ask a question he himself didn't want her to ask, he would have explained how it was impossible for something like that to happen, the boy was clearly Naruto, no matter how you looked at him! There was no way he could be anything else! Especially that enormous nine tailed fox!_

"_I…I don't know," Naruto replied, "I don't feel any different…I just have this…tattoo on my right shoulder, but that's all there is…"_

"_Oh…thank Kami," Ayame said while sighing out a large amount of air, in relief, "I was scared I'd have to beat the crap out of you to get Naruto-kun back."_

"…_What?" That question was asked by both a startled Teuchi and Naruto, at the same time, while they looked at the adorable five years old girl, who staring back carefully, had left her frying pan gently drop on the counter._

"_What is it, Otou-san? Hana-chan said that I should always beat the crap out of people I don't like. I don't like the Kyuubi, but I like Naruto-kun," that made Teuchi cough slightly, as Naruto seemingly didn't understand at all._

"_I…see you're very honest about that," and with that, Teuchi sighed, having avoided a crisis, but having potentially generated a worst one in the years to come._

"You know she basically told you she liked you, right? Two years ago…I'd say you could return the feeling already," Anko pointed out, and, at that moment, Naruto's gaze turned upwards, to the night sky.

"Hana-chan was actually Hana Inuzuka, who, after a while, became my classmate at the academy…and one day, she confronted me on the very same reason you're bringing up now, only, that time, she asked me to stay away from Ayame, and to never let my demon paws on her, or I'd taste her fists…" at that, Anko raised an eyebrow.

"You know, this is getting really long winded, why don't you just cut the chase and tell me why you are not returning those feelings?"

"Fine," Naruto rolled his eyes, here he was, trying to let one of his teammate get to know him well enough to actually be trusted by her, and she was cutting it all down to simply get to the point, "I verbally assaulted Hana back, she cried, hard, especially when I bluffed claiming how she was a failure at keeping care of her Ninkens, and things like that, when Ayame found out, she asked me to apologize to her, and she arranged a meeting between us. During the so called meeting, I *did* apologize, and we hung out, for five minutes, before a couple of Inuzuka dragged Hana away, kicked Ayame for being *a friend of the demon* and flung me against a tree," as he said that, Anko winced, an Inuzuka could pack a punch, they were pretty good Taijutsu users, and he would have been what, six years old?

"So you actually distanced yourself from her to avoid her harm?" As Anko queried that, Naruto nodded.

"You know what," the Kunoichi said, turning her gaze to the blond haired boy, "If *I* had been you, I'd have tapped into the Kyuubi's power already, and would have sent all my enemies on the ground, crying tears of blood and having them worship me and the ground I walked upon," she added.

"Kukuku…interesting words…" Orochimaru slowly decided he had enough hearing talks at night, he wouldn't sleep nevertheless, but he did enjoy the silence over the speaking of children, "but then, tell me, do you think demons are actually there to do your bidding, once in a seal? Having a demon inside, and being able to use his powers, to control their powers…do you think it's easy? Do you know another reason Naruto-kun is truly hated?"

"There's more than one, Sensei?" Naruto asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, what's worse than being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi?" Anko asked.

"Well, the Iron seal, the one used on his shoulder…is weak. It does the job, barely, on the eight tailed beast of Kumogakure…and they had to swap their Jinchuuriki nearly every twenty years…now thing about a Nine Tailed beast trapped in a weak seal…anyone who knows that, who knows how weak that seal actually is…do you think they sleep in peace, at night?"

"Wait…so Naruto could potentially turn Kyuubi any split second?" at that question, Anko's eyes widened in shock, but the most noticeable change was Naruto's face suddenly devoid of all colors, as his heart was beating like crazy... he could potentially die, be destroyed as the Kyuubi emerged free from him, in any moment? No, that couldn't be! There had to…

"Well no," that got a sigh of relief off three Genins, as even Itachi was wide awake, much to his dismay, "but it means that when he'll tap onto its powers, there will be a higher risk of him going berserk…and that will mean I'll have to kill him…like I will kill you if you don't shut up and do your guard time, while we get sleep, understood, Anko-chan?"

At that, Anko gulped, she was still relieved that she wouldn't risk waking up to a sight of giant fox demon teeth, and for that, she didn't mind furiously nodding to Orochimaru-sensei, and taking her turn.

This was their first C-rank mission, but it was turning out to be a cake-walk, and she could feel that she was catching up to her teammates, and soon they'd be on par, and everything would turn out fine as they'd become the greatest team ever, maybe the second Sannins themselves?

As she slowly stood guard, she never realized Orochimaru had momentarily left his sleeping sack, leaving but a dried husk behind that would work in the same way to hide his disappearance from camp, to meet with his night visitor. A couple of meters away from camp, a boy, covered by a mask, stood silently, as the Snake Sannin neared him, a small smile appeared on the pale man's face, his golden eyes smirking at the sight of the perfectly polished white mask, with barely two fissures to let the boy's eyes actually see.

"So…tell me, what does Danzo wish to say, little Rootling?"

**Author's notes**

**Cause this is Angst! **

**Angst, Angst, Angst!**

**I've got all night to give it, and you all know it!**

**The main objective of this story is to actually *find out* why everything happened. I'm dropping off hints here and there, but please do notice I won't be answering the reviews on questions of *Why did this happen?* after all…it would go against the purpose of writing the story in the first place!**

**What I can answer is that, after Naruto has been disowned, he no longer has any status as *the hokage's son* he's basically no longer that, he's no one in particular, it's like there was no blood relation at all between the two. **

**As always, before you start screaming heresy, like "NaruXAyame pairing!" remember that anything that happens before they're of legal age is *not* in no way used for the pairing, but only for psychological development of characters, or things like that.**

**I also hope it will turn out to be a great fic like The Real Monster, though I'd be fine with simply getting the ideas off my damn head.**

**Until I write them down they keep pestering me…and since I didn't actually use all the *Possible Sad* scenes in The Real Monster, I'll bring some more out here! **

**It's going to be so much fun!**


	3. PC:Wounds

Chapter third

Tanzaku town had been the bright idea of a wealthy merchant: not too far from a shinobi village, of which obviously no-one knew the precise location, except other ninjas, yet not too far the capital of Hi no Kuni herself. This meant that Tanzaku town actually had a lot of people passing through it in the beginning of its founding, but this wealthy merchant in particular had more plans, since, after all, people also need to spend stuff in town, to make it grow.

First the hotels were built, coupled with casinos, then followed souvenir shops of the casinos themselves, and from there onwards, the town flourished, and with great flows of money so too did criminal organizations rise, to conquer a spot in the town itself.

Tanzaku town had outskirts, which weren't all too dangerous, as those were the spots where the workers of the casinos lived, and there was a sort of unspoken law about not messing with the area, too poor to be considered worthy of anything, even of a drug ring. Then came the central area, that was where the majority of hotels and casinos were, and with the incredible amount of alleyways, back alleys, dirt roads, and dead-ends, it was the perfect alcove for the worst existing scum ever to be born. Finally came the heart of Tanzaku town, the area reserved for really important guests, or really rich people, villas, gardens, and police forces, obviously private ones, some even with the Konoha's forehead protector, but mostly belonging to a private guard of sorts of the Tanzaku Town's lord, Aiden Tanzaku.

The Town had quickly become the number one spot for tourists, until the Kyuubi, attacking Konoha, had sent a Bijudama, by mistake or intended, nearby, causing a veritable crater to sprout halfway through the city. This had Forced the reconstruction of a good part of the town, and a severe death toll, that still then lingered in the mind of those who had survived the deafening explosion, that some simply called *The black day*, as said sphere, upon contact with the ground, had emitted a blackish chakra explosion, that had easily incinerated anything within its radius. Many things outside the immediate surroundings had been badly charred or destroyed instead, and further away, wounds and damage were still relatively high. Needless to say traffic had dwindled for a while, but then it had flourished again, casinos didn't need crops or farmable areas to be lucrative.

Obviously, as one could have expected, the doll maker lived in the heart of the town, but if there was one thing that was on the side of the three Genins, was that their sensei had decided to actually go with them, and when you have a legendary sannin walking behind you, there's no private army that can stop you from going where you have to go, and criminals…they didn't survive that long because they thought that they could take Orochimaru himself and live to tell the tale, that much was sure.

Kokuyo's working area seemed more of a sort of private clinic, with a secretary, a lot of comfortable chairs and sofas, and little girls drinking tea with their pouting mothers, all dressed in clearly rich clothes. Naruto winced more than once, his thoughts, running along his face, were something easily picked up by Itachi, who knew the boy all too well.

"_This is a doll maker shop? Are we in Idiot-land? Kami save me please, is that a golden napkin in that brat's hands? Please somebody tell me this idiots don't actually buy more than one doll," _followed by colored mental expressions, that made Orochimaru show a slight grin, seeing how the snake sannin usually did the same line of thoughts, but on the more general population since, after all, he was a genius and the others weren't.

Itachi looked puzzled, when the two guards inside the shop stopped them, letting only Orochimaru move forward.

"Kokuyo-sama was expecting a Konoha team, but he gave clear orders to only let their sensei through," one of the guards said, leaving the subtle message of _"Dirty shinobi brats shouldn't be going around the shop!"_ which was probably what the doll maker had thought, and said, forcing the three Genins to look at their sensei, who, with a smirk nodded.

"Wait for me outside," as Orochimaru said that, the three Genins nodded, turning to leave, while some murmurs of audacity and dirtiness echoed in the waiting room, by the old or fat but still extremely rich women and their nagging and spoiled children.

Outside, Anko finally let go of her sort of emotionless mask, to pout.

"Did you see how they looked at us? I wanted to neuter them! I probably could neuter them, or kill them, you know?" as she said that, turning to the other two, Itachi frowned.

"There is no need to resort to violence…Anko-san, sure, it wasn't nice, but there is nothing we can do, unless we wish to border illegality," as the Uchiha said that, the purple-haired Kunoichi sighed.

"I don't like it when they look at me," she then corrected herself, "at us, like we're a bunch of no-one! We could have probably beaten those two pricks of guards without a problem!"

"Anko-san, the strong should protect the weak, not bully those he doesn't like," Itachi said, trying to reason with the elder girl, who, however, wasn't that easy to convince.

"I say they could have treated us better, or at least kept their thoughts to themselves," she replied.

"They did keep their thoughts to themselves…" Naruto muttered, just as the elder girl flung a knuckle hit at the boy's head.

"It's a rhetoric way of speech!"

"Actually, rhetoric questions are those that do not need answer…in this case, Naruto-kun *is* right," Itachi pointed out, as the purple-haired Kunoichi winced.

She'd have knuckle-punched Itachi too, but she was sure the boy would be able to deftly dodge her strike. Naruto on the other hand probably didn't dodge on purpose, or he simply wasn't fast enough. After the first weeks, being nearly exclusively trained by Orochimaru in his free time, she had managed to be on par if not at the very least pass over Naruto, who was the weakest of the three Genins now. Sure, she knew they were teammates, and that she shouldn't talk about who was strong and who was weak, but she did now defeat Naruto in spars mostly. The blond boy always seemed afraid of hurting her, and for that, she simply was slightly angry at him, sometimes she didn't manage to pull away her hits from connecting, a fact that resulted in the boy getting some bruises, but that overall didn't affect him much.

She had said she was sorry, in the beginning, but then, after a while, she decided it had been subtly implied, and, without even knowing it, she had simply started getting an arrogant attitude around the blond boy, something Naruto didn't seem to have missed, but that he kept for himself.

"Anyway…there doesn't seem to have been a single problem all thorough the mission, so I'm starting to think we might cash in that money fast, shouldn't we?" as soon as Anko said that, Itachi mulled a thought.

"How much does a C-rank mission pay?"

"From Thirty-thousand to a hundred-thousand," Naruto explained, "but obviously you must consider the fact that you spend money while on a mission, if it's long-termed, on food or inn-rest, or maybe on souvenirs, thus you don't actually earn that much, doing two D-rank missions, in the village, in one day, is far more convenient than a single long-winded C-rank mission," as the blond boy said that, he sheepishly added, "though I didn't think you were short on money, Itachi…"

"I wanted to buy a souvenir to bring back to Kaa-san, and something for Sasuke…that is if we have time," the Uchiha explained, "and knowing I won't end up with an empty wallet at the end of the day makes me at ease," as he added that, Anko chuckled.

"If you go with the scrooge you start acting like one, huh?"

"I did not say…" but Itachi was interrupted, as the doors opened, and Orochimaru, with a clearly disgusted face, came out, his eyes promising murder most foul.

"It seems the man needs one more day to finish the blasted chunk of wood," the snake Sannin hissed, making the reason he was angry much clear: he hated being forced to wait, if there was one thing, one simple thing that made their sensei mad was messing up the timetable because of being late, "so for today we will move to the outskirts of the town, and I will teach you a very important lesson," as he said that, he started moving, not even explaining what it was as the three Genins followed him, worriedly.

As they began moving, Naruto's eyes darted around…he was feeling a Hunch.

"Itachi…" Naruto whispered, getting the Uchiha's attention, whose eyes assumed a puzzled expression, waiting for the boy's words, "I've got a feeling."

That was enough for the Uchiha to tense, and, since the words muttered by the blond boy were picked up by Anko's ears, the purple-haired girl looked at the two seven years old with a mixture of interest and perplexity. Everyone had bad feelings every now and then, but she was sure Sensei was simply going to teach them something a bit tough, but nothing more…no need to get their hands to their kunais.

As they reached a dirt alleyway in the outskirts, and from there, a patch of grass with some trees, Orochimaru turned around, with a smile…a wide smile, that wasn't, usually, something the snake sannin would ever do.

"Come on boys! Let's teach the demon's group a…" Itachi's kunai had already flung straight at the man's neck, gushing blood out of the wound, as the artery was cut, letting the crimson liquid fall downwards, messing his clothes and removing the Henge that marked the man not as Orochimaru, but as a seemingly common ex-shinobi, probably an academy reject. From behind them, and from their sides, came the howling of six to seven men. Naruto took the cue to fling out an explosive tag, and yell out loud.

"Nobody moves or this goes off!" at the yell, the charging criminals stopped, it was probably a bluff, but, given their distance from the target, if they did move near it was probable he'd throw it at them without a second's thought.

Anko, thanks to the breather, had gotten her hands on a Kunai. She wouldn't admit it, but that *was* the kunai Naruto had given to her the first time they had fought together, and it was a really good kunai, so she kept it polished.

"They do seem to be a bit too much for us, you know?" Anko muttered, "And I'd like not to become ashes scattered in the wind," she slowly added, though she had to mull the thought of where the boy had managed to get an explosive tag, those things were costly!

"Itachi, you there?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing, as the dead body in front of them had already begun forming a pool of blood on the ground, Itachi was behind him, and he couldn't look to be sure, he had to keep being tense, so the enemies wouldn't gang up on them...a thing they should have done barring the risks, seeing the numerical advantage, all they'd need would be a sacrifice or two, the rest could pretty much grab them by sheer strength and be done with it.

No, Itachi Uchiha wasn't there.

Sure, he had tensed, sure he had thought there would be confrontations, sure he had thought everything was going to be fine after scaring the man off. He just wanted to use one of those moves where you fling the kunai and cut the cheek of the man, to scare him off. Try and let Naruto bluff their way out, since Naruto would have probably caught up and told something about them being personally trained by Orochimaru to be elite killers.

Instead he had gone with his instincts, and he had slashed an artery with his Kunai thoroughly, and the blood had been gushing out like a river…was there that much blood in a human body?

Was there really that much blood in the meat-bags that were around them? Sure, Orochimaru had told them they'd kill people, sure, his father had told him the same, sure, he knew the first kill would scar him, it was common knowledge, but was that the reason why some people drowned their despair in alcohol, after the war? He was sure he would remember the man's face, his shocked face, the blood, even without sharingan he was sure he'd remember every single detail of it, and that didn't make him feel stronger, it didn't make him feel prideful…it made him feel scared of what he was, a tool made for murder, a thief of lives.

That's when Naruto had called him, and yet he hadn't answered, he knew Katon jutsus, he could use one, instead of having Naruto expend one of his explosive tags, he knew how costly those things were, he had pried if he could have a couple, but even his father had been against it: too much cost unnecessary, especially if he could use the fire release.

Now they were surrounded by brigands and mobsters, and they needed a way out he could provide…but he was simply too scared to even start making the hand signs.

"Yeah he's here alright," Anko exclaimed, "So, got any ninja plan that doesn't involve us getting blown to smithereens?"

"Yes, and for that I'm sorry," Naruto muttered, and as soon as he did that, he dashed out of the group, heading straight for the brigand that seemed the less bulky, and that, seeing the demon charging at him, with cold blue eyes, and an explosive tag in hand, decided he didn't want to die young and moved aside, letting the blur of orange pass through with ease, and as he did that, he unluckily slipped on the ground, getting back up only to see that the boy in question had been the one to make him fall, by grabbing his leg while dashing next to him, and leaving the explosive tag attached to it...fizzling.

The explosion broke the circle, as smear and blood flew in the air, before dropping down, leaving a small crater behind, and Naruto, outside of the circle of brigands, now reduced to five elements, of which one, not too near the pulverized enemy that is, was heavily wounded.

"Come on! Is this the best you got!" in a moment, the stalemate was broken, as the remaining ones launched themselves in pursuit of Naruto, who was their objective: the demon of the Kyuubi had to die, for all the damage caused two years ago to them.

Anko looked at the mass of brigands not caring the slightest about them, one was shivering and the other was a girl, all they wanted was the demon's blood, and, strangely, Anko found herself watching them leave, still holding tightly onto her kunai. She had seen the blood, she saw the corpses near her, but still, why was her hand clenching tightly the weapon's handle? She realized it then: she was afraid. Itachi had taken a life out of instinct, Naruto had done the same, albeit indirectly, to get all the attention of the enemies on him, and considering how much an explosive tag could cost, he nevertheless did it for them, and now they both stood there, in silence, not knowing what to do, until, finally, Anko cracked the silence around them.

"Ehi, Clan-boy," the appellative did wonder to wince Itachi out of his sort of fear-trance, "Shouldn't we go help our friend?"

"You're right Anko-san, sorry," Itachi muttered, quickly shaking his head as he looked towards the direction Naruto had taken, "We must hurry, while Naruto can run, he doesn't have the advantage in this terrain, they might trap him or…" a half-snake half-Orochimaru slithered swiftly in front of the two Genins, arriving before any of the two could register his presence, and his face…well, his face was clearly angered.

"What excuses do you brats have?" His tone wasn't pleasant, at all, and both actually would have preferred being once more surrounded by the bandits, than actually confronting the snake Sannin, whose look swiftly moved from them, who were gaping like fishes, not able to talk, to the corpses around, and, through his innate sense of track, and his understanding, hissed slightly.

"Someone among you had the guts to at least put up a fight," and with that, the snake Sannin slithered away, leaving the two Genins behind, shivering, not only from the fear, but also from guilt, as they couldn't actually hide it was the truth: sure, if it had come to it they would have fought and tried to kill.

On the other hand, Orochimaru was furious, but for completely different reasons, and none of them could actually be told.

"_So…tell me, what does Danzo wish to say, little Rootling?" the Snake sannin hissed slowly, as the boy, barely the same age as his Genin, replied in a monotone voice._

"_Danzo-sama wishes to convince the weapon to seek the aid of Root, having him drop out the Shinobi program, or forcing him to make the choice and selecting Root," the young Root member spoke slowly._

"_And what if I refuse the order?" as Orochimaru said that, with an amused eye-wink, the young Root boy didn't wince, since, after all, it wasn't the first time the snake Sannin proved to be difficult, more than the other Root associates, certainly._

"_Then we ask you do not interrupt our actions, as Danzo-sama had deemed it likely that, making the boy fail his mission, he'd be removed by the shinobi program altogether."_

_Now that, on the other hand, piqued the snake Sannin's attention._

"_Why would failing a C-rank mission throw him out of the shinobi program?" _

"_Emotions make people weak, Orochimaru-sama, that is the reason Danzo-sama asked me to give," and with those words, the Rootling Shunshin'd away, obviously Orochimaru could have lunged at the boy any split second, tearing apart his head and gnawing it like it were a strawberry, but it wouldn't yield much, Danzo never sent him someone who actually knew something, and the Rootling didn't know probably anything else but what he had been meant to say._

_It was only when he had met that Kokuro freak, because nobody wears bright purple jackets and makes that nervous tick with the glasses without being called a freak that he had understood. The doll was ready, it was packed in a nice birthday package, and it held a simple birthday gift card on it._

_That had indeed made him furious, as obviously he had torn apart the thing to reveal an empty package, making the doll maker shocked at the disappearance of the doll. He had offered reparations immediately, good thing that for all his pride he was a weakling, or maybe he simply knew Orochimaru's way of working people who were late, unfulfilling or simply people that made him angry._

_So he had the blasted doll already ready, in a packet, and when he comes out of that damnable freak's *laboratory* his Genin team isn't there. _

_It didn't take much to sense them, being surrounded by brigands, far off the distance, and, with a simple body shedding technique, coupled with becoming half-snake, he had reached them in time…and with a lot of anger to work out._

Naruto had managed to reach the road, by the time the remaining five thieves caught on him, one whipping a bolt straight through his right leg, and making him yell in pain, clutching his wounded leg as he fell on the ground, as the others, with a grin, moved closer, with blackjacks at the ready. They didn't want to make this quick…they wanted it long and personal.

"So the demon is finally going to die, thank Kami," one of them, a scar running thorough his face from his left eyebrow to his right cheek, swiftly pummeled the tip of the blackjack straight into Naruto's stomach, making him gasp in pain, as the boy's right hand revealed a kunai, that slammed hard into the man's right foot, making him yell and jump backwards, but not fast enough for the boy not to fall on him, pointing the bloodied kunai at his throat, his idea being to try and have a hostage. The pain in the leg however didn't help, when one of the other surrounding him flung him to the side, hitting his ribcage with a full force kick, and sending him to cough blood while sprawling on the ground.

"Even when wounded the demon still fights, truly a monster," another one said, his blackjack immediately falling on the boy's knee, they were all veterans of giving pain, non-lethal pain, as they all grew up coercing other people, and that simply increased until they became a band, they even had a sort of family, until the Kyuubi found it fitting to destroy their homes, leaving them nothing more than a ragtag group.

Now, how could they pass up on their revenge, having received a tip that the demon would be in town that day?

They couldn't, so poor Takaoka, the only one who knew how to do a Henge, had been chosen to get them away from their team leader, since nobody would have messed with the snake Sannin, he was too famous, too strong, and extremely cruel with his enemies, as it had been told.

Naruto cursed his bad luck, he didn't have another explosive note, and he was flaring with pain, so, he did the only thing possible.

He took out another explosive note.

Immediately, it began sizzling, and the brigands jumped backwards, not wanting to become gory messes like the clearly suicidal kid.

"Finally committing suicide, brat!" as they yelled that, the boy limped up on his still sane leg, and with a wheeze, he let the explosive tag touch the ground, to reveal it as nothing more than a ramen coupon, camouflaged with a Henge to resemble an explosive tag.

"I die fighting," he muttered, spitting blood from his mouth to the side, a kunai in his trembling hands, as he eyed, with his blue eyes, the enemies around him. One of the five was limping from where his kunai had planted itself in his foot, and probably he'd be the last to charge. The other four however seemed pretty top notch.

Why did people always aim at his legs? He knew it was a common practice, mobility was the ninja's life, without it, a ninja was usually nothing more than a dead man, but still, his knee was clearly twisted out of place, his other leg, while sane-ish, had the grazing wound of the bolt, and he was quite actually sure he was suffering from severe internal bleeding, and maybe one or two of his ribs had been, if not broken, at least twisted painfully, as breathing was something that came to him with difficulty, as his vision was also losing focus.

"Well, let's put an end to this scourge on earth!" one of the brigands scowled, and then, he was the first to charge. Naruto knew he was going to die, so pain became, silently, a second feat. Especially when he rotated to the side, letting both his hands give strength to the push of his kunai through the man's hand that wielded the blackjack, letting it be severed, as blood spluttered all over the blond boy's face and hair, before being grabbed by the hem of the dirty and ragged coat, to be thrown behind him, at his assailers, in an attempt to slow them down and concentrate on the second one.

At that moment, pain jolted once more through his system, and he fell down.

He could have sworn this was extremely familiar to him, as, once he did fall, he heard the sound: the usual sound, of a sword extending.

"Kusanagi" the next moment, he felt himself being lifted upwards, his eyes, blurring already, stared deeply into the golden ones of Orochimaru, who looked back at him with a narrowed expression. Was it hate, anger, hatred? It wasn't worry, there was never worry in Orochimaru's eyes, but there was something in there, something different…it was perplexity.

With that, Naruto let darkness claim him, as he was too tired to actually even think straight, blood slowly dribbling down his body.

When he woke up, he realized with a groan that he smelled tea leaves, and that he was being piggy-backed by Anko, and that they were on their way back. Still, he was glad he was alive. To die without knowing the truth would have been pretty much bad, but maybe Kami would have answered his questions…he hoped. With his groan, however, Anko exclaimed, making the poor boy's head ring, from the cheery exclamation of the purple-haired kunoichi.

"Sensei! He's awake!" with that, Orochimaru turned around to look at Naruto, while Itachi, sighing in relief, locked his gaze on his friend, who seemed to have gone through hell.

"Good," the snake Sannin said, "drop him now, Anko-chan," with that, the Kunoichi did so, and Naruto, gasping as he fell on the ground, felt a small pain on his backside, but, except for that, realized with shock that his legs seemed to be fine.

"Now, what did you do wrong, boy?" Orochimaru asked, looking at Naruto with clinical gaze, making the boy whimper.

"I…I left my team behind?" He hazarded, as Orochimaru shook his head.

"No, you left your team behind, while being unprepared," the last part was stressed, "one more explosive tag, and with them in tow following you, you could have neatly sent them in disarray, so…why did you have only one?"

"They're costly, sensei…and kept under lock," Naruto muttered, "It's difficult to get them, and at night they hide the chest somewhere," he added.

"Then I'll teach you an E-rank Jutsu that you will find certainly a way to utilize, otherwise, don't think I'll take kindly to having wasted time with you," with those words, Orochimaru pulled out from his sleeve a seemingly normal piece of cloth, "look and memorize: even a kid can pull this off," with a swift movement, the cloth became sort of like a canvas, however, it depicted the scenery behind the snake Sannin, effectively making him slightly invisible, "This is a derivate of the Henge system, Kakuremino no Jutsu, it's a general skill of hiding, now, how could you use it to your advantage?"

Naruto frowned: he was asked that after having just recently woken up, and having been thrown on the ground, but he knew better than to say anything, so he began thinking, for a brief moment, as Orochimaru's gaze settled on the boy, in wait for an answer.

"I could use it to hide behind a wall of the shop, have a Bunshin exit the shop, and then see where the explosive tags are hidden," as he mulled that thought, Orochimaru nodded.

"Good, remember that it's like using a henge, but you must carefully memorize your surroundings, to be sure to recreate it perfectly. If you do fail, it might give problems. Remember to keep your thoughts always on the image you wish to create, understood?" as Naruto nodded, the snake Sannin added, "This is merely a visual hiding, as chakra, hearing, tremor sense, or anything like that *will*," stressing the word, "make you still traceable…but with a civilian shopkeeper you shouldn't have any trouble," as he said that, Naruto winced.

"But the ninja weapon's shopkeeper *is*a ninja, sensei," as soon as Naruto said that, the snake Sannin replied with a sort of *matter-of-fact* tone.

"That he is, well, then it seems there will be no way for you to obtain more explosive tags, unless you happen to find the ryos for it," and with that, Orochimaru gave his back to the boy, to start walking back towards the village once more.

As they walked, Itachi's gaze every now and then moved to Naruto, who had started to walk on his own feet, albeit still perplexed, he did have a twisted knee, didn't he?

"Orochimaru-sensei fixed it with his injections," Itachi whispered, moving next to the boy, "You were a mess of blood when he reached you, you got lucky, you know?" _"You're a damn idiot! You nearly died you imbecile!"_ was the probably subtle meaning of the question.

"Yeah brat, don't scare us like that! Playing hero doesn't suit you: we could have handled them together!" Anko exclaimed, trying a smile.

"But…they wanted me, not you," Naruto said, letting his gaze slowly move downwards, towards the dirt of the road, "so I couldn't bring my problems to you," as he said that, a sharp knuckle hit came from the side of Anko.

For once, Itachi actually was glad it had been the Kunoichi, since he too would have done the same.

"Bullshit! We're a team! If somebody messes with my Naru-chan I'll mess with their guts!" as she said that, with a wink, she then turned to sensei, to exclaim, "Sensei! When do I get to sign the snake summon contract? I want to do that cool snake move soon!"

Naruto's face grew puzzled: did the girl actually call him Naru-chan?

He didn't even care she was getting snake summons or not, was he really being called Naru-chan? That…that made him feel fuzzy inside, as he kept on walking next to his teammates, well, he understood the lesson clearly: next time somebody tried to mess with his team, he'd butcher them like the worthless scum the bastards clearly were, leaving not even one behind...they wanted a demon? They wanted a monster? Then they'd come and get their share of blood: he wouldn't go down without a fight any more, he wouldn't run anymore…he'd slaughter them all and drink upon their blood. If their fear turned to hatred of him, then his hatred would be their doom. His eyes subtly grew colder, as he mulled over thoughts of what he'd do and to who he'd do it. He had people who cared for him, he'd protect them all, through blood and steel, but to do that, he needed strength.

Meanwhile, at Anko's words, Itachi slightly blinked his eyelids, did the snake Sannin actually dote on the girl that much? There was…something, in him, a slight feeling of jealousy that was actually taking place...but he shook it out of his head, after all, it was obvious his sensei would do the best to have them all on par, if it meant spending more time with Anko, instead of him and Naruto, then it was fine. He could always train with Naruto to get stronger. Something, however, was bugging him: never mind the chakra control exercises, but when would his sensei start teaching them elemental jutsus? He could use the Katon, but Naruto, and Anko, seemingly didn't display any elemental Ninjutsu, nor had they been trained in them…it could prove a fatal weakness, if they were in a pinch. He understood that maybe Orochimaru was taking things slowly…but there was something strange in the way he deliberately avoided teaching much to them…heck, the E-rank academy jutsu, something that had been overlooked by both of them, had actually been the only new jutsu taught, to Naruto, and only in an effort to help him steal better.

He couldn't help but let his Uchiha sense flare a bit, at the thought that his sensei could be, with intent, slowing down their growth intentionally.

It was a bad thought, and he quickly shoved it away, but he did promise to himself he'd speak with Naruto later on…he didn't like the gaze of the boy's eyes, not one bit.

That night, when they camped, Itachi looked at the blond boy, his childhood friend, and whispered.

"Naruto," as he said that, the boy's eyes got to attention, looking back at the Uchiha, who, keeping a seemingly emotionless face, queried, "How are you feeling?"

"For what?" Naruto asked back perplexed, not understanding the question.

"You killed a man, didn't you?" as Itachi pointed that out, Naruto's eyes slightly opened for a second, before the boy closed them, letting his thoughts run amok in his head, trying to discern if there was something, anything, that should have been there and that wasn't.

"Seems like I did," he replied, calmly, "I killed three. Two for the explosion and one with my Kunai, the blood was everywhere, wasn't it?" he kind of asked with a small grin.

"It was…" Itachi whispered back, staring perplexed at the boy's slightly shaking shoulders, "but it's not something to smile about, Naruto…we took lives, today," he added.

"They came at us, Itachi," Naruto whispered back, "They would have killed us had we not killed them," he added.

"Still, we took their lives, Naruto…we became no better than them," at that, the Uchiha was shocked, when his clothes were grabbed by Naruto's hand, whose eyes, blazing in their furious blue anger, looked deeply into the black ones of Itachi, and in a hiss that sounded murderous, he muttered back to his friend.

"We are better than them, Itachi: we survived where they died because they were weak, while we are strong. We are ninja while they were thieves, scum, worthless of being called human: we will always be higher than them, always be atop them, and they'd better have learned the lesson, those who saw and those who will know: if you mess with a demon you are bound to die."

With that, the boy's face grew perplexed, and afraid, as he let go of Itachi, muttering in a sorrowful voice.

"I'm sorry…I don't know what took me…I'm sorry," he added, once more, as he sheepishly looked to the ground, letting the Uchiha to catch his breath, this was Naruto alright, not the one from before, the one who had called himself a demon, maybe, out of the two, the most shocked of the all deal was the boy himself. He'd always been kind, always taking in the insults, the glances, the damages and the hurt. He'd done it because he thought he earned it, or maybe because he thought it would be his life, as the Hero that jailed the Kyuubi. Now, however, he had realized he might bring harm to others, and he didn't want that, if he had to become a demon, that was Itachi's reading of his thought patterns, then he'd become one, if only to protect them.

"You're really too kind, Naruto…" Itachi whispered, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Aw!" Anko said with sparkling eyes, at the scene, "I should bring a camera next time! So Kawaii!" she did, however, have a small dribble of blood coming down her nose...which didn't mean anything good, if the two boys could actually realize it.

Orochimaru, instead, looked at the scene with vivid interest…more like clinical interest, actually.

Their return to Konoha came without trouble, in the late afternoon, but Orochimaru did slightly tense, at the smell in the air, the smell of toads.

"Orochimaru-kuuuun!" the yell, coming from a burly man with long spiky white air, and sporting wooden sandals, made the three Genins wince.

Nobody had ever called their sensei with the *Kun* and had survived.

Nobody had even dared doing that for all the money offered, or the threats, or the dare, not even the drunkest of fools could do that, and survive.

Instead this man, with an *oil* forehead protector, did. Naruto winced, realizing who it was.

"Un…" Uncle Jiraiya? He couldn't call him that any longer, could he? He had been disowned, so it's not like he could call the toad sage with an appellative like that…he couldn't.

"Jiraiya…" Orochimaru muttered, narrowing his eyes at the man in front of him, "Why is my ex-teammate in Konoha?"

"Aw, you're offending me Oro-kun! Can't I come see good old grumpy you?" at the…appellative, used, Orochimaru's forehead sported a nervous tick mark.

"If this is what you came to do…then you can leave. You've seen enough, I suppose," at those hissed words, Jiraiya shrugged, before turning his gaze to the boys behind their sensei, and showing a sort of surprised look.

"Gaki! Not saying anything to your uncle? I thought you'd have already tackled me to…" at those words, Naruto actually dashed forward like a bullet, clinging onto the Toad Sage's vest.

"Now that's more like it," Jiraiya replied with a chuckle, before ruffling the boy's hair, "Sorry I couldn't come earlier, but I had to keep up with my contacts, and it took some time," he whispered to the boy, who simply shook his head, wiping off the tears.

"Doesn't matter uncle…doesn't matter," he replied, sporting a sort of happy smile, albeit his eyes seemed still teary.

"Well, call me crazy, but I didn't expect grumpy old Oro-kun to get an entire Genin team. He usually preferred to mentor only one student at a time," at those words from the toad sage, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, while Itachi's mind clicked.

Probably the reason Orochimaru doted on Anko was because the sannin was used to going on a one-on-one teaching method, meaning he wouldn't be doing it on purpose, to seemingly ignore training both him and Naruto, but because it was his method.

"Can the fool who tried to peek on Tsunade bathing stop speaking, and hand me back one of my Genins?" Orochimaru replied, with ill-hidden anger in his voice as his eyes seemed to promise a long and extremely painful death to the toad sage.

"Well Gaki, don't worry about grumpy Oro-kun, I'll come by later to speak with you again, without the old and wrinkled man," as he said that with a chuckle, he waved goodbye to the group, and left, while Orochimaru, still fuming, grabbed his team and headed towards the Hokage tower, to report.

He was fuming not only for his meeting with his ex-teammate, that always made him leave angrier than before, but because, with him being in the village, Orochimaru was forced to…relocate, the place one of his experiments was going to be held.

He had no doubt his teammate would pick up his experiments, if he kept doing them here…probably called back by his old fool of a sensei too. He had to act quickly.

As they entered the Hokage's office, to report, Orochimaru had already produced from within his mouth, something that had made Anko mentally yuck, the package, that, luckily, seemed to be devoid of saliva, and looked seemingly dry.

"So you successfully completed the mission, I take it?" Minato spoke, as the package was gently deposited on his desk by the snake Sannin himself.

"Yes, it was an easy walk, Hokage-sama," Orochimaru replied, narrowing his eyes as the Hokage seemingly shifted, uncomfortably.

"I understand then, that there is *nothing* that went wrong?"

"Hokage-sama, what could, possibly, have gone wrong?" at the question, asked by the snake Sannin himself, Minato found himself narrowing his cold blue eyes.

"Well…I received a report, from Tanzaku's lord, that some corpses were found skewered, butchered or outright blown to bits out of his town…and in the direction of Konoha. Did you have any hostile encounters?"

Before Anko or Itachi could speak, Orochimaru was already there, answering.

"No," as the three Genins stood in silence, the snake Sannin kept talking, "We met no trouble, nor enemies, along our way back to Konoha," as he finished speaking, he would have smirked, seeing the discomfort on the Hokage's face.

"_Danzo you old fool. Trying to sell me out too, huh? Like if your Root could have stood a chance of bringing him under your guard. You had the guts to try, however," _with those thoughts in mind, the Sannin watched Minato nod, before turning his gaze to Iruka.

"Well then, Umino-san, do deliver them the payment for their mission," and, as they all lined up, except Orochimaru, who having a bank account would simply get his check deposited there, the others received their Ryo bills. Forty-thousand ryos, something that did make Naruto wince, and sport a happy smile at the sight of the money, entering *his* wallet, and closing it tightly. At that display of happiness, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the Hokage's face. It seemed to be showing discomfort, wasn't it? The man probably felt a seething anger for not having thrown out of the village him, the snake Sannin, with the accusation of having *lost* the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He could already see the plan he and Danzo had prepared: have the brat either accused of having failed the mission on purpose, and force him out of the shinobi program, or have *him* accused of having lost the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

It could have worked, had he not being Orochimaru, probably Jiraiya would have fallen for it full-front, the damnable idiot always ranting about *him* being old...he knew he always struck a nerve when he said that.

As they were about to leave, a red-haired woman walked in, unannounced, and just as she did, Naruto immediately slid straight behind Anko, while seemingly on cue, Itachi moved right next to the Kunoichi in question, stiffening slightly.

Kushina Namikaze walked in, a smile on her face soon dwindling, as she saw Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannins, a purple-haired Kunoichi, Itachi, the firstborn of her now cold-friend Mikoto, and a speck of blond hair behind the two Genins, who seemingly seemed to be doing his best to look interested in something within his hands, noticeably, a stack of ramen coupons.

"I heard the team with the package had come back, is everything alright with it?" as Kushina queried that, moving closer to Minato, the three Genin subtly placed themselves straight behind their sensei, after all, now they *could* leave.

"Yes, everything is fine…oh, you're dismissed, team eight," as Minato realized the group was probably waiting him for being dismissed, he did so, and, seeing them leave, this time the blond boy seemingly by chance moving at the head of the other two, and thus once more being barred from view, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Well, I'm sure Katsumi-chan is going to love her new doll," Kushina replied, "Her birthday is coming soon, after all," with that, and a small smile, Kushina grabbed the package, and frowned for a moment, "Kokuyo-san has probably lost the birthday-card…well, I'll have to make another one," and with that, the woman left, and just as Minato was about to let another team in, Iruka took the moment to whisper.

"Hokage-sama, I looked closely at…Naruto," he said, "and he had dried blood on his trousers and on his sleeve, albeit it was stint and probably washed thoroughly," he added.

"Iruka-san," Minato sighed, "Remember they might have hunted in the bushes for a dinner or for surviving lessons…could be animal blood, for all we know."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," albeit, what Iruka wanted to say, was that he thought Naruto had been wounded, and shouldn't have been kept in active service for a while.

Orochimaru, once outside the tower, turned to Anko, while the other two boys stood nearby.

"You're all dismissed, except you, Anko-chan…we'll be going over to my place, to sign the snake summon contract," and, with those words, he moved, a gleefully chirpy Anko behind, who waved goodbye to both Itachi and Naruto.

The Uchiha looked at the blond boy, who, seemingly unfazed, scratched the back of his head, looking at the sky.

"Well, in the end you didn't get to buy a souvenir for Sasuke or Mikoto-san," Naruto muttered, "And you got into danger because of me…I'm sorry," he added, trying an awry smile.

Itachi sighed, once more, now definitively marking the sigh as his trademark, before he sported a smile, and, shaking his head, replied.

"A shinobi's life is always filled with dangers…and I'm sure they weren't, actually, expecting me to get them something at all…want to come over for dinner?" at that question, Naruto shook his head.

"Uncle Jiraiya's in town finally, after two years…I'm sure he'll treat me to ramen if I wait for him in my apartment," and with those words, he smiled back, warmly, to Itachi, before waving goodbye while dashing off to his one-room apartment.

The Uchiha looked at the blond bullet go, before walking, on his own accord, towards the Uchiha compound. He was sure his father would be proud of him getting the first taste of blood on his hands, he was sure his mother would be worried, and that Sasuke would simply pout cutely about *Oniisan*, but he couldn't help but feel a frown coming up, thinking about Naruto, who would go back to an empty apartment, maybe trashed, or maybe not, without no-one to speak to, and waiting, hopefully waiting, for someone to come around. He couldn't help it: it just…didn't seem the right thing.

It was five minutes later, as he took a shortcut, passing through the park, that he saw the toad sage speaking to the ex-Hokage, the third, while the latter was sitting on a bench, the first was standing up. Careful, but curious, he decided to move nearby, only to see the third eying him, waving at him with a small smile and gesturing him to come closer.

"If it isn't Fugaku-san's son," Hiruzen said, "Just recently returned from your first C-rank mission, right?" at those words, Itachi nodded, just as Jiraiya excused himself, having to go meet his Godson.

"Sarutobi-sama," Itachi said, making a polite bow, "It is correct, we completed our assignment and came back as fast as possible," as he said that, the old man's eyes softened for a brief moment.

"You know…when someone kills, the first time, something undoubtedly breaks," as he spoke those words, Itachi's eyes bulged in shock, obviously he hadn't expected the Third Hokage to be a saint, having killed obviously in his life, and he knew he was known as the God of Shinobis, or the Professor…but to catch on so quickly, and with Orochimaru lying to the current Hokage?  
"Oh, don't worry…it's not like it's the first time Orochimaru lied about not having killed anyone on a mission," Hiruzen replied, with a sigh, "He hates wasting time filling the papers to justify his reasons, so he lies about it…a bad habit, but it's not something I'm surprised in."

Itachi sighed in relief, as however, the third spoke again.

"Tell me, what happened?"

As Itachi slowly spoke, telling the Third Hokage everything that happened, Hiruzen frowned slightly, before letting his gaze turn sad for a brief moment.

"Well, it's the way of the shinobi to shed blood. I didn't expect it would be that soon, but still…you did nothing wrong, Itachi-kun," Hiruzen spoke, "You did what you had to do: protect your teammates and fellow leaf shinobis, but Naruto's actions do leave me puzzled…"

Itachi had an awry expression, as his black eyes looked at the kids that had been playing in the park, and that were now being taken to their homes, by their mothers, since the afternoon was leaving the place to the night, a thing that even the Third Hokage noticed, making the old man smile bitterly.

"Well, it just seems like yesterday, that you all were playing in the park…"

Itachi nodded, before replying.

"Naruto stopped playing around a long time ago…didn't he?"

To that question, Hiruzen nodded, reminiscing a bit of a sad memory.

_He had hoped to see him at the park. He didn't have to actually like a decision made by the current Hokage, so he wanted to at least make it right: Asuma was already an adult, and with him, and his older brother, out of the house, it did feel a bit lonely...especially after Biwako's death._

_Sure, the Hokage had disowned the boy, calling him disrespectful, but Hiruzen knew perfectly well how much of bullshit that statement was. Active? Yes. Loud? Yes. Disrespectful? Calling the ex-Hokage Jiji wasn't disrespectful: it even made him feel better, and a boy has, if not a right, at least a leniency, to say no. _

_So he was at the park, in wait, hoping to see that hyperactive bundle of blond hair and orange clothes. At the very least Minato had still made it clear that he was still a hero who held the Kyuubi within, a pity he was forced to point out that the Iron seal was weak, and that, that led to the rumor, that soon became truth among the general population, that Naruto had been thrown out because he was a danger to Minato and his family. So, he just wanted to know how the boy felt, and to suggest he could come home with him. He had already set the wards to let him in, after all. _

_He didn't see him at first, but he heard the subtle change in the people around him, who all slightly tensed, and went to grab their children. His eyes looked up, and he wasn't surprised when he saw Naruto marching, albeit a bit hesitantly, towards the bench where he was. He had made a small smile, encouraging the boy to come closer, and then, the boy had bowed. It had taken a moment for Hiruzen to recompose his normal expression: shock wouldn't have helped in easing the boy, but there wasn't even a single neuron in his brain that could actually understand why a five year old would bow to him, in such a way that was more beckoning of a clan's head asking for a really important favor. _

"_Na…" he had wanted to say something, but the boy was actually shivering, and as he realized he was trying to speak, he silenced himself, in wait for the words._

"_Sarutobi-sama…" the boy was actually trying to find the correct way to express himself, usually he'd come over with a *Jiji!* and yell something, right now, instead, he looked more like a nervous wreck of emotions, one worse than the other…it was something Hiruzen couldn't muster his courage for, something that never lacked, no matter the odds, he'd sacrifice himself for the Second Hokage repeatedly, relive that scene for hundreds of times, all the pain, rather than watch a boy of five years, the boy he had actually thought of as a grandchild, act like that, to him. He simply knelt down in the front of the boy and hugged him tightly._

"_It's all right, Naruto…It's all right," as he patted the boy's back, he realized with a frown that the clothes weren't simply dirty from not having been washed: they were torn, there was dried blood, and the blond boy seemed to still be in pain, as he could feel him shiver after patting the general area where the wound was._

"_Who did this to you?" he had asked, his eyes narrowing as his emotions were turning to a twirling mass of seething anger and rage. _

"_No…No-one, really," the boy replied, meekly, he didn't want to say it? Why wouldn't he? Had Hiruzen been able to read minds, he'd have discovered that the boy didn't want, even after being the one wounded to give trouble to the once nice lady…she could have slipped the grip on the knife, after all._

"_Naruto…" Hiruzen murmured, with a sort of comforting tone, just as the blond haired boy, with his blue eyes actually looked at the old man, and, grabbing all the bits and pieces of courage he could find, asked him a simple, yet extremely hard to answer question._

"_Can you teach me how to become Hokage?" _

Hiruzen recalled his reasons, he just wanted the truth, a truth that, sadly, he knew of. One he couldn't speak of, one that he, alongside Minato, Kushina, and Jiraiya knew. Mulling over that fateful night, he couldn't help but sport a sad face…so much had happened in the span of so little time.

"That he did, Itachi-kun," Hiruzen said, before adding, "Now, however, this old man here took enough of your time, didn't he? You should head back home, I'm sure your mother is waiting to hear how your mission went," as he pointed that out, Itachi nodded, dashing off to reach the Uchiha compound.

While that happened, Naruto was waiting, patiently, in his one-room apartment, sighing in relief at the sight of nothing seemingly out of place, nor explosive tags set to detonate with him inside.

The noise of the wooden sandals came from outside, and, with a bit of anticipation, Naruto waited, as the Toad Sage actually entered his apartment with a sort of happy grin, holding a big scroll within his hands.

"Well, since your birthday has passed, at least twice, with me out of Konoha…I brought you a gift!" with that, the man unraveled the scroll, revealing a long set of names written upon it, his own, that of Minato Namikaze, and many others, with enough space for more to be written upon.

"Uncle Jiraiya? What's this?" Naruto queried, perplexed, as the old man with spiky white hair exclaimed.

"It's the toad's summoning scroll! For two missed birthdays, I'm letting you sign it right now! Come on, I know you want to have awesome toad partners to help you fight…" as the toad Sage tried, his best, to convince the boy, Naruto frowned, looking at the name of his father in there.

"What if I don't like toads?" at that question, Jiraiya raised a perplexed expression.

"Why wouldn't you? Toads are awesome! There's this Frog Kata style that's really…"

"But they're yucky to eat," Jiraiya's face paled at that remark.

"No you didn't…you didn't actually eat a toad, did you boy! You can't have done that!" as the Sannin grabbed both of the boy's shoulder, shaking him, he exclaimed, "I can't believe you barred yourself from the toad's summons!" he shrieked.

"I was hungry!" Naruto defended himself from the accusation, "And those toads seemed good to eat…they did give me stomach ache however…"

"Well…" Jiraiya sighed, his gaze turning softer at the reason, as he dropped the boy, "look at me carefully, and repeat…" the man bit his thumb, making the correct hand signs, slowly, before dropping his hand on the ground and exclaiming, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" at that, a small tadpole appeared, that wiggled for a bit before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"A tadpole?" Naruto queried, "Is that the might of toad summons?"

"No! Just…well, if you haven't signed a contract," as Jiraiya rolled back up his own toad's contract, "you can try the summoning scroll, and you should end up near the most attuned to you animal summon…if it's snakes, mind you, yell out loud you know Orochimaru, or they'll eat you fast," the man said, immediately, "And don't worry if you end up a bit far, they *should* get you back here, if you ask nicely," at that, Naruto gulped.

"I have a mission, most certainly, tomorrow…or maybe training, so…"

"Just try and repeat the motion, I'm sure that if you don't put any chakra in it nothing is going to happen," at those words, Naruto, albeit uneasily, nodded, and started going through them.

It took maybe five minutes, before the toad sage deemed himself satisfied, and, with a smile, he ruffled the blond boy's head, before saying.

"How about we go eat some ramen to celebrate, huh?"

"Can I invite Anko-chan too?" Naruto queried back, a sort of sparkle in his eyes.

"Anko-chan? Did you get it on with your teammate? You're a bit too young, and she's a bit too old you know…especially at this age!" as the sannin said that, Naruto sported a puzzled look, before replying.

"What are you…talking about, uncle?" as the blue eyes looked with perplexity at the elderly man, Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh.

"So, what's the reason for inviting one of your Genins to eat with us? You don't want a one on one with your uncle?" as the sannin said that, Naruto shook his head.

"It's not that uncle! It's just…I think she might be alone right now…and I'm sure she needs someone to talk with," as he pointed that out, Jiraiya's perplexed face made the blond boy add, "You see, she's gone with Orochimaru-sensei to sign the snake contract, but he'll probably have her go immediately afterwards…sensei doesn't waste time around, and she usually eats alone…"

"And you know this because…" the white-spiked ninja said, letting his right hand move in a circular motion, beckoning the boy to speak more.

"Well, she usually comes around to eat with me," Naruto replied, sheepishly, "I thought I could invite her for once…" as he added that, scratching the back of his head, Jiraiya nodded.

"Well then Gaki, go to her apartment, knock and present yourself like a dashing Romeo, and everything will be fine! I'll wait for you at Ichiraku's ramen, so get to it, quick, quick!"

Naruto didn't need to be told again, as he took out of his apartment as fast as he could: knowing all too well the road Anko lived in, he didn't waste any time, taking all the necessary shortcuts he had, over the course of many months of getting to know her, learned of, and reaching her door with a barely visible sweat on his forehead. Just as he was about to knock, however, he heard some soft chuckles coming from within. Soft female chuckles of different girls, probably.

"No way! He let you sign the…"

"Yeah he did…"

"I'm so jealous! Say, is it true that the demon boy murdered the entire town?" The blond boy in question held his breath, waiting for the reply that, actually, came after a couple of brief minutes.

"Who? Him? Nah! He's a scrawny weak thing! He did kill a couple of thieves in cold blood, in today's mission though," the reply that came, clearly from Anko's voice, left something stingy in his chest, but he waited, patiently, maybe there was more…

Indeed there was.

"Killed them? In cold blood? Did he lick their blood, or eat their corpses?"

"Well, the corpses were a mess, but…"

"I told you! Anko-chan! You're so unlucky to have that boy in your team, I'm sure he's got to have problems,"

"Well but…"

"And there's no need to defend him! He's not here, right now, so come on…tell us everything!"

"But I…"  
"Anko-chan! We want to know, don't keep us away from the truth, what horrible things does that monster do?"

Naruto stood very still, before turning around and, without stopping, running away once more, to Ichiraku's ramen. It seemed Anko had company that night, obviously he shouldn't have expected her to be alone. The only one who *was* alone most of the time was him, so it was obvious Anko had friends, being a war orphan didn't mean anything, being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, a disowned for being disrespectful child, and having a weak seal? That meant something, instead.

It meant being lonely, being stared at, being growled at, being hit, having things thrown at, having an apartment trashed, it meant not being able to have friends without risking them harmed…it meant loneliness. At least if he could speak with the Kyuubi, ask him something, like, *Why the hell did you have to ruin my life?* or things like that…but silence was all he heard, only that, and nothing else.

He reached Ichiraku's ramen just in time to stop on his tracks, obviously there was a red-haired woman eating ramen, next to Jiraiya, the two were chatting, speaking normally. That…that was enough to make the boy turn tails for the moment. He'd come back later…he could try that summoning jutsu somewhere safe.

The park was his objective, now, night taking over the day, nobody around, so he couldn't mess it up, could he?

He bit his thumb, and made the careful gestures with his hands, before letting his hand touch the ground, as he muttered, in a barely audible voice, filled with worry on what he might be summoned to, would it be toads, even though Uncle Jiraiya had said no? Would it be snakes? What else could it be? Cats? Would they forgive him for…barbequing a couple of cats?

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" and then, Naruto Uzumaki was gone in a small puff of smoke.

*Anko*

She had just sent home her, now once more, friends, and was sighing, recalling all the things they had actually forced her to say, after putting the words directly in her mouth. Well, it's not like the blond brat was going to know, and she was sure he'd forgive her, he was *that* polite...a pity nobody recognized it.

Now, she was waiting for tomorrow to shove it straight in front of clan's boy face that she would be going on a private trip, together with sensei and nine other Genins, to a special place in the Land of the Sea, to undertake some special training that would finally put her on par with Itachi, and would mark Naruto as the dead-last of the Genin team. Sure, the boy was nice, and cute, and he had helped them, but really, she was sensei's favorite, Orochimaru-sensei had said so! She couldn't wait for tomorrow! If all went as planned, for the trip, she'd be twelve by the time they'd reach the land of the Sea…sure, she'd miss the ten of October, the Kyuubi's festival, and probably she'd take all of November in that special training regime that Orochimaru-sensei had planned.

She simply couldn't help but skid over the wooden surface of her apartment: her friends had come over to make peace, offered her dangos, and tea, and everything seemed to have fixed itself. She was on a cloud, happily humming a tone as she opened her fridge for something to eat. Well, it was empty. She did eat some dangos as a light snack, but those wouldn't suffice.

She headed outside, sure that the blonde boy wouldn't mind some company that late at night, but she frowned, when, reaching his apartment, she didn't get a reply from within in the next minutes. She sighed, knowing all too well that the boy *had* to be at his second favorite place: Ichiraku's ramen stall.

So that's where she went, and as she sat down, she recognized the white-spiked hair of the Toad Hermit, Jiraiya, one of the three legendary Sannins, having seen him hours before.

The point was that the man seemed to be frowning, and was now looking at her with a strange smile.

"Oh! Anko-chan, isn't it? Where's Naruto?" he asked, looking puzzled behind her, like the boy as meant to be there.

"I…I thought he was here, actually, he usually *does* come here to eat a lot, but why the hell are you asking me!" as Anko replied that, Ayame actually chuckled.

"Naruto-kun comes here to celebrate whenever he can," as the girl with hazel hair spoke that with a sort of pride, Jiraiya's face gave off a smug grin, something that however made Teuchi, just so casually, cut a radish with precise motions…even Ninja-like, to say the least.

"Well, the Gaki said he wanted to invite you over to Ramen, so I thought he had come to get you!" Jiraiya replied with a sort of worried expression, "He didn't come to get you?"

"No he didn't! *I*," stressing the word, "Went to look for him at his apartment, but he wasn't there, so I came here!"

"Well…you probably missed each other," Jiraiya sighed, "He'll come around: it's not like he could suddenly disappear from Konoha and go somewhere else…"

*Somewhere*

"It *has* been a while since this happened," a voice called, in the dark and humid cave, "You know, this is actually the first time, in a long, long time, that I'm actually seeing someone from Konoha in here," the voice said again, as Naruto, a bit perplexed, stared around, a lost look on his face…why wasn't he seeing anything, at all?

"Yeah, usually they don't come around to getting…near us," the way it had been phrased seemed strange, too, but the blond boy was seemingly lost in this sort of ample cave, that had candles, lit on the sides of it, and that seemed to hold was looked like a scroll at the center of the area, surrounded by batches of eggs, and he had no idea *who* or *what* was talking.

"Well, anyway, he's here, let's ask the questions!" another voice, more cheery, exclaimed, as a loud series of groan echoed through the otherwise empty cave.

"Shut up you! And who's the bastard biting my tail!" a more snarling voice roared, as Naruto was now starting to think about what he had ended up being summoned to…

"Do I have a natural affinity to summon ghosts?" he muttered to himself, just as a giant, golden, with a black slit and protruding eye appeared straight in front of him, making the boy scream in utter fright, as it revealed…a chameleon!

To be more precise, it revealed a giant chameleon, whose skin slowly turned into different shades, to resemble green foliage, with purple dots.

"Ghosts? Well, that's a new way of putting it! We're chameleons!" the sort of overgrown lizard spoke, the sides of his head showing a sort of dinosaur-like face, as the thing had teeth, round, small, but clearly sharp teeth, and was sort of having a smug grin, as he carefully moved, on his limbs, towards the scroll at the center of the cave, his tail waving behind him.

"Well, well, let's ask the questions! First question: You see a bird perched on a branch, five branches above you, what do you do?" as the chameleon asked that, he slowly got to the side of the scroll, as Naruto, still taking in the bizarre unfolding of events, took a deep breath. What would he do?

Well…

"I'd try and knock him down with a stone, and then grab him when he falls near me…then I can have roast," as the spiky blond hair of a boy said that, the chameleon mused over the answer for a while, before shrugging.

"Fine by me! Good, question time is over so…"

"It's more than one you lazy excuse of a lizard!" another voice snarled, revealing on the side of the cave a reddish and brownish scaled chameleon, that slowly, and kind of wobbly, walked downwards, getting to the other side of the scroll.

"Question number two: What's your best mean of offense?"

Naruto took on a thoughtful appearance, looking at his equipment, not really understanding *what* he could answer with. A kunai? An explosive tag? It depended on the situation, after all he couldn't fight a wolf with an explosive tag, it would be overkill, and those things were costly.

"Anything that works?" he hesitated for a moment, as the red chameleon blinked for a second, before turning his gaze upwards.

"Is that actually a valid answer?" as a low rumble was heard, Naruto raised a puzzled eyebrow, weren't they in a cave? Why was the summon looking upwards? There was nothing…oh yeah, chameleons, there *was* probably someone.

"Good, seems it's a valid answer," as the cold-blooded animal said that, a third chameleon appeared, from Naruto's side, his scales so precisely mimicking the flickering of the candles that it didn't even seem possible, and yet, that's what he had done. Moving towards the scroll, Naruto saw his scales assuming a sort of white stint, with blue hues and dark shades of grey in the mixture, he strolled behind the scroll, before querying, in a sort of hopeful voice.

"Well, two out of four, let's see…Do you like salamanders?" at the question, the boy simply muttered back.

"What?"

"Salamanders, you know, kind of poisonous thingies, with scales…" as the chameleon said that, Naruto shook his head.

"Never saw one, but if it's poisonous I don't eat it," stating the obvious, in such a way, the white chameleon sported a grin.

"Well, Shiromari would probably be fine with a three out of four question," the green-foliage chameleon said, as the cavern…grumbled?

Then, Naruto realized, much to his surprise, that the cavern…wasn't actually a cavern, but a giant, an outright gigantic chameleon, who had assumed the semblance of a cavern, and had encircled him in there!

"Oh Kami…" was all that the boy could mutter, as the titanic lizard of sorts slowly unwrapped, to reveal enormous golden eyes, so big that they actually emerged from his sockets, and the scales slowly assumed a more dark brownish hue, with dark green colors that seemed to give the impression that, between the scales, there were patches of moss.

As the beast slowly moved away, grumbling something, it revealed the true location of the place Naruto had ended up in, sure, there was a rocky ground, but because it seemed more like a plateau, surrounded by streams of water and harsh winds, with luscious jungle-like forests in the nearby proximity.

"Okay…where am I?" Naruto queried, in a sort of worried voice.

"Well, this here is the home of the chameleon summons! We are in the land of rain, Ame no Kuni, and usually we do get some want to be summoners from the land of water…but they rarely even stay, as they usually all go whine to the salamanders, they think poison is much better than stealth, the gullible idiots!" as the snarling red and brown chameleon spoke, he pointed with his tail to the contract.

"Well, anyway, you don't like poison, so we're fine with it, here, grab a pencil and write in blood your name," as his tail tapped to the dotted line, Naruto walked forward hesitantly.

"Hush it, Ryuu, let the boy get used to talking chameleons first!" the white-speckled with blue chameleon spoke, with a more eased voice.

"Ehm…is there anything I should know before I sign this?" the boy turned to the more bright one, who didn't seem to be that much scary…and that didn't look like she had more teeth than the other one.

"Well…after you sign the contract, you are asked not to eat any chameleons," with that, Naruto nodded, there *weren't* chameleons in Konoha, or if there were…they were hidden pretty well, "you should also help chameleons if you come across one that's in danger," Naruto nodded again, "and generally you should kick in the ass any and all salamander summoner you come across, preferably in a painful way and with the use of chameleons," at that, the boy raised an eyebrow.

"You really don't like salamanders?"

"Not one bit, damn things always trying to boss their way in our territory, but we show them whose chief here, that we do!" the green-foliaged chameleon exclaimed, as the boy, with a nod, wrote his name on the summoning scroll.

"Good! Now, if you ever happen to come across Shiromari, you'd mind telling her to come back home?" at that question, coming from the white and grey speckled chameleon, Naruto looked perplexed.

"Is there…something to recognize her by?"

"Well, last time, she was summoned in Kubi no Kuni, by Kōza Kubisaki, who was our summoner fifty or more years ago, but then she simply didn't come home," at that, Naruto remembered seeing that, above his name, there *was* that of Koza himself.

"Wait, so I'm basically your only summoner as of now?"

"I did tell you salamanders are preferred by those damn idiots of Ame and Mizu, didn't I?" at that, the boy nodded.

"Still, I never heard of chameleon summons… Why should I have a natural affinity with them?" at the question, asked with a curious expression, Ryuu replied with a snarl, that seemed to be his normal tone of voice.

"Well brat, either you ate one of everything else," at that, Naruto winced, he did actually *eat* a lot of different things, "or you simply share our common philosophy on living, or maybe heck, you've got some natural affinities in common with us, albeit usually the land of fire is famous for having Fire affinity users, while here there are principally water affinity ones."

"Fire…affinity? Like the Katons Itachi does?" at the exclamation from the boy, the white speckled chameleon replied with a chuckle.

"Katons are fire releases, which require fire affinity, while water releases are Suitons, that require water affinity, basically, a Konoha shinobi in here is as common as burning water," as a small geyser erupted nearby, Naruto looked at it, just as the white chameleon sported a narrowed gaze, if it could be called that, "Well, ignoring the Old Faithful over there, I still haven't told you my name: I'm Tokage, that one over there trying to eat that bird," pointing with its paw at the green-foliage one, "is Kozue," at that, the chameleon opened his mouth, extending his tongue as it struck true the flying bird, before making it swiftly disappear between his maws, making Naruto gulp, for a second…he didn't want to die being eaten like that…ever.

"Then there's Kamereon, the boss summon, he speaks very little…grumbles most of the time," Tokage explained, "do notice that, differently from other summons, we aren't much…front-attack related…infiltration yes, support yes, head-on attack? You'd probably be better off on your own for that," as Naruto nodded, he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Ehm…do you know *how* I can get back home?"

"Walking, don't you like walking?" Ryuu snarled, sporting a grin that looked all the more savage, just as Kozue burped, letting feathers fly out of his mouth, and Tokage shook its head, with a sigh.

"I'll puff you back to Konoha, now stand still and…puff!" as a cloud of smoke suddenly engulfed Naruto, he coughed, for a moment, before it dispersed to reveal…Tokage, sheepishly making an awry smile.

"Ops…well, second time's the charm, right? Puff!" and with that, Naruto *did* feel being transported...he just hoped he had ended up in the right place, this time.

*Arrival*

Teuchi was slowly mixing the broth for ramen, as he observed a strangely nervous Anko, a worried Ayame, and a tense Jiraiya.

"Well, the brat *is* late," the Toad Sannin said, "I kind of wonder why he would be…"

Anko tensed, she *did* have a thought running in her mind, what if the boy had heard her talking with her friends, sooner that day? What if he was now moping in a corner, crying his brat-heart out, and then what if Jiraiya actually found him, consoled him, and got wind of it? She was going to have an extremely pissed Sannin against her, that also was known to be Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage's, sensei… meaning he could pretty much convince him to swap her of her team, and then…she gulped, at the thought, before shaking her head. No, the boy would have probably knocked, right? There was no way he could have heard anything.

That thought lasted until a small puff of smoke later, Naruto appeared at Ichiraku's stall, sitting on the counter.

"Naruto?" Jiraiya queried, perplexed, as Teuchi gasped for a moment.

"Naruto-kun!" Ayame exclaimed, giggling at the scene, as, the boy, much silently, took his seat next to the toad sage.

"Where have you been, boy!" Anko exclaimed, just as the blond spikey ninja sighed.

"Everything's alright Gaki?"

"Well…you could say so," as he replied that, softly, he made his order, "One pork ramen Teuchi-san…make it double," as he finished speaking, he slowly gulped down nervously, before muttering.

"I might have signed a summon contract," at that, Jiraiya's gaze narrowed down.

"Gaki! I told you not to do it! You should have waited for me! What if something happened to you? How can you be…"

"Everything went fine, Uncle," Naruto replied, a bit bitterly, "I entered a contract with the chameleon summons," he added.

"Chameleon summons? Never heard of them," just as the white spiked sannin said that, Anko butted in.

"Ha! Chameleons! I got to sign the snake summons! They can eat your chameleons in a split second!" as she was smiling at the thought of having bested Naruto once more, the boy simply gave her an awry smile.

"Yeah…I suppose they could," at that, Anko frowned. It wasn't even funny to try and smug something over Naruto's face, he simply didn't seem to care, he simply…was too polite and gentle for that to make him feel bad, or, if it did make him feel bad, he was too good to let it show.

Dinner went by in a sort of strange silence, as even Jiraiya, trying to get more information out from the boy, got nothing.

Just as they bid goodbye to Anko, who went to sleep for the next day's training, Naruto looked at Jiraiya, and finally, grabbed the courage to ask the Sannin.

"Uncle Jiraiya…do you know why I've been abandoned?" at the question, the sannin sighed, before letting his sad gaze linger on the boy's face.

Ruffling his hair, without saying another word, the toad hermit simply dashed off, leaving a perplexed and alone, boy, to think about the recent action of the Toad Sannin…why wouldn't he answer him?

"_Because he knows, and he won't answer anyone less than the Hokage, that's why," _Naruto bitterly thought, as he reached for his apartment…he too had sleep to take on, after all, he'd end up training next day too…at least, he hoped Orochimaru-sensei would take some of his time to teach him something.

As he drifted off to sleep, he found himself with his back against a soft surface, a soft warm surface, that always seemed to be his mattress, since, no matter where he was, when he slept, he always had this soft warm surface under his back, always making him feel peaceful, at least in his sleep. So he slept, happily and without worries, not even wondering why it felt ticklish or furry, he never questioned it, since he didn't want to break the dream. He simply slept.

Light snoring, peaceful light snoring, was always heard in his dreams, so, why would he worry about that?

*Meanwhile*

"She finally went to bed," Kushina muttered, her eyes showing dark blue bags underneath them, from the lack of sleep, or the energy deprivation, one of the two.

"She's a bundle of energy, isn't she?" Minato replied with a small smile, as, in the living room, the two sat close, sighing.

"You know…she no longer…" Kushina whispered, with a sort of hopeful and saddened tone.

"No, it's still too dangerous," Minato replied, shaking his head, "I have doubts about Orochimaru too…He's showing a too healthy interest in the Kyuubi recently," as he muttered that, Kushina's face narrowed.

"You think he's realized something?"

"No, he didn't seem puzzled in seeing Jiraiya," Minato replied.

"Well then…how did his first time out of the village go?"

"There was blood shed, obviously Orochimaru butted in claiming nothing happened…I could have managed to get Naruto kicked out of the shinobi program, but that damn snake bastard clashed against it…all the planning with Danzo gone to waste," Minato muttered, "there were a couple of Root members in the gang, but Orochimaru killed them all without care, and the Root retrieval team was found slaughtered in the forest, the sannin did all that without the kids realizing it…"

"Well…what about Iwa instead?"

"Seems they're trying to get their hands on Katsumi, but they no longer give a damn about Naruto, after all, I disowned him, and I made it clear I wouldn't even waste a Ryo getting him back, I even offered him straight to the Iwa Kage and he actually refused it," As Minato said that with a smug smile, Kushina's eyes turned sad, for a brief moment.

"He's still an Uzumaki, right?" Kushina whispered, thoughts dashing through her head, "I'll have to check in the clan's laws…but if he did, let's say, shed blood…he's an adult…which means that, as his clan's matriarch…I can force him out of the shinobi program!" as realization dawned on her, Minato's face turned to a frown.

"There's no proof he actually killed anyone, and assassination missions are for Chuunins only," as he pointed that out, Kushina's smile turned into a smug look.

"Then…just send him on one," at that, Minato was the one puzzled.

"Naruto, on a chuunin-rank mission? He'd die certainly," but the red-haired woman shook her head.

"Not alone, send him with a four team squad, handpicked, and have them ordered to let Naruto handle the deal…he'll probably hate me till the end of his life…his long, civilian life, but he won't be a shinobi any longer, unless he magically happens to get into another clan who can reverse my sentence," and with that, Minato mulled the thought, before nodding to himself.

"He did complete a lot of D-rank mission, so, a couple of C-rank missions more, then I'll send him on his first B-rank assassination mission…and then you can swoop him out of the shinobi program," as he finished speaking, Kushina snuggled closer to her husband.

"And then, once he's out, I'll have him brought into the civilian orphanage, and from there he should be fed and taught how to be a civilian…while Danzo's Root will keep a close eye on him," as Minato added that, the plan seemed pretty solid into his mind.

The only problem was if Orochimaru would intervene once more…or if anyone else who knew the truth would object.

He just hoped Hiruzen would be fine with it too…the old man did dote on the boy…but if it was told to the ex-Hokage that it was for his own good, how could he actually say no?

**Author's notes**

**Chameleon summons? Check.**

**How did I chose the summons: I looked for those that would remind me more of this Naruto's lifestyle, salamanders would have been a pick had this Naruto been an evil one, but him being a greyish one, chameleons went better.**

**As for general Q&A:**

**It's not that I like Anko, but when I write, I firstly tend to research if something is already there, to avoid having to Oc my way through.**

**Meaning that Anko *was* a Genin at the time Itachi graduated academy, *thus* I placed her together with Naruto in the same team, to avoid having to Oc a Kunoichi out of thin air. Plus, this gives me way for far more angst than normal, especially for the next chapter.**

**Now, as I'm sure some of you know, Orochimaru's idea with the cursed seal was to place it on his Genins, to test it out, and then return to Konoha. Obviously, the Genins he picked weren't the best by all means, but those he could get away with…aka orphans, ten of them, all *mentored* by him privately. That's why Itachi wouldn't have been picked, being an Uchiha, belonging to a clan, and furthermore…Orochimaru didn't think he'd get found out. Naruto on the other hand was an incognita, sure, he could have tried and give it to him…but he wasn't that stupid to try it when there was a risk it would mix with the really, really, weak seal of Iron...**

**Now, for the Chuunin-like mission, I've got it settled, for a couple of C-rank missions, I'll skip through them (Since, let's face it, nobody wants to read about one of those filler-arcs anime series, fanfiction should be made to be original ideas inside well known worlds, leaving only the really important pieces together to make it better than the Original, or Different from the Original.)**

**Now, onto the big bet: **

**If you can correctly guess *what* happened on that fateful night, you earn yourself a digital cookie.**

**I did leave quite a bit of scattered around clues…let's see if you can find out the truth!**

**The Harsh Truth.**


	4. PC:Fallouts

Chapter fourth

Anko pouted, looking at the group of Genins around her. Why did Orochimaru-sensei invite all these losers on the training trip? They had left at first dawn, two days after having her signing the Snake summons, and she had barely gotten down the Sen'eijashu, that she had found herself there, among other Genins from Konoha, all privately taught by Orochimaru, and all eager to get on with the special training regimen the snake sannin had prepared for them.

It took her a moment to get used to the swaying motion of the ship, and she couldn't repress a smirk, seeing how some of the boys there had turned slightly green, suffering from sea sickness. They all seemed so tense, and frowning, a bunch of stuck-up kids, probably sons and daughters of famous ninjas, all that had pleaded her sensei to take them as disciples. She was the only one there taken for her skills and quickness in learning, that much, she was sure.

She didn't know what to think of the first rule for the trip: absolute silence for the duration of the training regime. They could only speak to Orochimaru-sensei and backwards, no speaking among one another, to increase competiveness and the training results: that much the snake sannin had said.

She turned around, staring at the mass of water in front of her, and inwardly frowned, letting her mind roll off to what Naruto, and Itachi, were probably doing right now, probably the clan's boy was going to get some private training with his clansmen, while Naruto…he was probably alone, moping. Well, when she came back, stronger than ever, she'd teach something to Naru-chan herself! Then the boy would in turn be grateful to his Anko-sama/Hime, and would in turn become her manservant. She'd obviously treat the boy well, and protect him, but she just couldn't help her imagination, when the thought of a Naruto with puppy eyes and dog ears coming over to rest his head on her lap, came barging inside her head.

Chuckling to herself, she, like all the others, didn't notice the look on Orochimaru's face, which was cold, and calculative.

"_The first batch of subjects is apparently healthy: some suffer from sea sickness while some don't. There are five male and five female specimens, and all are passable shinobis. Of these, one out of each group has a summoning contract, but none have any Doujutsu. They are all orphans…" _as Orochimaru thought this, coldly analyzing the meat-bags he had at his disposal, he hoped that some would survive the experiment…at least he'd have better data for the second batch.

Meanwhile, Amachi was patiently waiting on Jiro Island: one of the four great islands that composed the land of the sea. The other three being Taro, Demon and Mother, while the latter was the main island of the archipelago, out of all the islands available, Jiro island was the smallest, the most ignored, and thus the perfect place for Orochimaru's experiments on underwater ninjas. Sure, the research was going a bit on the slow side, but it wasn't that much of a problem, he was sure that, couple of years top, he'd get all the results and the perfect specimens.

Right about then, one of his workers warned him of the arrival hour for the ship Orochimaru was on, together with his test subjects for that new experiment, involving a cursed seal of sort and strange chakra. Still, he couldn't help but smirk at the rooms that would hold the test subjects for the following days…and then, if there were any survivors, the rooms to analyze their living tissues, their organs, their bodies were already prepared.

He was thoroughly going to enjoy dissecting those bodies, and, while he didn't want to admit it, it had always been his greatest desire, kept secret because it was weird, even by shinobis standards, to dissect a still living woman. Why not a man? Well, he had already done that, of course, so right about then, all he needed was just a healthy woman, or even a girl would suffice, to start dissecting. Only when Orochimaru-sama would have given his consent, obviously, but it wasn't like he had to wait much…only a couple of hours.

Till then, he'd take on his favorite pastime to kill time: dissecting live fishes. If only there was a way to unite both of his deep desires…

*Konoha Around the same time*

Naruto gulped nervously, as he looked to Itachi, at his side, and then in front of him, at the two, clearly already chuunins, that were looking back at him with a frown.

He was used to those stares, what he wasn't used to was that the red-eyed girl, seventeen years, minimum, was actually biting her index finger, in a thoughtful manner, while trying to decide something, seemingly in her mind, between the two. Next to her, stood a boy, a serious face on him as his dark eyes looked straight through the very soul of the blond brat, and then at that of the Uchiha.

"Well, seems like we'll be playing babysitter while your sensei is away," the seventeen year old boy snorted, "I'm Ibiki Morino, this here is Kurenai Yuhi," as he presented her, the girl frowned.

"I can present myself without your help, you know," and, with a mutter of *sexist bastard* she replied to the two boys, "I'm Kurenai Yuhi, I'm a Genjutsu specialist, aiming for Jounin-level, while this rude and clearly sexist guy is trying to get into the Torture and Interrogation department, but in truth, he has a soft spot for…"

"While she, on the other hand, has a soft spot for a certain guardian of Konoha," as a silver-haired guy made his way towards them, he sported a dark green flak jacket, and, as Naruto's eyes sparkled, both Kurenai and Ibiki groaned.

"They did not!" Ibiki exclaimed, as Kakashi, smiling and putting away his orange book, replied.

"Did what?" as the copy-cat ninja feigned ignorance on the subject, as he ruffled Naruto's hair, while giving one of his trademark eye-smiles at Itachi, Yuhi rolled her eyes, muttering.

"Typical sexist behavior, I'm surrounded by men and boys…why couldn't there be a Kunoichi prodigy in the midst?"

"Because that's how life is, now, please do notice that I'm your Jounin-sensei, so, I'd like you all to address me as Kakashi-sensei," as he pointed that out, the four nodded, "Except Kurenai-san, who can call me Kakashi-sama," at that, Kurenai sported a nervous tick mark, "and Naruto-kun, who can call me without appellatives, understood?"

"What's our first mission, sensei?" as Ibiki said that, trying to divert the fire of…rage coming from within the Genjutsu specialist, the silver-haired Jounin opened a scroll, reading it in silence for a couple of minutes, before replying.

"Well, it's patrol duty around Konoha! I'm sure you're all going to be really happy to know that this patrol is going to take us five months!"

A set of groans echoed from one chuunin to the other, while Naruto, and Itachi, raised puzzled eyebrows.

"Patrol duty around the border is exciting…patrol border around the village? It's basically helping out villages nearby and farmers with petty problems," Ibiki muttered, looking at the two, "And it's some sort of punishment deal, too…Kakashi, why did you pick that up?"

"Well, we need to have our two Genins here get used to C-rank missions! They've been already inserted into the Chuunin exams that will happen in three years…unless they get a promotion on the battlefield, that is," as Kakashi dropped the bomb right there and then, Naruto's eyebrows twitched, while Itachi did his best to seemingly look unfazed, albeit he was mentally thinking that, if everything went well, they'd still need a team of three for the chuunin exams, wouldn't they? So, it meant that Anko would probably participate too…but Naruto was sure she'd get the promotion never the less. She was better than him, and he had been actually…Naruto's thought drifted to a halt, as cogs and mechanism began to furiously spin inside his head.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto whispered, "Who inserted us into the Chuunin exams?"

"Well, having been marked as prodigies, it was the Hokage's pleasure, clearly," as Kurenai pointed that out, Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly, seeing the boy's eye going colder for a split second.

"He'd never do that without a second reason," the boy muttered, something that was meant to be barely audible, but that was instead heard by everyone in their meeting spot.

"He's the Hokage, first and foremost he should put the village's interest above his own," Ibiki mulled out loud, "If you two are the real deal, then there's no problem at all, so…hey Kakashi," saying that, without the use of the sensei, made the silver-haired Jounin whip out his orange book, starting to read it in utter annoyance…clearly visible to the others, "Kakashi-sensei," Ibiki muttered again, gritting his teeth.

"Yes, Ibiki-kun?" as the copy-cat ninja said that, his only eye fluttering in a sort of mock-expression of a girl, the boy tried to reason that torturing his own Jounin sensei wasn't going to get him accepted into the T&I department of Konoha any sooner…

"How about we test the brats?"

"Fine by me, Kurenai-chan can pick Itachi, and you can go with Naruto," at that, Ibiki sported a wicked grin that made the blond boy shiver.

"Can't wait to test one of Orochimaru's Genins…let's see how strong you are… What's the training camp number, Kakashi-sensei?" as he snorted out the sensei to the boy, who was still a year younger than him, Kakashi smiled, before replying.

"Training ground three," no sooner had he said that, that Ibiki had already grabbed Naruto by the hem of his dull green jacket, smiling wickedly.

"Ibiki, you shouldn't go…" as Kakashi tried to warn the elder boy, the chuunin in question was already dashing off, leaving behind the other three.

"He's always like that," Kurenai said, sort of excusing Morino, as Itachi had a worried expression on him, "but he won't kill Naruto…I hope," as she added that, Itachi's face turned pale, as he began to dash straight behind the two.

"Why, what enthusiasm!" Kakashi exclaimed, happily, as he instead Shunshin'd toward the training ground, swiftly followed by Kurenai.

As they reached the training ground, Ibiki dropped Naruto on the ground, but the boy swiftly managed to land on his feet, thus making a small set of jumps backwards, to get some distance between him and the elder boy.

"Well then, while we wait for the others to get here, how about we start sparring, huh? Show me what you've got on the Taijutsu department…not like you can do anything else, I suppose," with that, Ibiki simply decided to mentally give himself the start signal, assuming an offensive position, charging at the blond boy who, being smaller and thus nimbler, sidestepped the first blunt fist of the Chuunin, jumping a bit back to avoid the rear end of Ibiki's foot, that had spun around, trying to get into reach of the boy's left cheek, but had instead met with air, as the boy had outright distanced himself even more from Ibiki.

He hadn't said a word however, not even querying why, but simply falling naturally into the movements of the spar, so, as Ibiki came close once more, feigning to send the blond boy a left jab, he instead used his knee to spearhead him in the stomach, obtaining, as a reply, a thick cloud of smoke, as a wooden log took the place of the boy.

"Hey, I said Taijutsu only!" Ibiki ranted, before narrowing his eyes, he wanted to bring the Ninjutsus into this? Fine, he'd bring the Ninjutsus into this…and the weapons.

Ibiki drew out a kunai, flinging a set of senbon needles on the tree's top that stood at his right side, earning himself a smirk when he heard a small cry and a thud hitting the ground and, within moments, he reached the area where the noise had been. Reaching the base of the tree, he found a small rock and an explosive tag going off, forcing Ibiki to dash backwards, as the explosion rocked the nearby area, making the elder boy wince as the tree near it was reduced to a charred stump.

"Hey! Aren't you going overboard!" at that exclamation, Ibiki winced, seeing in the corner of his left eye the silhouette of the boy dashing at him, Kunai in hand, but just as he did that, the chuunin smirked, instead turning to his right, throwing his left hand in a fist, that connected with Naruto's face and sent him sprawling on the ground, while the Bunshin of Naruto dispersed, having the boy lost concentration.

"Now that's good for a Genin, you nearly had me…" and then Ibiki winced, worriedly, as the boy, falling on the ground, took out an explosive tag…just how many did the boy have!

"Hey now, no need to go overboard, this is a friendly spar, you got it?" the older boy was sweating slightly, as the cold blue eyes of the blond boy seemed icy, like those of the men that fought the war and didn't give up, he had killed people in his life, a Chuunin has at least some blood on his hand…but this boy seemed quite suicidal, actually.

So, as Ibiki was going through the only possible solution he had in mind, to throw a kunai straight at the boy's hand, he was surprised when instead the boy head-butted the Kunai. His forehead protector deflected the hit of the weapon, letting a cheek be scarred to the side by its new trajectory, as Naruto moved closer, not caring for the blood running down the wound on the side of his face, already at the point of slamming the tag at Ibiki's side, and, just as the Chuunin closed his eyes, he heard a muffled voice, coming from the boy.

"I win," he muttered, letting the tag back into his inner pockets, without activating it.

"Huh? I'm still alive!" as Ibiki patted himself, he then looked at the boy, with a perplexed expression.

"Orochimaru-sensei has us spar until one of us closes his eyes, and everything is acceptable in the spars," Itachi whispered, having finally reached the two, panting slightly as he looked at the elder boy, who was nodding.

"But I told him only Taijutsu!" Ibiki exclaimed, pointing the finger at the blond.

"But the spar had already begun…lying is a common happening during our spars with Orochimaru-sensei, thus he didn't think of anything *but* to have you close your eyes," as the Uchiha pointed that out, Naruto's eyes suddenly opened up in shock.

"I…I'm sorry Morino-san, I didn't know you weren't lying!" as the blond boy bowed repeatedly, Ibiki found himself in the uncomfortable position of wanting to hug the blond brat. Something he only, rarely, did, at home, and only with his younger brother who was too good for his own being…he coughed, slightly blushing, as the blond boy now once more had those clear blue eyes that so much resembled an ocean lit by the sun…and he shook his head, trying to get all that poetical crap out of it.

"No need to bow, boy, I got it, my mistake, next time I'll make sure we're speaking on the same wavelength," as Ibiki said that, dismissing the issue with his hand, Naruto's eyes sparkled, making the chuunin take a step backward.

"Naruto," Itachi sighed, moving closer to the boy, "Look at you, you've got a wound on the cheek… stand still will you?" as the Uchiha took out a napkin and some disinfectant, he began cleaning the wound, before plastering some cream on it with a sigh.

Ibiki stared at the scene, then turned around, just in time to see Kurenai actually blush, while Kakashi's hands were simply closing the book, the orange perverted book, and slowly tearing it into pieces, small pieces, as such a sight of purity and friendship would be lost forever had he set his gaze on another passage of Icha-Icha, and yet…yet he couldn't help but feel something was deeply wrong with it.

"Can I have him?" Yuhi said, pointing at Naruto, with her red eyes, and a sort of wincing expression, as Itachi had finished bandaging the side of his face, maybe being a bit overzealous.

"And what did you do to him?" She snarled at Ibiki, who suddenly jolted to attention.

"Nothing Kurenai-san, really! He just…well, he might have…been in the…trajectory of…Kunai…"

"YOU!" she basically screeched, "You just don't end up in the trajectory of a kunai! Why did you throw such a thing at such a poor scrawny thing? Can't you see you wounded him! Just what was your brain thinking Ibiki!" as she started ranting, Kakashi chuckled nervously, as he neared the boy.

"Naruto, just *how* did you manage to get some explosive tags?" at the question, the boy raised a puzzled eyebrow.

"I bought them," he said.

"The shopkeeper said nothing about it?" sure, he was a ninja, every ninja could buy ninja equipment without problems, but still, he too would have had a bit of worry in selling explosive tags to a seven years old kid.

"I had the money for them, and he said nothing about it…" Naruto whispered back, "I shouldn't have bought them, Kakashi-sensei?" as his eyes turned watery, maybe in fear of having done something wrong, the silver-haired Jounin felt something in him crack.

It lasted only a second, and by the time it was gone, he was already covering with silver dye the boy's blond hair.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto whined puzzled, as the older boy had readjusted his forehead protector to cover his left blue eye.

"Now say Kakashi-Niisan, come on Naruto, it's an order," as the copy-cat ninja ordered that, the boy, perplexed, was about to say it when Kurenai let out a screech.

"Oh no you don't!" strangely, the girl clad in some sort of bizarre bandage and fishnet clothing, with cloth-wrapped fists, grabbed the boy by the shoulder, and dragged him to the nearby river, to get that dye off, while Kakashi, wincing in pain, raised a hand exclaiming.

"Please no! Kurenai-san! Wait! It's an order! Stop it! I'm reporting you for insubordination! No! No! NO!" as the copy-cat ninja fell on his knees, twitching slightly, Kurenai returned with a once more blond-haired boy, who was extremely puzzled, and looked at Itachi for answers…but the boy was torn between actually replying, that they had ended up with madmen, or telling him that everything was fine…he opted for silence.

As tears fell down from Kakashi's only visible eye, Kurenai turned to Itachi, with a smirk.

"Well Uchiha-san, let's have a nice spar, shall we? Only Taijutsu allowed… though if you want to become a Chuunin, you have to demonstrate great skill in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, and you must be able to effectively counter the mildest illusions and to show at least two jutsus of the required elemental affinity or one not belonging to your affinity," as Kurenai actually explained, Itachi nodded, before assuming his normal formation for spars, and then, swiftly, the punches flew around, albeit there wasn't much strength in Itachi's punches, Kurenai didn't go all out either, effectively making it a quite weaker and less tense fight than that between Ibiki and Naruto, as the two, looking at each other, kind of sported a perplexed expression.

"Itachi, ehi! Go all out, come on!" as Naruto exclaimed that, Ibiki smirked, before taunting Kurenai.

"Come on girl! Is that the best your girlish physique can handle!" at the remarks, both sparring fighters sported nervous tick marks, before raising it up a notch.

"Would you two please avoid making spars degenerate into death-fights?" as Kakashi sighed that, looking with vivid interest at how Itachi's sparring style was solid, he couldn't help but feel there was something distinctively familiar in the boy's punches. Left feint, right hook, right kick, jump back…those movements were familiar to him…and with a sigh, Kakashi realized full well why…after all he had sparred against an Uchiha in his life, under Minato-sensei…

"_Well Obito…he should just grab a pair of goggles, and then he'd be a perfect example of what you and Rin would have had as a child," _he shook his head, removing the thought, Rin *was* still alive, and she used to go to the memorial stone far more times than he did, he was sure, were they to linger in the training camp for a while, they'd eventually meet her.

Still, these spars weren't meant to last all day, they just had to give the general feeling of how much they'd have to babysit the two Genins, but, much to his surprise, Itachi managed to land a light punch to the side of Kurenai's cheek, and with that, Kakashi marked the end of the sparring session.

"So, judging from how the fight went, I'd say we can treat you as low-chuunin for the patrol," Kakashi muttered, "You've already had to stay away from the village for a while, correct?" as both Naruto and Itachi nodded, the silver-haired Jounin shrugged.

"Good, one hour, village gates, we'll be away for five months, but we will stay near the village, so in case anything happens we'll be quick to return...or if there's anything to report," at that, both Naruto and Itachi stared perplexed at the chuunins and at Kakashi, who were all kind of looking at the two Genins, thinking they'd dash off to prepare…

"Ehm…you heard me, right? One hour, gates…prepare for mission…five months…" as Kakashi tried to speak slowly, Itachi replied with a controlled voice that barely let his amusement revealed.

"We *are* prepared for a long-term mission in every instant, Orochimaru-sensei gave us these…" Itachi took out a slip of paper, that held a containing seal on it, "and we have our backpacks within with supplies needed for at least three weeks," at that, Naruto added.

"Also spare weapons, and personal hygiene items," as the blond boy finished his friend's sentence, Kakashi chuckled, as Ibiki nervously moved to get *his* stuff as Kurenai did too.

"Good, now, while on my team, there is only one rule I want you to follow, got it?" as Kakashi said that, Naruto raised an eyebrow, as Itachi silently waited for the copy-cat ninja to speak.

"Those who abandon their mission are trash…but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash," as the silver-haired Jounin spoke, his only eye narrowed on the two Genins, "Whatever happens, I want no less than complete understanding on this rule. I will have you thrown out of the shinobi program the moment you abandon one of your teammates, no matter what the mission entails or wherever or not you have successfully completed it afterwards. Abandon a teammate and I can guarantee you…I will not have you become anything more than a Genin," and with those words, Kakashi's eye blazed with fury, as both boys gulped, slightly.

They both furiously nodded, they didn't want to get in the way of the copy-cat ninja.

*Sometime later, Land of Sea*

The seal hurt. To say it hurt was barely reaching the surface of the pain she was feeling in that moment. To say she was flaring up in pure untainted pain was to still not even scratch the tip of the iceberg called suffering, the one she was currently completely submerged inside. She felt her entire body flare up in pure unwashed waves of heat, and then spasm under breezing colds that left her with goose bumps, her muscles felt like someone was cutting them and then tearing them off her bones, as she could feel her brain actually melting and being split up in small pieces. Still, she was hanging on to a Kunai like it was the last anchor of safety she had. It seemed ironic, in the small brief moments of sanity she was experiencing, that the cold metal of the weapon seemed to soothe her. Still, it was the kunai Naruto had given her, that scrawny boy would certainly cry his heart out if she were to lose because of some ink on her neck, wouldn't he? Still, it hurt, it hurt like there was no tomorrow, she just wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep, to have the pain leave. She could…she just needed to grab that metal kunai, the blade sharper than any razor, and simply pierce her jugular. She'd be in peace afterwards, wouldn't she?

As she slowly moved the kunai closer, she stared at it, for a brief second…who would miss her? She had no-one, after all, except those friends of her, but she did have those two brats, didn't she? And Orochimaru-sensei wouldn't do this to her without reason, would he?

"_Training is over for today," Orochimaru had declared, letting them free to go their own business, and since it was the first day of the month, and her wallet was full, she had decided to get some common ground conversation with her team._

"_Hey Sensei!" she had exclaimed, with a cheer, "How about we go eat some dangos as a team?"_

"_I have business to attend to, Anko-chan," Orochimaru had then left without another word, as Itachi had excused himself too, having a clan's affair or something like that. _

"_Damn it," Anko had muttered, kicking a rock on the ground, just as the voice of the remaining team member had spoken quietly._

"_If you want, Anko-san, I can come with you," the purple-haired girl had turned to the blond boy with deep blue eyes, who seemed kind of scared, was she that scary? Or was he simply nervous?_

"_Well, this Anko-sama will accept: come on, I'll get Dangos and then we can go to the ramen stall you like so much," as she had grinned that, Naruto had simply sported a perplexed expression._

"_There's no need to go to the ramen stall then, I…I'm not that hungry, really," with that, she had frowned for a second, before shrugging, and heading towards the dango stall._

"_You know," she had said, to start conversation, "I've got to ask: why do you look so damn well…low on funds? Shouldn't you have some rich kid's bank account, or…"_

"_I've been disowned, Anko-san… I have nothing anymore," the boy had replied, his gaze lingering on the dirt road, "I'm not an orphan, so I don't get any money from checks, I'm no longer a *needy boy*, so I have to pay rent for the one room apartment I'm occupying, and…" he sighed, "nobody actually would employ me even to mow the grass, unless I change my appearance…I started working since I was five, Anko-san…while keeping up a Henge to look like someone else, and I couldn't do anything about vandalism, being forced to instead pay for the damages myself…so…yeah, I'm low on funds," as the boy finished speaking, Anko said nothing else, until she got to the dango stall, where she ordered two dango sticks, and shoved one straight into the boy's hands._

"_This isn't mercy: You just need to understand the superiority of Dango over Ramen, so, as soon as you get it, you'll stop eating that damn noodle with broth thing," with that, the purple-haired Kunoichi had watched the boy's face turn into a mixture of emotions, none the less a sparkling glint in his eyes._

_Yeah, that sparkling glint did catch her attention, it was something so simple she had felt her very own guts being ripped out, when she had realized just what it meant, for him…it was happiness. That sparkle in his eyes was happiness, and it looked so much untainted it was making her feel goose bumps, thinking how someone could willingly obscure that sparkle…she had felt the need, that night, to go spit on the fourth's Hokage's head monument, stomping it with her feet for a while. _

"The brat's so damn whiny," Anko muttered to herself, dropping the kunai that had gone so close to her neck, "That I can't leave him alone, can I? I mean…he's going to die one day or another if I'm not there backing him up," with those words, she let her head rest against the cold stone floor. When she had fallen on the floor, she had no idea, probably when she had started feeling the heat waves, and had dropped the covers, or maybe she had actually tried to walk to the bathroom, just to fall over. She didn't, actually, know what time it was. She just knew she was feeling a horrible mess.

That's when another feeling took place in her heart.

"Why am I in this situation?" She muttered to herself, her skin slowly getting dotted with black marks that seemed to spread from the seal.

"Whose fault is it?" she whispered.

"Orochimaru-sensei must have realized," she spoke, slowly, "that Naruto was weak. To protect him, he made me strong…didn't he?" she chuckled, slightly shaking her head as her right fist hit the ground, small cracks appearing on the otherwise smooth stone floor.

"Obviously I can't fault sensei for thinking that, can I?" the purple haired Kunoichi's eyes suddenly reduced their circumference, becoming tiny spots of light brown.

"No, it's the clan's boy fault…he's always there protecting Naruto, isn't he? Always with that smug look, acting like he cares about the boy…he just enjoys having a toy doesn't he?" as she snarled that, her left hand smashed the stone floor, as she slowly got on her feet, wobbling.

"No, no, it's not even his fault…whose fault is it, that I'm here? It's because I'm weak…" Anko muttered, looking at her hands, "It's because I'm alone…it's my fault…only my fault," and with those words, she fell on her knees, breathing raggedly, as the seal's marks receded, slowly resuming their normal form, as from behind the cell, Orochimaru looked with a curious expression at the girl's back.

"Hum…she's the sole survivor…isn't she?" as the snake Sannin turned to Amachi, the man nodded, albeit uneasily.

"Well…a one out of ten success rate…not bad…Not bad at all, but we can do better, can we, Amachi-san?" as Orochimaru said that, rhetorically, the medic-nin gulped heavily, before nodding, once more.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama…there is still the underwater ninja experiment that…"

"No, drop that. Concentrate only on the cursed seal research, understood?" as the snake sannin said that, with a bored tone, Amachi felt a bit offended, that his life work, the union of fish and men, to be refuted so quickly and with so little interest from his principal fundraiser. On the other hand, he wouldn't say a thing against Orochimaru-sama's will, not even under strength of arms.

"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama, what about your…student?" as the medic pointed at the door, the snake sannin's eyes narrowed for a bit.

"You heard her…it's her fault…so why should I bother saying it isn't? I'll train her some more…see if there's any problem with the seal…and then she'll either become interesting…or I'll drop her off somewhere, not that I care at this point…"

"Oh…can I dissect her if you discard her, Orochimaru-sama?"

"Yes, Amachi-san, you can," as Orochimaru turned to leave, the medic-nin's face turned ecstatic…he'd get to dissect a girl! It wasn't a woman, but it would suffice…he just couldn't help it…he went to polish his scalpel and his hammer, while preparing the forceps and the scorching irons…he had to make sure his first time would be perfect…yeah…if Orochimaru discarded the girl: he was sure he'd discard her!

*Two months later-Konoha's outskirts*

Naruto's right hand curled in a fist, as his left kick swung upwards, just as Ibiki's right knee stood up, intercepting the kick and throwing him off guard, to get a painful elbow hit from the elder boy's left arm. As Naruto didn't stumble backwards, instead grabbing with his left arm Morino's own arm, he twisted to the side, trying to seemingly pull him against his back, only to use the momentum, of the elder boy going against the blond one's back, to send an elbow hit backwards, straight into the chuunin's stomach, and this before using his right foot to stomp the boy's right foot, making him wince.

"Ouch!" Ibiki whimpered, as he raised his hands in defeat, moving backwards, while sharply taking in air, holding his stomach with his hands.

"That hurt…that damn hurt…" he muttered, "Can't believe you were barely passable at Taijutsu, two months ago…"

"Ibiki-san…you're faking," as Naruto pointed that out, the chuunin smiled, standing back up and laughing out loud.

"Got me! Remember boy! This is sparring, so it's fine, but in real life, you must never expect someone older than you to go down quickly! Simply living longer makes one have more experience than you!" As a sound of fizzling came from behind Ibiki's back, the man paled, before yelling out loud.

"I'm not falling for this trick again! There's no way there's an explosive tag behind me!" in truth, there wasn't, but that didn't stop Naruto from dashing straight against Ibiki, pushing him to the side just as the source of the fizzling sound, that was actually more a rattling of a rattlesnake, stopped, as the snake bit into the boy's right arm, making him narrow his eyes, as he grabbed the snake by the head, and with his own teeth, bit hard into the reptile's neck.

"Brat!" Ibiki exclaimed, looking at the rattlesnake's body, now with a head detached from his main body, and at the blond boy, who was slightly wincing, while holding his right arm.

"It's fine Ibiki-san," the boy said, as he bit hard onto his wounded arm, proceeding to sharply suck in and then spit out the venom, "It's fine," he added after a couple of minutes, albeit he didn't look much better.

"Let's get to camp, Kakashi is bound to have anti-venoms on him," as the blond boy nodded, Ibiki grabbed him by the side, before adding, "No whining, you need to rely on me for this, and I should probably tell you…thanks," had the boy not been there, he'd probably would have had to explain a bite mark on his butt…something he wasn't at all willing to say out loud.

"We're teammates right?" at that question, as Ibiki dashed towards their camps, the elder boy replied with a grin.

"We're fellow shinobi of the leaf, and we're friends, I tell you boy, when you can get down a bottle of sake, we'll have a nice good drinking contest," and with those words, the blond boy simply nodded, feeling fuzzy inside, as they finally reached camp, where Itachi, narrowing his eyes, was soon followed in said acting by Kurenai, who also crossed her arms over her chest.

"So, why is it that whenever you two go patrolling, one of you comes back wounded?" at the question, made from the kunoichi of Konoha, Itachi replied, not even letting the two speak.

"Well, Yuhi-san, it's because they're both idiots," at that, Ibiki sported a nervous tick mark, as he yelled back.

"Hey brat! Respect your elders, and get me some anti-venom from the supplies, the boy's got bitten by a rattlesnake," and the words, Itachi nodded, going rummaging through the tent's insides and coming out with a small vial of thick green liquid.

"Here, open up and gulp it down," as Ibiki said that, uncorking the tap and forcing it down the boy's throat, Naruto gulped the extremely bitter substance, that seemed to have the same consistence as jelly, but the taste of shoes, and once done, he grimaced, grabbing his own water flask to take a sip out of it.

"You know, I've got to ask you kid, what's with you and explosive tags?" Ibiki said, "You basically always use them when we're fighting, I know they're effective and all but…aren't you going a bit overboard? Just how many do you have, stashed? And how do you find the cash to get that many?"

Itachi's face slowly tensed: surely Naruto wasn't going to tell them he stole the tags from the shops, did he?

"I write them down…" the blond boy meekly replied, scratching the back of his head, "They aren't that strong like the official ones…but they do go bang, don't they?"

"Wait…you write them?" Kurenai muttered, moving closer, "You mean: you know how to write them?"

"Well…I've got one, then all I do is just…copy it on a slip of paper, right? Kakashi-sensei says it works like that," at that reply, Kurenai's eyes bulged nearly out of her socket.

"KAKASHIIIII!" the woman basically screeched, making the copy-cat ninja fall down from his hiding spot, just to be grabbed by the border of his Jounin jacket by the red-eyed woman, who sported a furious gaze.

"You imbecile! Do you know how many things can go wrong in copying without training explosive tags! You knew and you let him! Are you…"

"Please Yuhi-san, it's not his fault…I'm the one who asked how," as Naruto pleaded, standing in front of the silver-haired Jounin, with his eyes slightly watery, he meekly added, "It's my fault, not…" but was stopped when the girl squealed, hugging him tightly.

"Kawaii!" that made Itachi, Ibiki and Kakashi sweat-drop, as they all turned to one other with a sort of sad look...it had to be the blond hair and the blue eyes…coupled with the whiskers' marks.

"Ehm," Kakashi coughed, "Kurenai-san…"

"Oh, yes, sorry," as the girl, a bit flustered, recomposed herself, she still held the boy close to her, until a nervous eyebrow twitch from Ibiki later, she released him from her clutches.

"Anyway," she replied, "If the boy's chakra control is able to realize weak, but working, Fuinjutsu seals for the explosive tags, you realize he could probably excel in Genjutsu and Medic-nin areas? I'd need to test out how he works, but he could pretty much become a valuable asset in any infiltration team..."

"No, we are not having this discussion again, he's blood is powerhouse blood, I'm not going to put him in any infiltration team, that's Anbu's work."

"But you are an ex-Anbu!" Kurenai exclaimed.

"Precisely! And I say he's not Anbu material! He's probably going to become a first line fighter, just like his…" and that was when Kakashi realized the boy wasn't even there any longer, nor were Ibiki or Itachi.

"And you made him run away!" As the copy-cat ninja pointed that out, the older girl's eyes narrowed.

"I did not! YOU did!"

"No I didn't! I just stated the truth! He…"  
"He managed to slip away unnoticed from your senses, Kakashi! What more proof do you want?" as Kurenai asked that, with a sort of annoyed tone, the silver-haired Jounin's eyes narrowed down.

"He is *not* entering Anbu, Yuhi-san, and I am Kakashi-sensei to you, chuunin!"

"You are so *not* pulling rank on me Hatake Kakashi!" the brown haired kunoichi replied, taking in a sharp breath, "and…did you hear that?"

The copy-cat ninja narrowed his only eye, letting his breath calm down, he had shown emotions where he shouldn't have, but the woman simply didn't want to understand that Anbu life was made of murders and assassinations, and he just couldn't let sensei's son get broken in such a place. No, he simply couldn't, not because he was sensei's son, but because the boy deserved better than the life that Anbu would offer him.

"Seems like a group of five, and they're running for their lives, actually," at that, Kakashi's left eye suddenly saw light, as the copy-cat ninja activated his sharingan, in time to carve into his memory the sight of a couple of Kumogakure ninjas leaving the premises of the forest.

"Kumo ninjas? Did they come from Konoha? Hey!" as Yuhi moved to intercept them, she was pushed backwards by Kakashi's hand, as a wall of smoke, and the fizzling of explosive tags, sent them the clear message that they were actually running, but, just as Kakashi closed his sharingan eye once more, letting the forehead protector cover it, he exclaimed.

"No!" as Yuhi was about to dash off to pursue them, she stopped, turning around quickly to give a puzzled look to Kakashi, "I heard five, those were only two! We have to hurry to where Ibiki and the others are!"

As the silver-haired Jounin turned in the general direction of where the Kumo shinobis had come from, he was soon followed in his speed-rush through the tree tops by Kurenai, who was now holding a Kunai in her right hand, and both ninjas began feeling tense, as the minutes rolled by in their run, especially when sounds of battle echoed closer and stronger by the second.

What they saw when they descended, was something akin a slaughter.

Ibiki was barely holding his ground against a clearly superior shinobi from Kumogakure, who seemed to have on his back a sack, while Naruto had been flung against a tree bark, and was seemingly unconscious. Itachi on the other hand had finished running through the hand seals, and was right next to the blond boy, holding the two remaining Kumo shinobis at bay with the use of Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu, as a small fire stream, which, however, wasn't going to last long.

Kakashi nodded to Yuhi, and, just as the silver haired Jounin took to getting behind the strongest of the Kumo shinobi, he realized that, on the branch right above said ninja, stood Naruto. Looking right at where his unconscious form was, he narrowed his eyes, understanding that it was simply a henge, something that Itachi seemed to know full well, as he was holding a log with explosive notes yet to go off within said henge.

"_Damn if it's smart playing,"_ Kakashi thought, _"They had to come up with this plan in a split second, but then, why isn't Naruto moving behind the other two?"_ Naruto flung down from his branch, his right hand holding tightly onto the Tanto that Kakashi had gifted him, without yelling, exclaiming, or saying anything at all. He just silently flew down, and, for a split second, time seemed to stop for the copy-cat ninja.

He saw Naruto, the blond boy of seven years old harden his eyes as he fell straight on the back of the Kumo shinobi, slashing at the top of the sack with the tip of the blade, and jumping away, letting go of the Tanto as he grabbed the bag, rolling on the ground with a whine.

Just as the blond boy had began his fall, Itachi had stopped his Katon, instead feigning to be running away, making the other two shinobis run towards him, blissfully unaware that one of them was now within Magen: Jubaku Satsu as an illusionary tree had sprouted from the ground, grabbing him to be held for interrogation…while the other went straight near the explosive log, that revealed itself only in its explosion, throwing the unfortunate shinobi to the side, the left part of his body completely burned and charred.

Ibiki, on the other hand, when Naruto had fallen downwards, had tried to get a clear one-hit kill, only to fail, as the shinobi from Kumo in question seemed at least Jounin-level, differently from the other ones around.

The man's Kunai deflected Ibiki's own, as with a gritting of teeth the boy found his entire arm going numb, electricity flowing freely through the enemy's weapon.

Not willing to waste time, the man dashed straight towards Naruto, and the sack he was holding tightly with his hands, that seemed to be sprouting a dark blue hair from within, at least, to Kakashi's eyes.

Just as the copy-cat ninja was about to jump down, and intercept it, a Hyuga appeared in the clearing slamming both of his fists against the Jounin's chest, he proceeded to meticulously burn and destroy each Tenketsu point of the Kumo ninja, before proceeding to rupture each and every organ within the body, leaving the ones that would have certainly killed him…for last.

As the gruesome display died down, Kakashi jumped down in the clearing, just as two other Hyugas appeared in the clearing.

"Hiashi-sama?" Kakashi queried, looking at the Hyuga's clan head which, with a dignified expression, turned to look at the silver-haired Jounin.

"Hatake-san? I must say I have to thank Kami that your team was here, ready to intercept the kidnappers," at those words, something clicked within him, just as he turned to look at Naruto, who was sheepishly trying to convince a small three year old to stop clutching at his jacket, but the girl, the crying girl, didn't at all seem willing to part with the boy's chest.

"The boy is…" Hiashi muttered, narrowing his gaze on the blond boy, who was bowing his head repeatedly to the two branch family bodyguards he had with him during the pursuit, the boy's blue eyes, the whisker marks, he knew perfectly well who the boy was.

"Naruto Uzumaki, he and Itachi Uchiha here," as Kakashi said that, he beckoned the Uchiha boy closer, who politely did so, "elaborated a masterful plan to distract some of the Kumo shinobis, so that Naruto could get a clear hit in freeing…" not knowing *who* the girl was, but having a hunch, he didn't want to slip his tongue. Realizing this, Hiashi entered the conversation, replying.

"I must thank them, then…for saving my eldest daughter," with those words, Hiashi bowed his head a little to Itachi, who bowed in turn, and then, with a calm demeanor, the Hyuga's clan's head reached for the blond boy, and, with a sort of more stern attitude, commanded.

"Hinata," as he said that, the girl's sobs slowly dwindled down to a stop, "Come here," with that, the girl finally let go of the boy's jacket, turning her watery eyes to her father, who, brought forward his right hand, grabbing tightly onto the girl's small and delicate one. That was probably the most that Hiashi's mask of stern attitude could show off to his daughter, and, as he politely bowed to Naruto too, the blond boy bowed back, repeatedly.

"We will now take our leave…and warn the Hokage about this…as well as make him notice the clear merits of your team, Hatake-san," and with those words, the Hyugas moved back toward Konoha, at a slower pace since the girl couldn't possibly race through trees, and Hiashi would die rather than let her stand on his shoulders.

It was after they had left their sights that Kurenai dropped the Genjutsu on the Kumo shinobi, who had foam coming out from his mouth.

"He killed himself before giving up information," the girl with red eyes said, shaking her head, just as Ibiki suddenly mulled a thought.

"What were Kumo shinobis doing here, to begin with?"

"To steal the Byakugan from Konoha, obviously," Kakashi replied, "To actually kidnap Hiashi's daughter, however, they had to be extremely desperate."

Itachi frowned, before turning his gaze to Kakashi himself.

"Kakashi-sensei…why the Byakugan? Wouldn't stealing the sharingan be worth more?"

"The sharingan, Itachi, needs to be awakened…" Kakashi replied, "The byakugan on the other hand is a birth thing…you either have it and are a Hyuga, or you do not and thus are not a Hyuga…"

"And nobody would mess with an Uchiha that already has an active sharingan: too risky," Ibiki said, as he tightly bandaged a wound on his right arm, helped by Kurenai.

"The girl smelled of cinnamon rolls," Naruto stated, strangely interrupting each and any thoughts the others were having, to turn puzzled expressions at the boy, who had, in the meantime, grabbed his Tanto back.

Seeing all gazes on him, he turned a puzzled in turn eyebrow to Kakashi.

"What?"

"How does that mean anything?" as Kakashi actually found the need to ask that, Naruto slowly turned his gaze to the others, his blue eyes seemingly pondering something, like he was lost in thoughts.

"Nothing I suppose…I just…thought she smelled nice," at that, Itachi moved closer to Naruto, letting a hand rest over the boy's forehead.

"Kakashi-sensei, I think he has a high-degree fever, possibly from the rattlesnake venom of earlier," at that, Ibiki's eyes moved from one boy to the other, and then to Kakashi.

"But I saw him suck the venom out!"

"You do not suck rattlesnake venom out!" Kakashi snapped back, grabbing the blonde boy and letting him down on the ground.

"What's happening?" Kurenai queried looking at the silver-haired Jounin carefully letting his right hand glow a faint green.

"It happens that the stress of the battle, coupled with an increase in heartbeat, has spread the poison around, though he did take an anti-venom, he should have remained at rest…now he's having a high fever, which is the reason he's hallucinating," at that, Itachi muttered.

"Should we head back to Konoha?"

"The mission isn't over yet," Kakashi replied, "And at the moment he's not in a life-threatening situation, as long as he rests…well, I'm no medic-nin, but he should recover swiftly, the anti-venom taken within the hour should work…listen," as he said that, he could understand the frowns on both Kurenai's and Ibiki's face.

"If the boy gets in a risk situation, we'll immediately make a dash for Konoha's hospital, but I'm sure that, by tomorrow, he'll be jumping around," with that, he brought the boy upwards, to rest on his back.

"Now off to camp, we have to get ready to move out, we need to be in the northern area of Konoha by tomorrow, Shukuba town is there, and we can have Naruto rest in a hotel room for a night," and with that, he moved ahead…albeit both Kurenai and Ibiki frowned at the mention of the city. It was a pleasure village, which held many brothels, night bars, but more importantly…

"Kakashi-sensei," Itachi casually spoke, as he moved behind the Jounin, "If by sheer chance you are risking Naruto-kun's life over the recently published book of Icha-Icha Innocence Lost, know that I will not hesitate to Katon said book, and the libraries…while planting hints to claim it was your fault."

"That's a clearly traitorous thought, Itachi-kun, especially to high level literature!"

"Itachi, if you need help, we can testify for you," Kurenai said, as Ibiki, on the other hand, sported a grin.

"If you want, I can help you plant evidence against our sensei," at that, Kakashi sighed.

"Really, what a team of ingrates…"

*Dreamland*

Naruto was feeling the soft cushion on his cheek slowly moving, but he didn't want to let go of it, so he held onto it tightly.

It was then, that he found himself being slowly moved, and, for once, he actually opened his eyes, feeling the shift in the air, and realizing, much to his surprise, that he wasn't sleeping in a bed, but onto what seemed like a giant blue-furred tail.

The light snoring seemingly permeated the rest of the area, and, for once, he turned his head around, looking at the sort of…giant cushion? He was on. It was indeed a sort of big, blue colored mattress, titanic in its size that held, on top of it, and sleeping peacefully, a giant nine-tailed blue fox.

"Oh Kami…It's the Kyuubi?" he muttered, gulping nervously, was the demon finally deciding to talk with him? Was it because he was feeling pain, or something like that, that it had decided to finally reveal himself? Though, actually, it seemed like it was so gently snoring that, instead of a horrible demon, it looked more like a giant plush toy, only with enormous fangs and claws, obviously.

As the fox snored, not even seeming to realize that Naruto was staring at her, the boy winced, as looking around there didn't seem to be an exit. Having narrowed his eyes once more at the figure of the fox, he saw a sort of chain-necklace around the fox's neck, one that seemed to have been tightly pressed into the beast's flesh. He moved closer, gently, and slowly, and, with a sort of sixth sense, and insight, he simply loosened it up…it was too tight for the poor beast.

Just as he did that, the enormous eyes of the fox opened up like a flash, as the fur, a dark shade of blue, suddenly started turning slightly purplish, although that did seem to make Naruto fall down on his knees, panting heavily, clutching his own chest.

Within a second, the Kyuubi closed his eyes again, not even seeming to care about it.

With that, Naruto's eyes suddenly jolted open.

*Outside the dream*

He felt…fine? Was fine a way to put it? Considering that, around him, everyone was snoring heavily? He slowly got up, feeling someone tugging at his right hand, just as the elder girl, Kurenai, feeling the boy move, since it had been her turn to look after him, woke up.

"Are you feeling better, Naruto-kun?" she whispered, slowly getting up.

"Yes Kurenai-san," he muttered back, shaking his head to remove the feeling of drowsiness that seemed to permeate his body.

"Good," with that, she muttered something else, under her breath, something that Naruto didn't seem to catch.

"What was it, Kurenai-san?" Naruto asked, not knowing if he had been asked a question or not, and wanting to actually reply, if it had been the first case.

"I said that you did something irresponsible, which might have resulted in your death," she whispered, "and it was stupid to do so only with Itachi and Ibiki," as she said that, Naruto's eyes turned over to the camp.

"No, it wasn't, because I was with Itachi," as he said that, he sported a smile, "If they told you to go to hell, and to bring a person with you to fight the devil, who would you bring, Kurenai-san?"

"You'd bring Itachi to hell with you? Is that what you're trying to say?" as Kurenai's eyes showed perplexity, hesitation, and a slight bit of worry, Naruto shook his head.

"No, I'd bring him because I'd know that with him as a team, we'd get through it in a blast. He has always watched my back, since we were young, and I began watching his, so, when the time comes for him to need help, I'll be there to fight shoulder to shoulder."

"Interesting concept…but it doesn't explain why you dashed off like that, Ibiki and Itachi told us you simply left camp, and you were lucky they followed you, or you'd have probably died, so…why did you leave?" as the girl asked that, Naruto's eyes gently closed, before the blond boy's gaze opened up once more, to stare at the sky.

"You were discussing about my future decisions, without even realizing I was there," he spoke bitterly, "I am tired of being ignored, Kurenai-san, but more than that, I am tired of having other people decide what is best for me without even asking me first…Why do people think I'd be better in one thing instead of another? What did I do? I'm just…I just want to know the truth, Yuhi-san…I really don't care if it's going through Anbu, or fighting another war against hundreds of enemies…I just want the truth," with those words, the boy stood up, "I think I'll stretch my legs around here…" and with those words, he moved towards the edge of the camp, staring at the darkness in front of him.

He blinked once, slowly letting his right hand up to touch at his face, before letting it back down, unknown to Kurenai, who wasn't looking at the boy's face, but who was still silently watching him, the boy had just then realized…that he could see in the dark.

*Anko*

Training with Orochimaru-sensei proved to be gruesome. She didn't meet the other kids, and she didn't ask her sensei where they were. She simply trained to the best of her abilities and obeyed his orders to her very best. Yet it never worked. Her sensei had a frown on his face as of late, and was coming by later and later. Yet she did her best, she put up her most cheery attitude, she did her best, even when there were days all the muscles in her body ached. Yet she had to get stronger, no matter how many beatings she took, she was up and about the next day.

Then, one day, when she was pretty badly beaten up, and her face down, *eating the dirt* on the grass, Orochimaru simply turned around, and left her there. She didn't know *what* to say, so, as her face covered in bruises tried to assume a smile, as she slowly got up on her wobbling feet, she looked at her sensei's back, disappearing into the overgrowth.

Well, he was going to tell her about tomorrow's lesson time, right? Maybe he had just forgotten…yeah, Orochimaru-sensei wouldn't forget about something that important, would he?

She took a single step, and then she fell down once more, this time, however, just as her vision began blurring, she recognize a mask, belonging to a man, who had seemingly grabbed her by the waste. It was a monkey's mask…an Anbu's mask.

*Minato*

The Fourth Hokage of the leaf stood in his office, letting a clone do the paperwork, while he, himself, stared with cold ice-blue eyes at the Kumo's ambassador, who was sporting a nervous expression.

"So…you wish revenge upon your previous ambassador, who had, however, kidnapped the Hyuga's heir…because you claim we set it up?"

"Yes, the Raikage says that delivering the body of the one who executed the killing blow would be a sign of good gesture, and no other actions would be necessary," at that, Minato's eyes narrowed.

"And who, pray tell, do you believe delivered the killing blow?"

"We are sure it was a Hyuga, as the external skin of the ambassador was flawless…yet inside, he was a mass of…pudding, as the medic-nins said, a very vicious Hyuga…probably a traitor to your midst too…you'd actually be doing both our nations a favor by…"

"I understand…Well, when you put at it like that, I'll be forced to query wherever the other shinobis from Kumo, the dead one, would need *revenge* too?"

"No," The ambassador replied, with a gulp, "The Raikage, in his generosity, only wants the culprit for the death of my…predecessor," as he pointed that out, the Hokage just so casually smiled, like someone who was about to promise a murder.

"So there will be no problem in handing it over, without his eyes, right?"

"Well…the Raikage would actually prefer the body to be intact to…" as the ambassador tried to say something else, he suddenly found himself in the very uncomfortable position of being too close to the Yellow flash, a Yellow Flash that sported a nice heart-warming smile with a three pronged Kunai juggling in one of his hands.

"Cut the bullshit," Minato muttered, his gaze turning murderous, "You want the Byakugan, and I am not handing over one of Konoha's greatest Doujutsu, if you declare war over this petty and fickle matter *I* will personally take to the battlefield, and rest assured that, by the time your Raikage will come for me, I'll have already come for him," at that, the ambassador exclaimed, afraid.

"But we have two Bijuus! We will not be intimidated by…"

"And we have the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki! The strongest of them all…you really think your two can compare? Do you know he was the one who freed the Hyuga girl your predecessor kidnapped? Huh?"

"Well then, he was involved too? This is making it even more looking like Konoha's Hokage had a hand in it, he *is* your son, isn't he?" as the ambassador's eyes narrowed, Minato's own gaze turned cold as ice.

"No, he isn't, he has been disowned for showing disrespect," at that, the gaze of the Kumo shinobi turned thoughtful, before, with a smirk, it muttered.

"Then choose…an Intact Hyuga body, or your disowned son. One of the two has clearly killed the Kumo ambassador, didn't they? So…give us one of the two, or we'll claim to the land of Iron you infringed upon the sanctity of our allegiance!"

"You…get out. Get out of here before I snap your neck like a twig and scatter your remains thorough the land of fire! GET OUT! I'll send my kind reply to your Raikage, but you'd better leave now, before I smash you to a pulp!" and with those words, the ambassador took leave, before getting actually one of the infamous three pronged Kunai into his guts.

Minato turned to his clone, which had in that moment stopped doing the paperwork.

"Go speak with Hiashi…I'll need to call an Anbu team to watch over the ambassador leaving," with those words, the clone moved out of the window, while the Hokage instead took to the office's door, opening it up with a slam, as, eying his secretary, he muttered.

"Get me a surveillance Anbu team on the ready, now," and then he closed the door of his office, turning around just in time to slightly twitch his right eyebrow, at the sight of Danzo and four Root operatives.

"You know, usually one knocks before entering a room," as the Hokage pointed that out, Danzo's face showed a small frown.

"It appears," the man spoke slowly, his body covered in a dark cape with a dark hood, kind of like the Anbu's white clothing cover, only black, "that Orochimaru was conducting horrible experiments on the population of Konoha…these are the reports on the matter," as Danzo handed over a set of clipboards to the Hokage, who took them with a worried expression, he added, "Hiruzen personally went to the hideout of his former pupil here in Konoha, and has found worrying discoveries…while my operatives went to the land of Sea, and they have just reported back that, except for an empty hideout and corpses, there is one survivor…a certain Mitarashi Anko, one of Orochimaru's Genins," as he pointed that out, Minato's face paled slightly…he understood the implications.

"Have Kakashi's team recalled, and have both Itachi Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki placed under strict house arrest and surveillance. Once Anko Mitarashi is safely within Konoha, they will be interrogated by the T&I department," as soon as the Hokage had finished saying that, Danzo's only visible eye, the other covered by a thick bandage, turned sideways.

"Why wait and waste time? We can start interrogating Naruto Uzumaki…who holds no clan nor family willing to refute our accusations, and if he *does* know something, we could strike before it is too late," at those words, Minato's thought drifted towards the truth in Danzo's words, but also towards the fact that, in doing so…

"No, we'd alienate him towards the leaf, and if…"

"We do not want him to stay a shinobi, do we?" Danzo's question had an innocent tone, something that *did* make Minato shiver, the Yami of the Shinobi with an innocent tone was as scary as Kushina with a kitchen knife during one of her month's days.

"Why would…"

"We want him as a civilian…because he is *not* the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, isn't he?" as Danzo snorted that, Minato's eyes bulged in shock.

"What are you saying, Danzo? Have you gone…"

"Regeneration powers, endless stamina, chakra levels astonishing for one of his age…he possess none of this qualities…he is *not* the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Minato Namikaze…I found myself questioning your loyalty to the leaf, if such a fact was made public…you'd lose all support," as soon as he said that, Minato sported a smile.

"Oh…so you think that huh? Then tell me, if it's not Naruto, who *is* the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?" at that, Danzo frowned.

"That is of secondary importance, as…"

"No, it isn't. Unless you can provide the truth, I can simply point out how it's entirely possible the seal of Iron completely stunted Naruto Uzumaki's growth, and that, instead of being as weak as it was told, it instead works on an Off and On system, without half-ways through…and tell me, Danzo, would they believe the truth of Yami, or that of the Hokage?"

"You are playing a dangerous game, Namikaze," Danzo snorted, "you'd break Konoha in two fronts…which is why I have come here to negotiate with you," at that, Minato raised an eyebrow.

"Negotiate what, Danzo, and why would you believe I'd accept it?"

"You want your weapon for yourself, Namikaze, I'm sure of it," as Danzo said that, Minato's face showed no emotion, but there was a glint of…refusal, in it, that however made the man indifferent, "So we want ours too…Naruto Uzumaki."

"Why would you want him?" the Hokage queried, perplexed.

"He could possess the same bloodline abilities of your wife, namely, the chakra chains so useful in containing Bijuus and Jinchuurikis…" as Danzo subtly hinted that, Minato narrowed his eyes.

"So basically…you want him as a weapon too."

"Yes…a weapon designed to kill Bijuus…should they rampage," that, that made Minato wince, but the blond man said nothing more than a slow, deliberate, nod.

"However, he is to keep up the façade of being a Genin, and he will take the regular shinobi exams, understood?" at that, Danzo sported a grin, and then nodded.

"Good, we have a deal then," and with those words, the four disappeared from the office, just as the Anbu team entered the room, ready to deploy…

Minato had already planned it all…even if he *did* give Naruto to Danzo, he wouldn't be able to have him completely in his grasp, and then, once the chuunin exam was over, he'd be going for an assassination mission…that if he didn't manage to kill someone in one of the patrol missions…he knew for sure he'd never get word of kills within Root, but he knew, all too well, he'd just need proof, blood on the boy's hands…and then as a civilian, he'd be untouchable by Danzo. There was no way he could reverse it, and nobody, in Konoha, would ever go against his will.

*In a certain place, with roulettes, sometime later*

"Shizune…" Tsunade whispered, barely being heard by her assistant, who was holding TonTon, the pig, near.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"…I won," and with those feeble words, both females gulped, as they cashed in the winning.

It was then, as Tsunade left the casino, that a shinobi, looking like one of Konoha's Anbus, carefully brought forward to the legendary slug sannin a letter, already opened, as to ensure the woman would actually read it, instead of simply tossing it aside.

She did that only because of the first word on the letter, and only because she didn't feel like ignoring her bad feeling.

_Naruto Uzumaki will need your help soon…_

When the blond woman had raised her eyes from the only sentence in the letter, she had bitten her lips, Naruto Uzumaki? She didn't know any Naruto Uzumaki, she did know a Naruto Namikaze, but…

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune queried, worried, as she looked over the letter.

"Shizune…we're heading over to Konoha," as the legendary medic-nin said that, she then slowly thought, _"If something happened to my godson, however, I won't go back there ever again,"_ and with those things in mind, she walked straight in the direction of their hotel, to get their stuff and move back towards the village that had taken so much out of her, and that, if it wanted to take something else, would have to do so over her dead, cold, body.

*Konoha's gates*

Kakashi didn't like being called back during a mission.

Being called back during a mission by a Root operative? Even less.

The reason for being called back, having something to do with Naruto Uzumaki? Even worse.

The silver haired Jounin looked at his charges, they had grown as a team, and Ibiki had found out that he and Naruto had a lot in common, especially *Truth* being their favorite word, while Kurenai had decided to restart the Naruto Fan Club, albeit she was probably going to be the only one inside of it for a long while…though an anonymous One-Eye might be a fan too. Just as the girl was about to go her way, Fugaku Uchiha, at the main gates of Konoha, appeared into view, sporting an outraged face.

"Itachi!" he exclaimed, beckoning the boy closer, just as two Uchiha's clansmen, two who both had their sharingan in full view, tensed slightly, at the appearance of a group of Anbus.

"Otou-san?" Itachi queried, just as the boy was grabbed by the shoulders by Naruto and pushed straight ahead into his father's arms, with enough strength to have him basically fly on his feet straight against his father's chest.

Turning around, he managed to see Naruto smile at him bitterly for just a second, before a blackjack came into view, right were Itachi would have been a moment before, and that instead claimed the back of Naruto's head, throwing him on the ground, knocked out.

"Ehi!" just as Kakashi, or Kurenai, or even Ibiki, were about to intervene, the Uchihas whisked Itachi away, to the clan's compound, and then, just then, an outright furious ex- Hokage arrived on the scene, with such a murderous glare that not even one of the shinobi present dared to make a single move.

"I didn't think you'd hit a boy for saving his friend from such a gruesome treatment," as Hiruzen moved, to pick Naruto's body up, in his arms, he turned once more to stare at the Anbus amassed there, who were far more than nervous.

"We…We have to bring him in for questioning for possible treasonous actions!" at that, the third thanked Kami he had wanted to see the boy as soon as possible. He had first-hand seen what Orochimaru had done…and with that, he had anticipated the Anbu's moves, but more specifically, Danzo's moves, and had headed straight for the gates of Konoha when he had felt the team of highly trained shinobi move there.

"Then I'll come too," at that, the Anbus turned to one another.

"We…We can't, Hok…Sarutobi-sama, it's the procedure…only a family member belonging to his clan can stand in his defense…or a neutral entity referenced from Konoha's civilian sector…" as the Anbu finished speaking, Hiruzen whispered back.

"Then I'll simply carry him, and I'll just so casually stay right next to him. If, by chance, you think you can actually take me on, you are free to try…otherwise…I suggest you start moving," and with those words, just as the man's murderous glare downed, the Anbu moved, uneasy, and eying the Anbu responsible for having knocked out the boy. Now they had to explain why they had brought the boy to the actual interrogation room, instead of the Root special Interrogation room, and Danzo-sama wasn't going to be pleased, at all.

Kakashi sighed in relief, as the ex-Hokage had taken on Naruto's defenses, while Kurenai on the other hand was perplexed, long enough for Ibiki to actually butt in.

"If something like treason's accusations happen, the actions vary depending on wherever there is a clan for the boy or not. If there is a clan, the accused is usually firstly interrogated by his clan's men, then someone from the clan actually speaks on his regards…basically, the clan can use his own lawyers, and terms, to safeguard one of their own, or punish him as they see fit…this, however, only happens if the accused was closer to a clan's men than an official Konoha Anbu or shinobi…but one who has been disowned…"

"Is alone," Kurenai whispered, "So Naruto realized that? He actually knew that?"

"Naruto probably thought the Anbu were there for him and him alone, but seeing Fugaku, he must have realized that Itachi would be better off in his father's arms than within the Anbu's no matter what the reason for both of them being there was…he probably had one of his hunches, you know, they're pretty solid," as Ibiki pointed that out, Kakashi sighed.

"I'm not letting this go: the boy isn't alone…he does have a clan's head…albeit she is married to the man who disowned him," and with those words, Kakashi was about to walk towards the Namikaze's mansion, he was stopped, by another group of Anbus, these ones, however, having something to say to them…

"You will need to be questioned too, we're sorry Kakashi, but you know we're following orders," as one with a bird mask spoke, Kakashi clenched his fists, before averting his gaze.

"Fine…but this doesn't end here."

**Author's notes**

**And I'm a bad man…A really bad man with really neat cliff-hanger no jutsus.**

**Huh huh, huh…HuhUHUHUHUHUHU!**

**There is a bit of grim dark and a bit of happy fluff. **

**Enjoy it! (as for the reason I actually managed to write this in less than 24 Hours from the last one: I felt Inspired! Especially when I think at how much bad I'm making poor Naruto's situation…which is going to become even WORSE!)**

***Evil cackle***

**Now…the Kyuubi seems to be Blue.**

…

**Must have been a mistake with the use of the paint.**

**Yeah…**

***Starts running away from the endless questions that are certainly going to be asked* (Remember guys, eventually, all is explained in my stories!)**


	5. PC:Constrictions

Chapter fifth

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, groaning slightly as he could feel the dull pain on the back of his head, and, mostly, the gut wrenching feeling that something horrible was about to happen.

He didn't know what he could have done wrong, nor if it was him or Itachi, but when Fugaku had called his son's name, well: he had given the boy a push towards him. Maybe, in hindsight, he should have realized the Anbu could have taken that as an offensive action. Still, he never liked the Anbus. Always silent around him, except Kakashi, who had to great lengths to be assigned as his sole Anbu protector, especially after some very nasty attempts at his life from other shinobis…one had even required him to change his bed…explosive tags didn't leave much behind.

He took some time, to let the room get some focus, as he could feel his breathing slowly calm down, but the pain was still there, lingering, in the back of his head. His eyes darted to some strange brown fuzz next to him that seemed to be telling him something, something he didn't quite catch. The words turned to a sort of screeching concerto in his ears, as his head flared from the pain, just for a brief moment, before, finally, everything came back to normality.

"Naruto…Naruto? Are you alright?" the ex-Hokage asked him, a slight worry in his voice, as he seemed to be sitting on a wooden chair, one that had been placed right next to where he was laying.

Taking a better look around, he noticed he hadn't actually lost his vision: the walls were pitch black, but light still seemed to come in from the flicker of torches, positioned outside the cell of the jail he had to be currently in.

"Hiruzen-san," Naruto muttered, keeping the bile from reaching his mouth, the foul taste already at the back of his throat, was a hit to the head the cause of such twirling pains and events? Probably he should have read something on Anbu strikes…but he didn't know if there actually *was* a book about it…was there? "I feel dizzy," he muttered, answering the question.

"Now, Naruto-kun…you can call me Jiji as always," the once third Hokage spoke with a small smile, "And I'm going to have you checked, once we get out of here," as he finished speaking, the blond boy simply nodded, saying nothing more.

Hiruzen, at that, sported a frown: was the boy not going to ask about this treatment? Was he actually hiding something about Orochimaru? Did he actually know the reason he had been taken in such a manner?

The ex-Hokage simply shook his head, there was no way that was possible, and it was useless to worry about it, when he could directly ask the blond boy.

"You aren't scared, Naruto-kun?"

"No…It wouldn't matter, would it?" the boy replied, his blue eyes looking down, at the stone floor of the cell.

"Well…do you know why you've been taken under custody?" at that question, the boy meekly nodded.

"Oh? You do? What is it, if you know?" if the boy had been hiding information on Orochimaru's experiments, as much as it pained him, it would make everything more difficult. Had he still been Hokage, he might have been able to let the boy's actions go unnoticed, especially since he could always say that he wasn't actually obeying orders from that traitor, but actually being used by the snake sannin.

"It's because I spoke with it, right?" Naruto whispered, his eyes turning sad, "But it was sleeping! And the choker was hurting him! I mean…who'd do that to such a poor creature!"

"Repeat that, please," Hiruzen muttered, as his mouth slowly opened in a small perfect circle.

"I…I spoke with the Kyuubi, right? That's why I'm being…" as Naruto squirmed, getting to sit up in the cell's bed, he couldn't help but pale, when the look of utter shock of the third Hokage slowly became an angered stare…but not at him, no.

"Danzo! Come out this instant!" as the clan head of the Sarutobi clan snarled that, standing up and turning his gaze to just outside the cell, a man, with a long black cloak, one eye covered by bandages, and the rest of his clothes hidden by the dark mantle, slowly, but with considered ease took a couple of steps forward from the side of the corridor.

"Hiruzen…you shouldn't scream too much: it's bad for your health," Danzo muttered, not sporting either a grin or a frown, simply showing a blank face.

"What would the Yami of the shinobi be doing here? You know, I kind of wanted to ask why the boy was brought in a prison's cell, instead of being carried to an interrogation chamber, for routine questions…" the last part had been stressed by the clearly angry man.

"I could ask the Kami of the shinobi the very same thing," Danzo replied in a sort of monotone voice as he slowly slid open the cell's barred door, moving slightly to the side to allow the passage of the two out of there, were they to decide to exit.

"I am making sure someone I hold dear does not get harmed from my very own pupil's actions..." with that, Hiruzen stopped for a second, for a brief instant, and then slowly shook his head, resuming his walk, gesturing for Naruto to follow him.

Just as the boy did so, Danzo just so casually moved to be on the other side of the boy, while they began walking through the prison's corridor, towards the interrogation room.

Even though the cells around them held shinobis, neither even spoke a word, or tried anything. There was just this sort of tension, that the ninjas in the cell felt on their skin, this sort of nervousness that crept upon their skins, and that was making them feel sort of choked, gasping for air. They stood in silence, as the two elderly men sort of escorted the small seven or eight years old blond boy to be questioned.

Had Naruto actually understood what it seemed like, he might have felt something different than the deadened nervousness in his soul. He was between the light and the darkness of the shinobi world after all: the Kami of shinobis, the third Hokage, and the Yami of the shinobis, Danzo Shimura, leader of Root. If, looking back, Naruto could have pinpointed a moment filled with history changing value, where *his* history had taken a turn…then that small walk, no longer than three or four minutes, albeit it passed in complete silence, would have been the starting point of it.

In perfect silence, and even synchronicity, both elder men stopped, once they reached the interrogation room. Within the blinding white walls of the small room there were four chairs.

Hiruzen beckoned Naruto to sit right next to him, while Danzo himself took the seat straight in front of his old, and ex, teammate. Right next to him, after a short moment, Minato Namikaze himself entered the room, the room that already had some looming tension over it, and that now seemed to have reached its saturation point, as the Hokage took the remaining seat.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Genin Shinobi of Konohagakure, you stand here under questioning concerning the betrayal of your former sensei, Orochimaru of the Sannin," at those words, Naruto's expression was puzzled, and shocked. Did Orochimaru actually…wait…if he did betray the village, what about?

"Is Anko-san alright!" he exclaimed, immediately, just as Hiruzen sported a smile, _"Worrying about teammates rather than himself…a true shinobi of the leaf"_, but suddenly, that thought was moved to more murderous ones, when Minato, his cold blue eyes resembling ice, suddenly sported the most angry and hatred filled stare he could muster.

"Uzumaki! I am the one asking questions here," Minato snarled, forcing the boy to whimper, and then bow his head, muttering one of the polite apologies that Hiruzen himself had but read in the most old books.

"Hokage-sama…there is no need to show emotions in this place…" Danzo whispered, "We must take all the information the boy has to offer…please, Naruto-kun," the confidential tone made Hiruzen wince…were they going to play good ninja and bad ninja? He wasn't going to let Naruto stand alone in this, "do tell us everything you know about your sensei," and with those words, Hiruzen took the ball before the boy could actually speak.

"Are you actually asking him his personal thoughts on his teacher, just so you can use it to your advantage later on by claiming some of his report based on biased opinions?" as the elder man spoke, Minato gritted his teeth…obviously having the third Hokage in the same room wouldn't help, had it been a spar, it would have probably been the same. He was simply…a sort of beacon, of mountain, one that the Fourth Hokage had thought he had surpassed, but that was still too far of his reach, yet.

"I would never do that, Sarutobi-san," Minato replied, just as Danzo, instead, turned his gaze to the boy.

"Though with such a fierce defense attorney, I suspect we won't be getting anything out of Naruto-kun today…I might be more inclined to answer the whereabouts of Mitarashi Anko, if the boy were to cooperate," at those words, the blue eyes of the blond boy turned to the black-haired and elderly man that seemed to know both the Hokages, and, as Naruto bit his lip, clearly fighting the urge to outright speak, Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.

"Who said we wouldn't cooperate? Just to make sure, however, I wish to be made formal witness of the interrogation, and main defendant of the boy," with those words, Danzo replied by shaking his head.

"I'm afraid only a clan's man can be defended by one of his own clan's member. Since there *is* a matriarch of the Uzumaki clan, if she is not present here, now, then this means there is no legal defendant that can possibly be brought forward."

"However, renouncing a clan is another matter, isn't it? It just requires the clan's individual to do so, and can be done in any moment…even before a death sentence, last I checked…nice way to avoid dishonoring a clan, no doubt," as Hiruzen said that, Minato gasped, if the man actually…no, he wouldn't adopt Naruto, would he? It had to be a bluff! There was no way he…

"Unluckily, due to the Jinchuuriki nature of the boy, only a blood relative's clan may hold up adoption practices," at those words from Danzo, Minato sighed in relief, slightly catching himself in the middle of it, but not long enough for Hiruzen to notice, and, if eyes could have murdered, the fourth Hokage was sure he'd get skewered in less than a second.

"That is an old law," Hiruzen replied, "As old as the time our teacher was still the First Hokage," as he pointed that out, Danzo shrugged.

"Still, it has never been abolished, and laws age slowly, in regards with time passing by…old fossils like us," as the Yami of shinobi said that, Naruto's eyes bulged…did he just call Jiji…an old fossil? Did he just call himself, an old fossil?

"Then it seems I'll have to force my way through the process, force my way through the judge, and force my way through the jury," as Hiruzen spoke quietly, Minato gasped.

"That would probably end in…"

"High treason? Come on boy, I chose you for the spot because you were loved by the people, but remember, I was chosen because I had the guts to go through my words," at that sentence, Danzo winced, for the first time actually showing that he did, indeed, hold emotions, "Do not think I'd go back on my words," with that Minato gulped, turning his eyes to Danzo, who, caught in a slight pinch, was forced to mutter out one of his aces.

"We could reach an agreement, Hiruzen…You can let us interrogate Naruto, with ease, without interrupting every five minutes, and we could release him from here afterwards, *if* he hasn't done anything treasonous like his sensei…."

"I still have to be named formal eyewitness of the interrogation, Danzo," the Third Hokage gritted through his teeth, "First sign the paper, then we can start talking deals," at that, the Yami of the shinobi was about to crunch his teeth, but suddenly, an inspiration his him like a Kami-sent, making him sport a small smile.

"I wonder how Mitarashi Anko is going to enjoy her long winded interrogation…since Naruto-kun won't answer us completely, we might be forced to…extract all the information we can from the Kunoichi…the last report gave her barely healthy," at those words, Hiruzen's hand, closed into a fist, came down on the table, sending cracks and wooden splints everywhere in the room, making both Minato and Naruto wince, but earning no reaction from Danzo, who, instead…pressed the assault seeing the clear look of fear in the blond boy's face.

"I suppose some methods might even break something, maybe she wouldn't be able to be a Kunoichi any longer…and would have to go back to the poor's people check…barely enough to live by, isn't it? Or maybe she'd have a fit of arrogance, forcing us to break her down to even get started," at that, Naruto gasped bringing a hand to his mouth: yes, Anko would certainly play hard to get, and that was going to get her landed worse…he simply…

"Danzo! Not, another, word!" Hiruzen's hands were both clenched, and the aura he was barely emanating was kind of suffocating to even behold, at least for Minato, who was on the other side of the cracked table.

"I wonder, Hiruzen, if you've lost your mind…I'm barely stating the truth!" at Danzo's smirk, the man spoke more, explaining, his only eye fixed on Naruto, "Without anyone to cross check the truth in her words, we would be forced to harm her a great deal…Itachi Uchiha won't give us much, since he's going to be defended by his clan…and if you," obviously referring to Naruto, "Don't speak…well…we'll have to claim her a liar!"

Hiruzen was about to retort, just as Minato was simply mentally shivering about the way the Yami of shinobi actually earned his title…it was making him scared, him, out of all, him, who had faced an entire Iwa army and had come out tired, but unscathed…and now…now he waited, sure that probably a battle of epic proportions was going to unfold in this small room: a battle that would be fought with murderous glares, muscle twitches and willpower.

"I'm tired of this…" Naruto's whisper, which would have normally been barely audible, especially considering how low it had actually been said, and how thick the situation was in the room, was obviously picked up by the sensible ears of the three Kage-level shinobis in the room.

"People always choose for me," he muttered, "Always, always doing things without asking me. Is it that hard to let me choose? Well, now I'm the one choosing: I'm going to talk, if you sign you won't harm even a hair out of Anko-san, or Itachi-kun," as he said that, his gaze fixing itself on Danzo, the old man, this time, grabbed the ball before Hiruzen could try and dissuade the boy.

"Sarutobi-san should leave the room, however, but he certainly won't unless you plead him to, so…" as the Yami of Shinobi said that, he actually felt the need to twitch to the side, to actually avoid the full force attack of his *friend's* stare.

"Naruto! You can't be…" but just as Hiruzen spoke, Naruto shook his head, decisively, clenching his fist.

"Sarutobi-sama…while I thank you for your help, I cannot have a clan's head protect me and Mitarashi-san twenty-four hours a day, especially from the Hokage and his agents, I am not that selfish," as he turned his gaze to Minato, even the Hokage himself felt the need to look back in full force, as that gaze, the gaze of a seven or eight years old, was one of a man who had chosen his destiny, "I'm doing this for my friends…and for my teammates, isn't that the will of fire?"

And with those words, Minato simply stood up and left the room, probably to get the paperwork done.

Just as he did that, Hiruzen stood up, giving a single, last and hard stare at Danzo, before hugging the blond boy once, tightly, and then leaving the room too, but not before whispering to Naruto, in his ear.

"Talk only when the papers have been signed," and with that final warning, Hiruzen left the boy alone in the room, well, not alone, but the Yami of Shinobi could barely be considered a presence, probably he wouldn't even be written down as present, in the interrogation.

"Well…we have been left alone, haven't we?" Danzo spoke quietly, his only eye looking without a hint of anger or happiness towards the small seven or eight year old boy.

Naruto looked at the man, before nodding slowly, but without muttering a word.

"Not speaking like Hiruzen said, huh? Good," as the man said that, Naruto's face turned puzzled, what was the man speaking for, then?

"After this interrogation will be over, you all will probably be assigned into different teams, to keep better track on you and your teammates," Danzo mulled the thought out loud, "You probably won't meet one another until the Chuunin exams too," as he said that, Naruto's blue eyes showed shock, was the last meeting with Itachi going to be like that? Him pushing the Uchiha and then getting knocked out?

"You're lying," Naruto whispered, earning himself, strangely, a nod from Danzo.

"Indeed I am, did you know or where you simply hoping it were the case?"

Naruto, on the other hand, bit his tongue strongly, keeping his mouth closed as he had just talked! He wasn't meant to talk until after the documents had been signed!

"Ah…you see, words are like candies," Danzo said, letting his chin rest on his right hand, as his fingers tapped on the side of his cheek, "One brings another, until they become like flowing wine…to drench in inebriation the opponent," at that, Naruto raised an eyebrow…just what was the man saying?

"During your C-rank mission of patrolling the village, you actually engaged a group of Kumo shinobis, didn't you? I read the report…so there's no need for you to talk. Actually," as Danzo pointed that out, he slowly stood up, crossing his gloved hands behind his back, "all I want is for you to listen. Will you do me this favor?"

Naruto's expression couldn't have become more puzzled had he wished for it, so, not knowing what to do, he barely nodded.

"You seek truth," that statement made Naruto's undivided attention dart toward Danzo, who, keeping his face emotionless, spoke again, "you have an unnatural knack for being a ninja, even more than others…I looked at your records at the academy, Naruto Uzumaki…and I found them horrible, but then, one day, they started always becoming the perfect marks… in written tests, then, it was Ninjutsu, and finally, your Taijutsu reached acceptable levels for graduation…and since I am not a mere Chuunin sensei, I know perfectly well how you actually managed to cheat your way through the tests…"

To his defense, Naruto did his best to keep his face as tense and still as possible, but in doing so, it showed clearly that he had been caught dead-on, to the expert eyes of the Yami of Shinobis.

"However, your infiltration skills, to enter the academy at night, avoid the patrols, the guards, the occasional Anbu passing by…those are real…as your skill in being a leader is: you convinced your teammates to follow you through your plan, giving them little to no instructions and earning their trusts, and you repeated said feat with the chuunins, who would have had all the reasons to hate you for your skills…you have a gift, Naruto," with those words, Danzo turned around, sporting a small smile.

"Your gift isn't the fact that you're a Jinchuuriki, or that you possess the Kyuubi, no, your gift is that you are a naturally born shinobi, one of old, one that never went straight on in a fight. You are a cheater, a trickster, a being of the night, of the darkness…and that…that is what made me interested in you," Danzo knew the tricks to get someone's attention, give them something to take pride in, and then hook them up to your side by claiming they could become much better…he was surprised thus, when Naruto's face turned sad.

"I want to become Hokage," Naruto whispered, his words actually being spoken out of a trembling mouth, "I need to be in the light, I need to become the strongest, the most loved…I want the truth, and I won't obtain it by staying in the darkness…" as he said that, Danzo simply chuckled.

He chuckled, for a brief moment, before taking a seat, once more, and this time, actually whispering to the boy.

"There was once a boy…just like you, who believed that the light was the way to go, to become Hokage…but you know what?" he said, in a sort of sarcastic tone, "There will always be someone brighter than you. Someone who's stronger than you, someone who's more loved than you, they, they will become Hokage. You? You won't become one by going in the light, Naruto…but you could become one…if you'll help me," and with that whispered tone, Danzo suddenly straightened up, just as the door opened and Minato walked in, papers in his hands, handing them over to the boy, not even looking at the boy's face, instead simply taking his seat, his arms clasped together, and silently waiting for the boy to fill the forms out. At the lack of a pen, he produced one that, however, wasn't caught by Naruto in time, and thus fell on the ground. Albeit the blond boy could swear the pen to have been slippery, he decided to take it later on, after looking at the papers.

Naruto looked at the papers wincing, was it all there? He hoped it was, probably the third Hokage had left the room to follow the Fourth, maybe making sure he wrote everything correctly, and without problems, or backhanded trickeries? It took a moment, for Naruto, to skim through the pages of the form ahead of him, and then, with a nod, he took the pen that had been ungraciously dropped on the floor, and with quick precise movements started signing all the forms.

After doing so, his look was puzzled for a moment, he was pretty sure there had been four papers, so why were there five of them now?

One of the papers was handed over to Danzo, and with a nod, the Yami of shinobi stood up, turning to leave.

"Naruto-Kun…we will see each other for training tomorrow morning, at five o'clock, at the Root barracks," and with those final words, Danzo left the room, after a small bow to the Hokage, who remained behind.

"Well, now we can begin taking your eyewitness for this incident…" with a sigh, the fourth Hokage let his right hand tap on the table, as he asked routine questions to the boy, his cold blue eyes never staying still for even a second, like he couldn't even face Naruto's eyes, nor his small trembling figure.

After a couple of hours, at least from Naruto's perspective, the Hokage asked a question that made the blond boy stop for a second, to think about the correct answer to give to the man.

"So, did Orochimaru kill anyone from Tanzaku town?"

"Well…yes, he did…" at that, Minato's eyes subtly narrowed.

"And did *you* kill anyone from Tanzaku town?" at that question, Naruto nodded.

"Yes…I ha…"

"Good, that will be all," then, suddenly, Minato stood up, leaving the room in a sort of hurry, while Naruto, perplexed, couldn't help but wonder why the sudden change in attitude, and the man's disappearance from the interrogation with a bright yellow flash.

"Can…Can I go then?" Naruto asked to the empty room.

As nobody answered him, he hesitantly took a couple of steps towards the door, slowly creaking it open, and looking at the jail's corridors, that had no guards in them in that precise moment.

"He did say it was all…didn't he?" Naruto whispered to himself, gathering his courage as he slowly moved towards the exit, trying to keep his calm and his wits.

Truth be told, he didn't incur into any problems, until he realized he hadn't, actually, ever been into the prison before…meaning he had no idea where the exit was.

"_I could ask a guard…If I actually saw one…just where did they all end up?" _That thought was actually puzzling to no end the small blond boy. It just seemed like…they had all been puffed away, or disappeared from the area.

That was his last thought, before a blackjack, oh how he was coming to hate those sort of cudgel like things, hit him on the side of his face, flinging him against a wall, sending him unconscious on the floor.

*Anko*

Memories were a pain. Every single time she closed her eyes, she felt the stinging sensation in her chest, as that man's smile, grin, words, everything he had ever told her or did for her, all of that came back to her. She had had a crush on him, a fickle thing, clearly, a thing that only a stupid, bratty, Kunoichi could possibly have for her sensei…and he had trampled on it, well, not only that, he had used it to his advantage. Like any other ninja would have done, right? At that mental question, a face flashed for a second in the back of her head, before she mentally removed it. Yeah, even that brat was probably seeing her as a meat shield between him and the enemies, or as a food ticket. Just as those thoughts kicked in, so they were brought out of her mind.

The boy was too good to do that, wasn't he? Always a sort of wussy, always trying a smile, or a comforting word, always saying nothing to her, not even refusing to be hit by her…he never dodged her punches, did he? He was weak and thus couldn't dodge them, right? It wasn't because he actually let her, right? Who'd let an orphan like her, one with no qualities and nothing interesting, hit them on the head willingly?

He would? That thought would make her laugh bitterly, were she awake.

She was now thirteen years old, it had been her birthday, and it had passed, without even a hitch. When was Naruto's birthday? She didn't know, actually. She didn't even ask him about that, but she did boast about it, didn't she? She kind of wondered if being disowned meant he wouldn't even have a family register, meaning he would be devoid of birthdate. Had it happened to her, she could have tried to make her birthday fall on every single day of the year. Gifts all year long after all!

"_Just where did that stupid thought come from?"_ her mind, in disarray, simply mulled over the inner question, just as she slowly creaked her eyes open once more, to stare at the masked face of the Anbu, was it an Anbu? That seemed to have become her personal caretaker. She was thankful the long trip was going to be over now: Konoha was near, was it? It had taken a month, nearly, to get back. She had managed to walk now, but she was still kept heavily under check, and more times than she could count she had been forced on piggy back rides, since she couldn't hold up the dashing through trees for more than a couple of minutes, before the seal started hurting her. She couldn't use chakra without it running through her body like liquid fire.

Finally, her hazel eyes settled on Konoha's gates, after the long trip, the symbol of the leaf was sort of welcoming, really. What she didn't expect was the crowd.

How did they gather there? Did somebody warn them?

Had she been in her right state of mind, she wouldn't have needed to think about it: it was obvious one of the Anbus had gone ahead to warn the village of their estimated time of arrival.

There had been some moments, she had thought she'd be saved by Orochimaru, truly, remnants of her past crush on her sensei, but those fleeting moments of clear madness had subdued themselves after a while. He had discarded her, there was no way he'd come to save her.

The crowd looked at her walking, as it wouldn't do for her to get a ride on an Anbu's shoulders: after all, they were going through the main gates. Her neck was slightly hurting, but nothing she couldn't handle. For a moment, she thought the crowd was there worried for her.

That's when she heard the whispers, and felt the stares on her. Was that how Naruto felt, walking around the city as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki? But she was a victim here, she hadn't…

"The snake's whore is back," came as a whisper from one of the people in the crowd.

"She must know where my baby is! The witch!"

"All those poor Genins…dead, and she lives…she had to be his play toy, to let her live," another voice.

As Anko gritted her teeth, slowly she found herself being brought towards the Hokage's tower, where, after a brief moment of wait, outside the Hokage's office, she was invited in, to sit down…and to stare at the dark and truly filled with hatred face of the Hokage. It was like someone had messed with Minato Namikaze in some sort of really horrible way, as the usual smiling blond man was gone, to let an utterly furious and out for blood beast, that just so happened to have the same lineaments as the Fourth Hokage.

"Tell me everything you know on Orochimaru, everything you saw, heard, or had to do for him…leave a single, minuscule detail out, and I can guarantee you…you will not like it one bit," and with that, Anko gulped, before starting, slowly at first, but then quickly catching on, her words. She had a hundred questions, concerning Itachi, Naruto, Orochimaru even, what had happened, what *was* happening…but she couldn't ask. Even as her throat became parched she simply kept on speaking, recalling every detail, saying every single thing, every tiny bit of information, even the color of Orochimaru's sofa was added in, and, just like that, she finally took a deep breath, ending her tale when the Anbu had taken her in.

"Good…you can go," Minato whispered, just as Anko, perplexed, looked uncertainly at the Hokage, who seemed to have gone back to scribbling down notes.

"Only…this?" she asked, trying to sport a small smile, "No torture? Or…anything? Just…I can go?"

"Normal procedure requires cross-checking your witness with that of another person, who should hold no ground of being lying…usually through torture, if the target isn't bound to be trusted anyway…but that is written somewhere in the T&I books, so go read those, and leave."

The purple haired kunoichi wasn't going to question the Hokage any more, not now…and certainly not with him in that foul mood. So, just as she stood up, bowing swiftly, she left the Hokage's tower, sighing in relief, at the sight of Itachi coming straight near her, a worried look on his face.

"Hey," Anko muttered, coughing a bit…she'd have to go home and get some water from the fridge, certainly…speaking for more than four hours had gotten her thirsty.

"You might want to come with me," Itachi said, his voice showing worry.

"Is this some sort of late confession? Because I'm not in the mood right now," Anko whispered back, trying one of her cheesy grins.

"No, it's because the assassination attempt on my person have but intensified greatly recently…and Naruto has been missing since a couple of weeks ago…when he was brought in for questioning," at those words, Anko's eyes bulged in shock.

"Was that why the Hokage was in a foul mood?" as soon as she finished the sentence, Itachi threw a Kunai near her, parrying with it an arrow bolt, his eyes narrowing down.

"Ehi!" as Anko turned around, the would-be assailer had already taken off.

"It appears that, actually, it has something to do with the return of the Senju clan to Konoha…namely Tsunade of the legendary Sannins," at those words, Itachi began walking, but never did he let go of his Kunai's handle, just as Anko, simply extremely tired, hoped the brat knew his work, because she didn't want to die right after having gone through a really stressful period of her life.

"…I need some sleep right now…can you please bring me to my apartment?" at those words, Itachi meekly muttered.

"You might want to go there tomorrow…there's nothing salvageable there…"

"What?" Anko whispered, dreading the reply of the raven haired Uchiha, who looked at her with a sad gaze.

"After Orochimaru's betrayal, and his experiments…came to light, a mob, formed by all those who had lost their children and their beloved ones to his madness came rushing towards our homes. Naruto's apartment isn't even there any longer: they burned it to the ground. The Uchiha compound was left unscathed…but in yours, they went with far more horrible stuff," at that, Anko couldn't for the love of her sanity understand what it meant. How could they go worse than burning down an entire apartment complex building?

"What did they do, paint the walls pink?" she whispered back, trying a snort, she had to act tough, after all.

"No…they…well…" Itachi sighed, "I don't want to talk about it," as the Uchiha shook his head, he added, "I have already arranged a guest room in the Uchiha compound for you to use, father gave his permission…there is one also for Naruto but…"

"Thank you kid, really, but I can take care of myself…and if my apartment hasn't been destroyed, what's the worse they could have done to it?" as Anko said that, taking a turn to reach it, Itachi followed behind her.

"I'll come along…I'm sure you *will* change your mind," and with those muttered words, the two reached Anko's apartment's door…to find it broken, in splinters.

That wasn't even the worst of it by far…Anko didn't take a single step inside, instead turning to stare at Itachi, her face green.

"Yes, Anko-san, my offer still stands…there's nothing in there that you might need, right?" as the girl nodded, Itachi turned around, and, being followed by the Kunoichi, he reached, among stares and mutter of the crowd, his compound.

A compound that seemed to have been set off for war, as every single Uchiha guard in there was already armed to boot, and that, that made Anko realize that she hadn't seen any Uchiha patrol in the streets, as of recently.

"Oh…yes, the Hokage has deemed it necessary to suppress the private police of the Uchiha, until this situation has been solved…" and with those words, Anko just realized how much hell Itachi had to have gone through, and how much hate his own family was having against him…he had the stares of accusation also from his family…and for once, the purple haired kunoichi was glad she was a war orphan…

*Konoha*

"Kushina-hime," Minato dodged a set of kunais, "Tsunade-san," a punch, "please, both of you calm down," as he said that, the two women stared at each other, while Minato, in the middle of the two fighting women, had no choice but to actually bring his body to the fray, to make sure they'd keep calm.

"You damn Tomato! You didn't even think about writing to me, did you!" as Tsunade exclaimed that, Kushina's face turned red.

"I wanted to avoid this! I don't like it any better, but…"  
"Silence!" Minato snapped, activating the soundproof walls of the Hokage's office.

"And you! You had a squad of Anbus damn frigging grab my godson and knock him out! Bringing him to jail, of all places!" as Tsunade pointed one of her fingers to Minato, the Fourth Hokage flinched.

"Who…"

"Sensei did! Just be glad he asked me to keep calm and talk to you, because my first thought when I heard what you did to Naru-chan," Kushina actually flinched, at such a nickname…sort of…envious? "Was to come here and break your spine thrice!"

"Now…calm down, Tsunade-san," Minato replied, "Danzo asked to be present during the interrogation," at that, Kushina winced again…in anger.

"You let Danzo! Out of all people Danzo! Just what…"

"Like if you could talk! You disowned him!" Tsunade exclaimed, once more trying to fling a punch at Kushina, only for a couple of kunais from said red-head getting in the way of the right hook, and for Minato to deflect all attacks away.

"No, Minato disowned him, he is still an Uzumaki! He's…a clan's man, one that is soon to leave his ninja life behind, as his clan's matriarch can and will order him to leave the shinobi ranks," as Kushina said that, Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"So…let me get this straight…you," pointing at Minato, "disowned him, and the boy, instead of letting this push him down, decided to become Hokage to spit in your face," the Hokage's eyes fluttered for a second, well, it was pretty much that way, "and since he's doing something any shinobi does, killing someone, you suddenly fear for your damn comfy chair to be taken away from you, and you have her," pointing at Kushina, "actually throw that boy out of the shinobi program…and how would he live, huh? Without the mission money, who'd hire him in the civilian sector, huh?"

"Well, he could come back with…" as Kushina tried that, Tsunade's right foot cracked slightly the floor under her sole, as she snarled.

"Oh yeah! He'd really come back to such a loving, tender, family! Wouldn't he! He'd even love you for it, wouldn't he!"

"Once he knows the truth, when he's older…he'll understand," Minato replied, looking at Tsunade.

"Oh yeah! What truth is there! That you're both assholes all too centered on keeping the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki under your feet and the civilian council happy by having him suffer! I'm coming back to Konoha, and I'm adopting the boy," as soon as Tsunade finished that sentence, silence fell in the room.

"Wh…What?" Minato whispered.

"I'm adopting that boy," Tsunade replied, crossing her arms over her ample breasts, "He's a Jinchuuriki? I'm blood related through Kushina to him. *I* can adopt him, and I will. Since he can, and will, remove himself from the Uzumaki clan without fault, if you bring him to choose between being a Hokage or being what, your pool cleaner?" as Tsunade snarled that, Kushina's eye were truly furious.

"I never wanted him to become our pool cleaner! He could become a teacher at the civilian academy!"

"For who!" Tsunade yelled back, "And it's not like you have anything to say on it! I don't know what your truth is…and I truly don't care in knowing…but if you want to mess with my godson, and my future son, then be prepared because Tsunade Senju will send you to hell thrice!" and with that, Tsunade, furiously, strode out of the room…breaking through the door.

"I think…she's a bit angry," Minato muttered, just as Kushina's eyes turned on her husband.

"You will fix this, Minato, or Kami help you, the sofa will be the only place you'll sleep on, for the next years," and with that, the red hot habanero moved out of the office, leaving the Hokage to twitch, slightly.

Silently, he turned to stare at the pictures on his desk, and, most carefully, grabbed one that held on one side him and his youngest daughter, Katsumi, smiling at the camera. He slowly eased the picture upwards, opening it just so slightly, and giving a small smile at what stood underneath it.

A picture of a small blond bundle, with whisker marks, that was peacefully sleeping in a cradle.

He swiftly closed the hidden compartment in the picture frame, and then coughed, to get back his composure.

He had a lot to do, and he hoped everything would turn out good.

Hiashi would probably be angry for a while, Fugaku too for the actions he had to take, but...it hadn't been the first time clan's head had been angered at him, had it?

If everything went fine…if everything turned well…the greatest plan his mind could devise would bear fruits, in the years to come…and the leaf would flourish greatly, enormously…if everything went well.

*Naruto*

He was feeling mixed emotions in his chest.

On one side, he had begun hating blackjacks like they were devil incarnate.

On the other side, he had never felt so happy in all of his life: he was getting training from Jiraiya, one on one, for a while!

The fact that the Toad Hermit had woken him up only once they had left Konoha, and only after a long and harsh trek into unknown lands had done nothing to crush his spirit...though he had politely mentioned that *kidnapping* someone through the use of a blackjack wasn't how you asked people to go on a trip with them.

"Come on Gaki! We've got a long way to go!" as the sannin said that, the blond boy simply gasped, when his right foot seemed to have lost its footage on the mountain's path they were trudging upon.

"Got you!" Jiraiya said, grabbing the boy's wrist, and with ease bringing him back against the side of the mountain.

"Uncle! Are you sure everything is going to be fine?" just as Naruto said that, Jiraiya turned around with a large grin, and then shrugged, before returning to the task at hand: namely, climbing to the top of a really steep mountain.

"I figured you might need some breathing time away from the city. The villagers already don't like you because of what you harbor…if they got their hands on you it would be worse, wouldn't it?" at that, Naruto couldn't help but silently nod, as the toad hermit, after a brief moment, said once more.

"Though, you know what you can do to solve all of your problems in one go?"

As the boy looked with his clear blue eyes at the Toad Hermit, the man replied with a smug grin.

"Have them acknowledge you, by becoming strong, and by protecting them," as a frown appeared on Naruto's face, Jiraiya pressed on, "sure, you could become strong and go all *smash smash* and destroy on the village, but then…what would you have then?" as Naruto raised his most puzzled expression, the Toad sannin kept speaking, "a fuming pile of ashes, buildings destroyed, rubble…and pain, and hatred and anger directed towards you…and even if you left nobody behind, fear would run around rampart about your strength…and you would live in fear, hatred, anger…revenge never solves anything, Naruto."

"Uncle…I can barely fight off a brigand…I'm not going to destroy a village any time soon…and even *if* I grow up…I doubt I'd be able to defeat Konoha, out of all the possible hidden villages!" as the blond boy said that, Jiraiya struck a slightly grieving face, before returning to a slight smile.

"Don't sell yourself short, boy, you're a prodigy! A natural born one to boot! Not even your father graduated *that* soon! And he too was hailed as a natural genius, taking his forehead protector at age ten," Naruto said nothing, at that remark, but his eyes did grow slightly sad…and filled with a secret grief.

Was he really a prodigy?

He just knew how to sneak and hide, and how to cause trouble.

Would he have still been disowned from his father, had he actually been a prodigy?

Would he still have a mother, if he were an authentic prodigy, and not a scam?

He didn't know the answer to those questions…but he would get his answers, wouldn't he?

Still…how much longer would he have to wait, for the truth to come? Three years to Chuunin, then what? Jounin? Anbu? Kage-level? To reach higher he needed to know more… Would hard work suffice for the feat he wanted to achieve? Would cheating work? Would it not work?

"Now Gaki, stop day-dreaming, it's getting boring to save you from yourself," as Jiraiya growled that, grabbing once more the boy by the wrist, before he plummeted to the ground, hundreds of meters down, he brought the small boy on his shoulders, and, just as the boy laid his hands on the man's head, to keep himself stable, Naruto flinched for a brief second.

Jiraiya's head was spiky, alright…

But something seemed off.

"Hey! Stop touching my hair Gaki! My wonderful mane isn't to be touched like that!" at that remark, Naruto muttered an apology, moving his hands to his sides, hoping it would suffice.

"Now, you know why I basically kidnapped you out of town?" as the Toad sage asked that, Naruto meekly muttered.

"No, Uncle…but you didn't get into trouble for me, did you!" as the tone got worried, Jiraiya simply laughed.

"Me? Nah! I just…kind of warned later than normal that I was taking you with me on a trip!" as the toad sannin said that, Naruto's blue eyes grew to the size of small moons, in fright.

"But that's not good! The Hokage is…"

"He won't do anything! I'm his sensei!" Jiraiya replied, with a chuckle, "He'll scowl for a while but that will be that, trust me!" as he finished speaking, a slight frown appeared onto Naruto's face, as the small boy bit his lower lip…he didn't want to bring trouble to his uncle.

"By the way, with my awesome spy skills," Jiraiya said, with another grin, "I came to the conclusion that you actually didn't want to get into that horrible Root training, did you?"

"How did you know that uncle!" Naruto spoke, his jaw unhinged…if he knew that, did he also know that he had basically cheated his way through the academy?

"A little bird told me, and now Danzo can eat his piece of paper for lunch! Think about it! He's going to be held responsible for your…disappearance, and when those Kumo ninjas are going to come knocking, they'll get…"

"Kumo ninjas?" Naruto queried, once more, perplexed.

"Oh…you remember your little stunt during the patrol duty?" as the hermit's voice grew slightly serious, Naruto couldn't help but mutter a barely audible affirmative answer.

"Well," Jiraiya spoke, "They claimed that in truth it was the leaf who attacked their diplomat, and for that, we had to pay reparations…they either wanted you, or the head of Hiashi," at that, Naruto's eyes bulged.

"Uncle…the Hokage…had chosen me?" as Jiraiya felt small droplets of water falling on his head, he mused out loud a thought.

"Mm could be raining soon! Anyway Gaki, I don't know, actually," Jiraiya hesitated, "But I didn't want to have him even think of it as a choice, so I brought you out, for training, just during the period those Kumo shinobis come to claim their *prize*…and since it was Danzo who had to keep an eye out on you…"

**The Hokage will give the fault to Danzo Shimura of the inability to keep guard over the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and since there are bonds between the Toad Sannin and the Fourth Hokage no action will be taken against Jiraiya of the sannin, instead, the Hyuga clan will found itself devoid of its clan's head, and while this will certainly be a lowering shift in the power of the village, it will not have repercussions on the Hokage…as all fault will go to you too. Isn't that right, Jiraiya?** As the voice snarled the last word, with a sort of even amused tone, the sannin tensed, slightly.

"Naruto?" he muttered, hoping the boy would answer.

**He has fallen asleep in tears…such a familiar scene is it? But last time I checked…**

"Are you the Kyuubi? But…"

**I am but merely the Yin part of the Kyuubi, mortal, where the boy sleeps, I awake, but in doing so…I consume his chakra, rather than give it to him…Yin cannot work without Yang, so I syphon instead of granting.**

Jiraiya gritted his teeth, just as the boy's hands moved around his neck, forcing him to tense.

"And why the chit-chat right now?"

**Because I enjoy sleeping, and the boy awakens me every time he falls asleep in pain…And I do not like that in the slightest…I hope I have made myself clear: I wish to sleep.**

"Oh sure, so that's why you attacked Konoha that night, right? Looking for a sleeping…" but just as Jiraiya exclaimed that, he felt the distinctive change in pressure, and tension, in the air, and stopped when he heard a sudden *huh?* followed by a small yawn from Naruto.

"You had to be dead tired, Gaki, to fall asleep like that!" Jiraiya exclaimed, shaking a bit Naruto who let out a small cry, before repositioning himself.

"I'm sorry! It just…it just felt so familiar…I'm sorry Uncle…I'll walk from now on! Yeah, everything is fine!" as Naruto said that, Jiraiya shrugged, doing so proved that Naruto found himself a bit higher and then a bit lower, and earned himself a small *Wee* of joy.

"Huh?" The toad Sannin said, repeating the motion.

"Wee! Stop it uncle! It's…the air in the lungs, I think!"

Again the motion.

"Wee! Uncle stop it!" Naruto basically screeched, his face as red as ripe tomato.

"I'm enjoying this: a personal *Wee* generator," and with that, Jiraiya started humming a tone, every now and then the *Wee* effect running in.

By the time they were done, one tired of actually carrying some extra weight on his back, and the other too flustered and lacking in air, they had reached a small clearing, still far from the summit of the mountain.

"Uncle, where are we, anyway?" as Naruto, after catching his breath, a feat that required him to spend at least a good ten minutes on his knees, asked, Jiraiya simply smiled back, with a sort of wicked grin.

"We are towards the Iwagakure border, which is also the last place Danzo, or any of his Root agents, as well as Minato or any of his Anbu, would go looking for us," with those words, he then took on a more serious face, and said, "Boy, I'm now going to teach you something useful, but first, I need to know your elemental affinities…if your objective is chuunin, you need to master at least one, while Jounins need at least two masteries…understood?" as the boy nodded, Jiraiya kept on talking, while handing over to the boy a small white slip of paper.

"First things first: Your natural affinity. Pump chakra into it and I'll tell you what you have…I'd be pretty surprised…" "_If you had something different from lightning affinity"_ and then, Naruto's small, cute, white piece of paper turned soggy, and started releasing copious amounts of water.

"Now…that's a first…stop sending chakra into it before it becomes a stream!" as Jiraiya exclaimed that, Naruto dropped the paper, that actually dissolved, while the water actually kept streaming down, disappearing from view after a while.

"That's…a problem," as Jiraiya said that, Naruto turned his puzzled gaze to Jiraiya, who explained, "I don't have water affinity," pointing that out, the blond's boy gaze turned worrisome, "Which means that all I can do, to get you to pass chuunin, is for you to learn at least one jutsu that does not belong to your affinity…but since you're a natural water type…you practically clash against anything of earth, and fire would be useless in battle since it would be weakened… damn it… I'll have to go with wind then, here, look at this," as Jiraiya slowly went through the hand signs, he then shouted out loud: "Kaze no Yaiba!" before unleashing a seemingly weak air slash, that cleared some dust off the ground.

"Well…that's because I'm a lightning affinity user…so air is something of a barred release…I can use it, but with the little chakra I put in the technique, that was the result," as soon as Jiraiya said that, he smiled awkwardly, as Naruto, not saying a word, began going diligently through the hand signs.

"First memorize them: then I'll teach you about chakra alteration…you already know how to walk on water, right?" at the sannin's question, Naruto sheepishly nodded.

"Good, let's get started then… What is it?" the boy had actually lifted his hand up to ask a question.

"I was thinking…my summons said they were sported towards water affinity…could I ask them for help?"

"You mean the chameleons? I suppose you could…but you should be the one summoning them here…" as Jiraiya pointed that out, the blue eyed boy stood perplexed…was there something else he could do with summons?

"It's better if one of them can actually manage to teach you Suitons…try and summon one who can speak first," as the toad sage said that, Naruto bit his thumb, going through the hand signs, and then, just as he touched the ground with his hand, he obtained a loud puff of smoke.

What followed was nothing, at least, nothing for the boy's eyes, although for Jiraiya's more keen ones, he saw the brief fluttering in the air, albeit just for a second.

"Ehi boy," as a whispered voice spoke to Naruto's ear, it made the boy actually scream in surprise.

"Ehi! Ah! Oh…you scared me…Kozue, right?" as the blond haired kid took deep breaths, to calm himself down, a chameleon the color of foliage appeared right next to him, in the clearing.

"Duh! Nobody told you? When you summon us, we camouflage ourselves first, so you can whisper orders without the enemy seeing us! Just how thick are you?" as the chameleon said that, he then turned his gaze to the man in front of him.

"You know him? Friend or foe?"

"He's uncle Jiraiya! He's the toad sage, you know? He's really strong!" Just as Naruto pointed that out, Jiraiya tensed just so slightly, as the chameleon's gaze narrowed, for just a split second, gazing at the man.

"Well…if you say so," the Chameleon mused, "in any case, what's the reason you summoned me here?"

"Can you teach me suitons please, Kozue-san?" as Naruto did his best puppy-eye expressions, the chameleon flinched for a second, before sighing.

"Water affinity, huh? Then maybe you didn't actually eat every other animal that ever existed on earth…except chameleons," as soon as he said that, he produce from his mouth a small scroll.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu is the basic Hidden Mist Jutsu…water release, D-rank, basic of basics…and something every chameleon whelp can produce with little fatigue… Shiromari was an expert in it, actually managing to shroud her entire body in it, forming a sort of cloud-like pattern around her…damn scary, looking like a ghost with red eyes and all," as Kozue spoke with a grin, Naruto tightly hugged the scaled reptile's neck.

"Thanks Kozue-san!" as a reply, the chameleon's tail ruffled the blond boy's head.

"Not a problem boy! Such a polite little thing you are! Now, one day, I'm going to teach you how to see through Henges…like any other chameleon summon can do…till then, know that, if something troubles you…just summon us and we'll be here for you," and with that, after giving one last stare at Jiraiya, the chameleon in question dispersed in smoke.

"Uncle Jiraiya…" Naruto said, looking at the toad sage, who, with a smile and a thumb up, exclaimed.

"Yeah! See? You've got your chuunin jutsu right there! Now let's get some rest, tomorrow, we reach the upper level of the mountain!"

"Hai!" as the boy nodded, he clutched tightly to himself the scroll…it wouldn't do to lose it, would it?

*Anko-Weeks later*

Damn how she missed the blond boy.

Really, Itachi seemed to have stiffened considerably, especially after Naruto's disappearance had been revealed, just so casually after the leave of the Kumo shinobis, to have been done under the accord of Jiraiya, the toad sage…who was going to get one hell of a punishment when he came back, no doubt.

After a while, she had managed to get herself another apartment, no need in whining, she wasn't even sure anyone would step into her *old* apartment for the years to come…it just was…no, too horrible to remember.

"How could they do that to a pony?" she muttered, shivering, as her face turned green, "And why a pony of all things!" she shook her head, trying to remove the images, the violent images, from her head.

She had taken the habit of wearing a fishnet short, if they wanted to call her a whore, then they'd better be ready, because she wasn't going to go around having them say it was wrong…she'd just force them to change their insults, when they'd simply be stating the truth.

Obviously…she wasn't going, at thirteen years, to go in and out of beds…but it was funny, as a plain war orphan who liked books, nobody even talked to her. As a Genin of Orochimaru, people made the line to talk to her, but as the *snake whore*? People actually asked her out, thinking she was easy! Her! Ah! The irony when they got a kick in the middle of the legs after a dinner…paid by them, obviously. Free dinner and a way of pass time? Why not?

Still, she missed the blond boy…she just wanted to see him again, really. Tell him a couple of things she thought were really important…

Was it his birthday, already? Had it already passed? It was making her slightly nervous, when she had asked Itachi when the boy's birthday was…and the boy had replied it was the ten of October.

Obviously, that wasn't his real birthday, but the boy had chosen it specifically, once the disownment practice had gone through, just so he could spite his family…albeit that had lasted a little.

So, as Anko was strolling through an alley, in her fishnet shirt, with a loose green jacket on, and a brown skirt, she stopped, as two boys from one side, and two from the other, blocked her ways out.

"Now, don't be a tease…hey, I recall you!" Anko said, with a smile and a cheery tone, pointing at one of the boys, who seemed to have dark blue hair in spikes, and a strange protuberance between his legs.

"You smashed my balls!" The boy exclaimed, in a highly pitched voice, "This is payback you whore!"

"What? Your fault for trying to get under my jacket! You should have thought better!"

Swiftly, one of the boy behind her charged forward, his fist raised in an attempt to punch the purple-haired Kunoichi, only for her to smile in a sort of wicked way, as she blocked the punch with her right fist.

"Please," she said, her eyes, for a brief moment, turning to small points of brown, as half of her face covered itself into small ink-like flame motifs, "You're just pathetic," and with that, the boy's fist was crushed, just as her other hand flung green scaled snakes on the other side, as the girl whispered, "Sen'eijashu" with that, the two remaining boys ran away yelling, just as she, sighing, dropped the hold on what remained of the charging's boy, and let her snakes disperse in smoke, leaving the bitten one to fall on his own accord. Then, after a brief scavenging for their wallets, she moved, humming lightly, towards her favorite dango stall…the only one who actually accepted her money.

"It's so nice to be happy," she hummed, as the entire city, without the Uchiha guards around, was her playground, nobody stopping her, or saying her that it was wrong…nobody telling her anything…and it was so fun!

She stood there, Dango stick in hand, happily munching them away with her *hard-earned* money, when she twitched, slightly, turning around to look at the sight in front of her.

An awkwardly smiling Naruto, his blond hair ruffled around, and a bit uncut, his eyes blue and clear, a smile on his lips, and fingerless gloves made of what seemed like cashmere, not the sort of cashmere of shops, but the one you get from neatly cutting a sheep's woolen mantle. He actually had a sort of cheese-like smell on him, and also one of burnt wood.

Not that it mattered, as Anko let the dango stick in her mouth fall down, before slowly, but surely, moving closer to said blond boy, and, with a quick, precise, set of hits, knock some sense into his head.

"BRAT!" she screeched, as she flung a knuckle hit at Naruto, "Don't you ever, ever, dare disappear like that! Clan's boy been all stiffy and iffy since you left! And…well…did you just grow a couple of inches?"

"Anko-san…" Naruto muttered, a small sniff escaping his face.

"Oh no…You just…" To her defense, Anko tried, she did try, to escape, but the boy simply clung to her, starting to sob excuses upon excuses, his puppy-eyed face and his clinginess making the Kunoichi terribly uncomfortable.

"I'm sowwy!" Naruto wailed, as the elder girl was embarrassed, outright, not knowing *what* to do.

"Ehi! Calm down! I'm not really angry! Really! Calm down please? Please! I'll buy you some dango, okay?" as she said that, Naruto sniffed slightly to a stop, his eyes looking at her with small sparkles, making the girl gulp down heavily, no, she was not going to let her badass attitude, so hardly earned in the course of balls-breaking and fist crunching, go to waste. She wasn't going to go…

"KAWAII!" luckily, it wasn't her who fussed over the boy, but Kurenai Yuhi, who, having been in the same team as Itachi, had stopped by the Uchiha compound a lot of time, asking about news on Naruto…before finally becoming friends with Anko…both were on the same wavelength concerning *girl power* and Kurenai had shown the purple-haired Kunoichi the guilty pleasures of sake…albeit she still couldn't drink more than a glass, without getting knocked out by the alcohol.

"Naruto-kun, you're back! When did you come back? Are you alright! Well, look at you, did you grow a couple of inches? What did that mean Anko tell you, huh?" as Kurenai fussed over the eight year old child, Anko exclaimed.

"Ehi! I didn't do anything!"

"Anko-san hit me!" Naruto sniffed, and just as he did that, Anko sported a tick mark on her forehead, but her face soon paled, when Kurenai looked utterly murderous at her.

"Well, never mind that! Come on brat: tell us how your journey with the Jiraiya went!" as soon as Anko said that, Naruto meekly muttered.

"What? Didn't hear that, boy," as Anko brought her right hand in a cup-like manner to the side of her face, Naruto muttered a bit more strongly.

"We did nothing much…only played farmers on top of a mountain…catching sheep and learning one elemental Jutsu," as Naruto said that, Kurenai nodded, before ruffling the blond boy's head.

"Well, you need a bath, clearly. Have you already reported in to the Hokage?" at that, the boy shivered, shaking his head.

"Uncle Jiraiya went ahead," just as Naruto finished saying that, an anbu, with a fox-like mask, and long flowing red-hair, appeared in the clearing, she held in her right hand a sheathed Katana, with a dull black sheathe. She silently handed a scroll towards Naruto, who stood puzzled, narrowing his eyes at the strange apparition.

"Already back and already Anbu-ed? Damn brat, are you making this a habit?" Anko teased the boy, but had her cheerful mood shot down by Kurenai's stare, just as, finally taking in the situation, Naruto grabbed the scroll, and slowly opened it, before the Anbu disappeared in a flicker of leaves.

"What does it says?" Anko queried, curious, glancing over the scroll.

"I'm summoned to the Uzumaki matriarch concerning the right of passage in the Uzumaki clan…" Naruto grimaced, gulping down a thick load of saliva that had begun resting inside his throat.

"Wait…but didn't your father?" at the question, from Anko, the blond boy simply nodded.

"Yes, the Namikaze Minato disowned me, but I kept the surname Uzumaki, meaning I still do belong to the clan of his wife…and since she's the only Uzumaki left, except her children…that makes her the matriarch," and with those words, the boy's eyes turned to the ground, "Meaning I have to be at the Namikaze mansion, tomorrow at Noon, to speak with my clan's matriarch…about balancing the clan's economic status in Konoha," as both Kurenai and Anko raised an eyebrow, not understanding what it meant, Naruto whined.

"And I don't know what it means either!" as he exclaimed that, both Kunoichi sweat-dropped.

"It means civilian duty, boy," the dango stall owner said, as he let his apron loose, to show the Uchiha fan on his jacket, "The Village council levy taxes from the clans and from the civilian population, but who puts the money in the clan's coffers? The civilian population usually, since the Ninja population uses the money for equipment or to further their training through the buying or trading of scrolls, or into training their young…basically…you're kindly been told that, by the end of that day, you'll have to become a civilian," at that, Naruto's face paled, as he tightly clenched the scroll with his hands.

"Can…"

"Can you refuse? You can leave your clan, but only after the clan head gives her approval on it, or you get a motion to be adopted into another clan…and if you do leave, there *are* laws in effect…for example, dropping out of the Uchiha clan obliges you to gouge out your eyes, while the Hyuga one…you simply get branded with their caged bird seal," Naruto shivered once more.

"So there's no way out? I could become a…"

"Shut up brat, you ain't going to stand down and suffer this!" as Anko exclaimed that, knuckle hitting the boy's head, she added, "Nobody messes with my Naru-chan and gets away alive!" and with that, Kurenai actually shivered, as she could see the girl's eyes turning slightly murderous.

"Anko-san?" Naruto meekly muttered, looking at the elder Kunoichi's expression, who suddenly returned the cheerful one of always.

"What? No, nothing, hey, you have a place to crash to, tonight? I got a new apartment, and a spare sofa…unless you want to snuggle with this Anko-hime," as she grinned, savagely at that, Kurenai placed the girl under a Genjutsu, before grabbing Naruto by the hand, and starting to walk away from her.

"She's falling prey to her own ruse," Kurenai whispered to Naruto, as they made their way towards the red-eyed girl's house, "She didn't have a nice time with Orochimaru's betrayal, and…" and within the next hours, Naruto, having been told what had happened, was brought to Kurenai Yuhi's father's attention, a stern looking man who proceeded to wash the seemingly cheese-smelling boy, and, after going as far as giving the boy dinner, sent him to sleep in the guest room. Naruto simply fell asleep the moment he touched the bed, too tired to even think about dreaming.

Outside, in the hallway, Kurenai turned to her father, with a *So what do you think?* look.

"I get it…you were right…he certainly doesn't seem, at all, a monster, or a demon, fine…" and the man, letting his hand rise in the sky as a sign of defeat, paid a set of Ryo bills to his daughter…the funding for the Naruto fan club had just reached a new height: A total of seven hundred and fifty ryos.

Just as the girl squealed in delight, she heard a couple of loud knocks at her door, and gulped.

Did the Genjutsu fail that late? Shouldn't it have failed sooner?

Opening the door, she saw a kunai implanted on the side of her door, with a small message, written in a clear, readable, style.

"_Next time, it's war,_

_Peace, Anko-chan!"_ and with that, there was even a small drawing of a purple-haired Kunoichi brandishing a kunai with razor-like teeth.

It was kind of cute, if not for the fact that she felt the need to actually lock her window, that night.

The next morning, she swore for the first time in her life: the girl had the guts to color her hair bright green, in her sleep, and grab Naruto from his bed…poor boy.

*Naruto*

Naruto woke up, dizzy, as he realized, much to his dismay, that he was being hugged by Anko, who seemed to be smiling at him with a sort of predator-like grin. They seemed to be in her bed, under thick green colored sheets, but she seemed to be wearing her normal ninja outfit.

"Good to have you here, Naru-chan," she hissed slowly, before grabbing him by the clothes, and throwing him with strength on the other side of the room, to crash against the wall.

Shocked, from such a display of ferocity, and wincing, from the pain, he felt his body loosen, as he realized, much to his dismay, that he couldn't feel his legs.

Why did people always mess with his legs!

"An…Anko-san?" he muttered, just as the purple-haired Kunoichi stood up from the bed, letting a kunai freely roll thanks to the small empty circle at the base of the weapon's handle.

"You see…I've always wondered why I was the one being chosen, by Orochimaru, why me? Why not you? The weakest one? That's when a thought crossed my mind…maybe it wasn't because I was special…but because he couldn't touch you. You know…it made me so sad to know you weren't in the village…I was missing you, a lot…" as she got on all fours, slowly moving closer to the boy, she grinned, before planting the kunai just inches away from his left ear.

"I kind of wondered, for a while, if I was simply imagining things, if, after all, it wasn't your fault, or Itachi's fault…I tried to convince myself it was only my fault, my mistake," as she said that, the ink-flame pattern slowly diffused over her shoulder, "I was so stupid at the time…why didn't I see the connections? You just went to whine to your uncle for some extra training, huh? So you could beat me, right? Maybe use me as a scapegoat…yeah, in the end: I understood your wicked and evil plan…you just wanted someone else to take all the blame, you know?" she laughed gingerly, using her free hand to clench his throat, as Naruto didn't seem to be trying to oppose her, "You just wanted someone to become the target of the village hate…yeah, you planned it all, didn't you?"

"An…" Naruto did try, on his part, to reply, to say it wasn't true, but he simply…he couldn't move, had he looked at his arm, he would have seen the bite marks so akin those of snakes.

"Then you even went as far as whisk away my only friend in this mess huh? No…bloody demon, you took away my friends, didn't you? I had it all…and you took it all…but now I'm going to kill you," she smiled, she giggled, and then the kunai drove through Naruto's left shoulder. The pain, he felt it all, as the metal reached till his shoulder bone, but he couldn't scream, his muscles not wanting to respond, as the kunai's point, once more, glinted in the light of the morning sun, before coming down, once more.

The next moment, Anko's arm was stopped by a strong, clawed, shimmering blue paw, as the walls around her dissolved, her face contorting in pain, as thick pearly white claws emerged from within the boy's chest, deep ocean blue eyes staring at her own small hazel ones, and, within a second, she wanted to scream, but she couldn't, she couldn't as she fell on the floor, foam coming out of her mouth, as the cursed seal on her shoulder suddenly flared backwards, retracting, being surrounded by nine small blue ink-written number nine.

**I just want to sleep, brat. Wake me up next time…and I will kill you.**

And with those muttered words, to the unconscious Anko, the Genjutsu dispersed, but not the sealing method, as Naruto's wound slowly, but surely, began closing up. Flickers of pure blue chakra covering it, as the boy's breath became ragged, and his complexion paled.

When Naruto opened his eyes again, he heard slight mutters around him.

"Incompetent fools, the lot of them," was the common sentence he had been hearing for quite a while, but that suddenly let the place to another one, one concerning snarling fits of rage and "Strange sealing methods," until, in the end, he simply groaned, opening his eyes to stare at the figure of a familiar woman. At least, she did seem familiar to him.

"Naru-chan? You woke up? Is everything alright?" Tsunade queried, looking at the form of her godson, his wounded shoulder bandaged heavily. The kunai had reached till the bone, the damn bone! It had been flung with murderous intent, and yet the hospital staff had deemed it necessary to place the purple haired girl who had done that in the same damn room as her godson!

They clearly hoped the girl would do it again, she had heard the betting pools thanks to her…keen senses, and she had been tempted to bet on the girl's surviving the match, just to have her bad luck kill her without a second thought.

"Anko-san's alright?" he muttered, feeling dizzy, weak, and with a sort of nausea running through his body, just like he had been minced by a shredder, repeatedly.

"What happened in the apartment?" Tsunade queried, her eyes narrowing, "If the chuunin Kurenai Yuhi hadn't found you both there, you'd have probably died from blood loss or from her waking up to finish her deal…"

"N-No…it wasn't her," Naruto muttered, meekly, "Anko-san wouldn't…do it," as he said that, Tsunade let her right hand on her temple, before muttering.

"Listen, your left shoulder has suffered damage, muscle rending and bone wounds can be healed, with time, but it will take months of rehab to repair the nerve damage that you suffered because of the snake poison, and also, you suffered from severe chakra exhaustion, so, really…tell me what happened, everything, every single detail." With that stern attitude of hers, Naruto gulped slightly, before muttering an explanation, and even explaining that strange pattern that had appeared on the girl's body, he recalled losing consciousness just as something had apparently stopped Anko from delivering another blow...but he couldn't recall what it was.

"Well…whatever it was, the seal is no longer a problem…a seal expert looked at it, and found that it was sealed with some really high level Fuinjutsu ability," as the slug sannin finished speaking, she sighed, "Naru-chan…I'm sorry to say it, but…" as she whispered that, she looked at the blue, and slightly scared eyes of the boy, biting her lower lip. He looked so much like Nawaki that it was nearly scary, even to the point of Orochimaru being his instructor.

"Having failed to comply with the summon from the Uzumaki's clan matriarch, she had decided to force you out of the shinobi program, claiming that unruly behavior was the principal reason you wouldn't succeed in it," at that Naruto's eyes widened in shock, before the Senju woman whispered meekly, "But you could refute the claim…if you ended up being adopted into another clan," as she said that, Naruto's eyes turned sad.

"Sarutobi-san tried that too…but they told him that, since I'm a Jinchuuriki, only a blood relative can adopt me…and I don't want to be a burden to anyone…" His look was just plainly filled with grief, so much, in truth, that it made Tsunade bitterly glance something else, like the vase next to Naruto's bed. It was a nice white vase, without flowers.

She clenched her fists, she was sure the boy would probably ask her to enter her clan, and then she'd have to tell him that he should feel honored and crap like that, and then they could simply leave for some other place, like a cottage far, far, away from the village, and claiming the shoulder wound, she could keep him away from the ninja life for a good chunk of time, hoping it would suffice to make him see that civilian life wasn't that bad.

Yeah, she could try that…if she wanted to see the boy hang himself from a tree, or try and become a missing-nin of another faction.

"So, what are you going to do now, Naru-chan?" as Tsunade asked that, Naruto sighed.

"If I do renounce the Uzumaki clan…what are the consequences?" at that question, Tsunade felt dread, for a brief moment, before she found herself replying.

"The Uzumaki clan was renowned for its Fuinjutsu…to leave it would mean renouncing everything involving the secret sealing arts of the Uzumaki, that you, however, do not know…but it wouldn't help you getting back into the shinobi program, unless another clan backed up the untruthfulness of the Uzumaki matriarch claim," at that, Naruto sported a small smile.

"Then I could ask Sarutobi-san to testify I'm not…unruly?"

Tsunade looked at the boy, before whispering.

"Are you sure? If anything were to happen to you, as a member of a clan, it would be your clan's responsibility to defend and safeguard you…but without one, the Village wouldn't show any favoritism, were you to be captured by the enemy, to say, you would be freed only if the situation permitted it, and not because your clan paid the ransom, or paid for a suitable mission to be issued," Naruto nodded, as Tsunade, however, kept talking, "Furthermore, you must consider that there's the issue of paying taxes, have you ever paid taxes before? Let me tell you, it's a mess…" Naruto nodded, again, "And then, come on, there are the medical expenses, shinobi get them free thanks to clan benefits, without one you'd practically be a freelancer and…"

"Senju-sama…what do you suggest then?" as the boy quietly, and politely, said that, Tsunade briefly sported a tick mark on her forehead, before replying, in a small voice, fumbling with her fingers for a second, before standing up.

"Well, firstly, start calling me Kaa-san from this moment, and secondly, just you wait, and I'll go through the adoption procedures faster than a lightning bolt," and with that, the slug princess actually dashed out of the room.

Just as silence fell in the room, a groan made Naruto wince, and turn his gaze towards the other person, occupying the same room as him.

"What hit me?" Anko groaned, as she carefully looked around the room, before slowing, and painfully, getting up to a sitting position.

"Mitarashi-san," Naruto whispered, as the purple haired kunoichi turned her gaze to her roommate, her eyes, for a second, flickered in realization, before her face turned slightly white, as realization, and recollection of the event, dawned on her, "Are you alright?"

**Author's notes**

**Cliffhanger no Jutsu Extended Edition! **

**And I'm sure nobody suspected this was going to happen.**

**I'm sure the betting pool was on a fifty-fifty between Danzo's Root and him ending up missing Nin in some other village.**

**Next chapter, I promise I'll find a way to get to the C-rank mission for the Chuunin! Damn it! I simply kept on writing…sheesh.**

**(Why is it important? You'll see)**


	6. PC:Differentiations

Chapter sixth

The Iv drip was silently dropping doses of painkillers right into the small plastic tube, that went till the needle, that was obviously inserted into the blond boy's arm, an arm that seemed to have been plastered, and held tightly by a white cast.

Anko didn't know what to say. Did she really do what her memories were telling her she did? Did she really say those things to the boy? Her neck wasn't hurting any longer, and that was a plus…especially since it seemed that a cold pack had been applied on her, some sort of body-blanket made of light cool air.

It was in that moment, that Anko dreaded even hearing the voice of the boy in question. Did she really fling him against a wall? Did she really have her snakes bite onto him, repeatedly? Kami be damned, did she really use the poisonous snakes at that? On an eight years old!

"Mitarashi-san," the blond boy, with those never accusing blue eyes, those damn blue eyes that always seemed to be understanding, rather than accusing, was looking at her, and she felt a mess. There he was, looking at her with worry, worry! He should have looked at her with anger, she'd understand it. She basically played little *butcher* on him, had that thing not happened, she'd have probably lopped off his left shoulder and arm!

This was wrong, he should have said something like *Snake whore!* or *How could you!* or things like that…not *Mitarashi-san*.

"Are you alright?" as he asked that, with a gentle tone, the purple-haired Kunoichi couldn't help but avert her gaze, muttering something meekly.

"…fine…" she whispered, barely audible, but the blond boy didn't seem to insist on it, instead, asking something else, again.

"I…I'm sorry," Naruto whispered, "I didn't want to offend you in any way…and…"

"Shut it," Anko growled slightly, "Just…shut it up, and let me speak," as the boy's startled expression took place on his face, the purple haired Kunoichi took a deep breath, before beginning to talk.

"Look…I…I didn't mean it…I might have thought those things, but…I didn't really think them, well, I actually did think them, but I didn't want to say them, it's just…I just…" as Anko was desperate, to find the right words, she let her hands go through her hair, scratching it in an effort to calm down, "I just didn't mean what I said! And I didn't want to do that, I thought about doing that when I was really down, and then it sort of popped up in my mind when you came by, I…I'm sorry, okay? I understand if you no longer want to be friends, and…"

"Anko-chan," Naruto whispered, his eyes sparkling slightly, "we're friends?"

"Oh…well…" why was she blushing? Was it the sparkling eyes filled with hope? Was it the blond boy's barely held in breath? Was it the cute whisker marks? When did it become *cute* whisker marks? She too held her breath for a moment, before slowly finishing her sentence, "If you still want to…"

"Yes, I'd like that, Anko-chan," And then the boy smiled, and to Anko it felt like seeing the gates of the Valhalla open up and reverse upon her worthless mortal face the shining brightness of the Valkyries, clad in their polished steel armors, as that smile that came from the boy simply left her jaw-hanging for a good while.

"Why would you go this far for me, Naruto?" the purple-haired Kunoichi queried, with a feeble voice, "I never was much of a friend to you," as soon as she said that, Naruto's eyes turned slightly watery.

"Anko-chan…I know how it feels to be left alone, to be abandoned…I can't have another suffer my same pain, can I?" as soon as he said that, he turned his gaze to the woman that had just entered, a small awry smile appearing on his face, as the twin-pig-tailed woman with enormous breasts entered, giving an angry stare at Anko.

"Well, you can leave when you want to," Tsunade said, giving a quick look at Anko's chart, "on the other hand, thanks to your hard work on my Naru-chan, he's going to have to stay hospitalized for the next weeks," as she said that, with a slightly snappish tone, Anko's face showed sorrow, something that the slug princess did catch, but that she didn't work upon, since she still was pissed at the kunoichi's actions.

"Now, Naru-chan, you need to rest, tell me if you feel pain, somewhere," as soon as the blond-woman had said that, Naruto had simply shaken his head, before biting his lip, in a sort of cute, worried expression.

"Ano…Kaa-san," at those words, Tsunade's female hormones, the motherly one, went out in full force, as she had to use all of her Kunoichi training to repress a squealing sound of giggles, "Don't be angry at Anko-chan…she wasn't herself when she did that," as he spoke in a low voice, slightly trembling too, like he was afraid of making the woman scared, the Senju clan's head sighed, turning her gaze to the purple-haired girl, while crossing her arms over her ample chest.

Anko gulped heavily, since when was one of the legendary sannins the mother of Naruto? Hadn't he been disowned? Did she miss something after having been knocked out? Still, as the gaze of the woman settled onto her, she couldn't help but shiver, as the sannin's lips began moving.

"Well…if Naru-chan insists in such a way…it's not like I can keep being angry, can I? Fine…I'll forgive you for harming my son…this time," at that, Anko winced, as the woman's gaze slowly turned murderous, "but if such a thing happens again…I will personally smash you to a pulp and have the crows feast upon your bloody smeared remains," and with that, Tsunade gently put back up a nice, friendly, smiling face…while Anko simply turned ghostly white, and nodded furiously.

"Kaa-san…what does Smeared remains mean?" as Naruto slowly moved his head to the side, perplexed, Tsunade simply chuckled.

"Nothing you need to know, Naru-chan…and I hope you will never need to learn it," the last sentence was said while eying Anko, who was still furiously nodding.

"I'll get both of you breakfast, I'm sure you're both starving, right?" as Tsunade said that, once more in her overly sweet tone, as she turned to leave without even giving them time for a reply, she stopped, seeing Jiraiya standing in the doorway, an awry smile on his face.

"I'll protect the boy, huh?" Tsunade said, her face turning furious.

"Now, now, Tsunade-hime, I didn't think…" as Jiraiya slowly backed away, the slug princess' right hand dashed forward in a straight punch, hitting the white-haired man outright, and making it disperse in a cloud of smoke, just as another Jiraiya slowly entered from the window.

"Damn that was close," the second Jiraiya said, with a heavy sigh, as he swiftly entered the hospital room, just as Tsunade's forehead showed a nervous tick mark.

"Jiraiya…Well, at least I heard you got out of your worst pervert habit: hot spring peeking…maybe for that I'll close one eye on the fact that you kidnapped Naru-chan without saying anything, and that you brought him back only to let him get attacked, and grievously wounded, once more!"

"I'd appreciate that, Tsunade-hime," as the Toad sage said that, Tsunade raised an eyebrow, for just a brief moment, before leaving the room: she had to get breakfast, after all.

"Uncle Jiraiya, you're not angry at Anko-chan, are you?" the question that Naruto asked actually did make said purple-haired Kunoichi flinch. Good, not only had she messed up with her friend, who still had forgiven her, but said friend was now even making sure not one, but two sannins weren't angry at her. She was sure that, had he been anything of a vengeful type, she'd be just so much screwed even a screw wouldn't win the "Who can be more screwed?" contest.

"No…this…seal, here," as the Sannin spoke, pointing at the neck area of the girl, "Was probably the cause of it, Orochimaru must have been experimenting on this thing…but until I get a sight of what the Anbu found, and until I personally go and investigate the area, I do need to know…Naruto, what did you do?" as the man turned his gaze to the blond boy, Naruto raised an eyebrow, perplexed.

"I did something?"

"Yeah Gaki," Anko said, trying an awry smile, "When I was about to…chop off your left side, I got stopped by a blue claw, and then I found myself staring at a fox's face with blue fur…last thing I know I woke up here with you asking me if everything's alright," as she pointed that out, Jiraiya sighed.

"It must have been the Kyuubi then…still, this seal is something I never saw before…kind of makes me wonder how it works," as soon as Jiraiya pointed that out, the boy gasped.

"Wait! What did the fox do to Anko-chan!" worried, as he didn't seem to see anything wrong in the girl, who simply smiled at the boy with a cheesy grin, this time.

"Nothing to be worried about Gaki! This…It seems like a set of blue nine, you know, kind of cool tattoo, really…and my shoulder doesn't even hurt anymore," as Anko pointed that out, Jiraiya nodded.

"It's probably on par with the Evil Sealing Method…only it has to be something stronger, or older than that…whatever it is, it taps onto both the willpower of the user and onto its chakra…meaning that where one fails the other takes place, kind of like a failsafe device."

"So…Tsunade-sannin said I could leave," Anko muttered, "But I can't seem to find my clothes…"

"Well…Tsunade has always been one who didn't like to see Kunoichi dress…like sluts," the toad sannin meekly muttered, kind of apologizing.

"She did not," Anko snarled.

"She did, I'm afraid," as Jiraiya pointed that out, he sheepishly took out a paper bag, and within…

"A kimono?" Anko's face was utterly shocked. She'd rather go out in her hospital gown!

"Well…I knew she had destroyed your clothes, but I didn't know your sizes…Kimono it was," as the hermit said that, Naruto's eyes sparkled, and just as they connected their gaze with that of Anko, the Kunoichi whined.

"Well…I usually wear one for tea ceremonies…but to walk outside, in the village, with it?" as she whined, the sparkle in Naruto's eyes intensified.

"…Fine," she muttered, "But I'm getting helped by that cloth destroying of a cow," she snapped.

"Cow who?" just as if on cue, Tsunade Senju walked in, two trays perfectly balanced on her hands, and a smile, a sick sweet smile that promised impending doom and death.

"Cow…milk, I like cow milk," Anko said, as Naruto, on cue, nodded furiously.

"We were talking about what milk is the best…Uncle Jiraiya had me drink sheep milk for weeks! It tasted yucky!"

"Hum? Oh really? Well, I never got to hear what you did during your training time…care to tell me?" as soon as she said that, handing one of the trays over to Anko, while placing the other on Naruto's bed-desk, Jiraiya, much carefully, started to move towards the window.

"Going somewhere?" as Tsunade asked that, fluttering her eyelids, the toad hermit gasped.

"Well, Uncle Jiraiya first said I needed to get a better physique, so we got really high up the mountains, and then he made me jump crevices all day long, to get a better hang at the leg muscles, then fight horned sheep…are they called sheep even if they have horns? Then there was this sort of giant bear, that Uncle Jiraiya insisted I had to defeat…" as Naruto began vividly recalling the events of his training, Jiraiya had already left in a puff of smoke, just as Tsunade's smile had grown far more scary, wicked, and large, by the passing time.

"Naru-chan," Tsunade said, after a couple of seconds of dreadful silence, "Next time Jiraiya does anything like that, you come straight to me first, okay?"

"Hai, Kaa-san," Naruto replied, nodding slightly in such a cute way that the Senju's heart was already stolen…well, it *had* been stolen from the first moment he had said *Kaa-san*, to hell with Kushina and her idiocy, what reason was there to leave such a cute little boy out in the cold? And to hell with Minato too, disowning such a kind, scrawny thing of a boy...

"Well, now, if I heard correctly, some girl needs a hand getting dressed, doesn't she?" and as a sheet paper thin wall, the type needed for the hospitals, was placed to avoid giving the poor boy some mental images, when he was so young, Naruto silently let his head rest on the pillow of the hospital, as with his hand, the one from his right side, he grabbed a piece of toasted bread from the bed-desk…things didn't seem to be going badly…were they?

*Danzo*

To claim the Yami of the Shinobi was furious was to claim the water of the Land of the Sea to be just a bit "wet". Still, his peerless emotionless mask never faltered, as the only sign of his fury had been his twitching lips, while sipping Genmaicha, rice brown tea, and staring straight ahead, with his only eye narrowed, at Hiruzen.

Both were sitting comfortably into the Sarutobi's compound's living room, warm tea in front of them both, and, to a passerby, if anyone would actually *pass by* inside a house, it would have seemed that the two were apparently enjoying tea like two old men, who have a lot of stories, war stories too, to speak of in fond remembrance of their past.

To an attentive one, however, the two were actually engaged in a slow and stressful battle of wills and movements, one with the purpose of obtaining something, and the other with the purpose of refuting claims of knowledge: obviously, all this with warm tea and biscuits.

"So…since Naruto Uzumaki is no more," he stressed, "the contract is void, and yet I have found myself being held responsible for not keeping him in check, and allowing him to be kidnapped by your student," as he spat that out, Hiruzen could but try and show an embarrassed smile, as Danzo's face showed for a brief split second a scowl.

"Hiruzen, not only was I held responsible by the Hokage, forcing me to disband Root to show how *sorry* I was, but the Hyuga family equally spurns me and the boy, while your pick, your choice of Hokage…walks away scot free…I'm impressed," at that, Hiruzen couldn't help but cough slightly, as some Genmaicha had probably gone into his throat.

"Wh-What!" the ex Hokage actually looked surprised, as Danzo simply showed the hint of a grin, having managed to shock his…acquaintance.

"It is not beckoning of the Kami of Shinobis to show such emotions," he pointed out, "Though I must admit he shows promise, the Yellow flash, to become a great Hokage," as he added that, Hiruzen couldn't simply believe what he was hearing, especially knowing Danzo.

"He made you disband Root, and you are impressed by him?" at that question, Danzo merely nodded.

"I kind of wondered if he was only made of kindness, but he has showed to me that, in truth, he holds a wicked side that I can't help but feel related to…"

"So you're actually going to disband Root, Danzo?" as Hiruzen asked that, perplexed, the Yami of shinobi simply replied.

"If the Hokage orders something that is good for the village, then I will naturally obey," at that, Danzo took another sip of tea.

"Which means you won't," with a sigh, Hiruzen chuckled, "I'm getting too old for this stuff, I retired, and I'm fine like this…I'm sure of one thing, however," as he said that, Danzo waited in silence, for the man to keep talking, "The new generations are always meant to surpass the older ones, the next Hokage will probably be ten times better than the previous one…but I only hope he will understand…"

At that strange sentence, Danzo was the one to show perplexity, albeit for a brief moment, who was the *he* that Hiruzen himself hoped would understand?

"You seem to know already who is going to be the next Hokage…what is it, are you starting to think you made a mistake, in putting the Namikaze boy there?" as the Yami of shinobis spoke, Hiruzen sported a sad smile.

"No, I don't think anyone would have had such a sacrificing nature, to pull their own son into becoming a Jinchuuriki, a self-sacrificing nature like that is key to being a Hokage," as the elder Sarutobi took another sip of tea, he winced slightly, as Danzo had apparently stood up.

"You know, Hiruzen…I was surprised, surprised that you wouldn't realize the boy wasn't a Jinchuuriki, but now…I am inclined to think that you actually know the truth of the matter…what is more, I'm inclined to believe both you and the Namikaze…don't know what really happened, isn't it? You were surprised, Hiruzen, when the boy told you he harbored the Kyuubi, and that he spoke to him…I obviously overheard," as Hiruzen's jaws tensed slightly, Danzo made a slight bow of his head.

"I'll be leaving for today, old friend, but you should know that secrets are best kept in darkness…and I, I am the darkness," as the man left, slowly, Hiruzen couldn't help but sigh, strongly, as he looked at a picture of him and his team, the picture frame positioned on a nearby desk.

A young blond girl, Tsunade Senju, who was now back in town, having adopted Naruto and treating him like a doting mother, finally removing her cloud of sadness and grief over the loss of Nawaki and Dan.

Orochimaru, his pale skin and black hair, with his golden eyes, visible with his still innocent, and perplexed, gaze, while smiling, with a broad grin, right next to him stood Jiraiya himself, his white hair just as spiky as that of his future student, Minato.

"What have you done…student of mine?" Hiruzen whispered, staring at the picture frame. But to who, was the old man really speaking?

*Two Years and a Half later*

The weather was cloudy, the sun hidden by thick clouds that menaced rain, while a strong autumn wind gushed through the field, sweeping away the dirt and bringing up dust-clouds, in the field, a silver haired Jounin had difficulties even keeping his orange book within his hands...as his hair seemed to be bending towards the direction of the wind in question.

"So, with this last C-mission, you'll be able to enter the Chuunin exams, held in Konoha, any questions?" as Kakashi Hatake looked over his three students, he couldn't help but feel that C-rank missions had already become too easy for them.

If he truly had to say one thing, was that, true to his heritage, and to the will of fire, the team he had was one he would work with till death did them apart. The way the Uchiha and the Senju worked together was more than flawless, it was bordering on the symbiosis-like. The Uchiha's sharingan flared to life and perfectly imitated each and every movement of the grey-blond haired boy, like they were twins, more than simple teammates. The Mitarashi's precision and strange mid-quarters fighting blended in well too, making them a perfectly adaptable team: an infiltration specialist, a Genjutsu specialist and an interrogator wannabe could seemingly transform into a long range fighter, a close quarter fighter and a support help in less than a split second.

Truly, it was a frightening sight to behold.

Kakashi ducked under the twin-fist strike from both boys, as the thick mist that surrounded them, and that spread through the training camp like a silent white blanket, coated in chakra, didn't even seem to do anything, to stop their relentless assault. From underground, snakes sprouted with blades in their mouth, just as the copy-cat ninja rolled to the left side, where, swiftly, being it Itachi's side, the Uchiha went through the hand sign of the familiar:

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" as small fire volleys dashed forward, the silver-haired Jounin found himself gasping, as, instead of simply side-stepping them, he was forced to dash away, as where he wanted to move, snakes sprouted with blades in their mouth.

Just then, from behind him, something that would have made the swordsman of the mist proud, the Sairento Kiringu from Naruto's Tanto came to being, but just as it came his fist was grabbed by Kakashi, who flung him forward, straight against the barrage of fire and the sprouting snakes, the latter clearly from Anko, who still seemed hidden somewhere in the thick mist, the result of Naruto's Suiton, the Kirigakure no Jutsu. Truth be told, while it should have impaired both Anko and Itachi, the latter because of the sharingan, awakened in his eyes, and the former because she simply had normal eyes, it actually didn't seem to give them any trouble.

On the other hand Kakashi was silently cursing as his sharingan eye had been rendered useless for the fight, luckily for Naruto, both the fire volleys and the snakes stopped attacking, when his body was rammed on the ground, but swiftly brought back up by Itachi's right hand. In the thick mist, Kakashi could barely hear some whispers, well, this had gone on long enough, he was sure that, had they taken out the big guns, he'd have had a serious need to go all out…and he simply didn't want to use chidori on his Genin team.

"I understand you're all pissed, but could you avoid trying to kill me? I'm not done giving you the mission's details!" just as he said that, the thick mist rolled away, revealing the three figures of Anko Mitarashi, sporting a trench-coat, a fishnet shirt underneath, that seemed to have been covered with black pieces of clothes around her breast line, a dark brown skirt, that was actually longer than what she usually wore years before, and white socks that reached knee-high, with a pair of heeled shoes.

"Why the white socks?" as Kakashi actually blurted the question out, before even going on with his details, Itachi chuckled.

The Uchiha had grown, standing now, at ten years, with a gentle face, his raven hair in bangs around his head, his sharingan on, and wearing a dark black jacket, with the Uchiha's fan symbol on the back, while sporting light beige baggy pants, and ninja sandals of a light blue color.

"Kakashi-sensei, she lost a bet with Tsunade-san," at that, Kakashi couldn't help but slightly shiver…maybe they could avoid taking the mission, this time around.

"What bet was it?" he asked, dreading the reply.

"Well," Naruto spoke, "It was if my fan-club could reach the three digits by the time I was a chuunin or not…Anko-chan said yes, Kaa-san said it would be impossible…though I can't shake the feeling she did it on purpose," as he mulled over that thought, with a small smile, Kakashi coughed, yeah, the silver-dye trick was still paying off the months of hospital he had to go through afterwards.

Naruto had his hair actually spiky, just like the second Hokage had, which, with the addition of it being now a light grey-blond mixture, made him look like a replica of Tobirama Senju, if not for the fact he was wearing a dark blue shirt, with the Senju's symbol on the front, and a pair of short white trousers, with black ninja sandals. He had a light blue jacket, and that, with his forehead protector carefully placed on his forehead, made him look far more mature for his age.

It was to be said that, living under the same roof as the legendary medic-nin Tsunade, Naruto had grown was to say the less of it, he did go through a growth spurt, that made him reach the same height as Itachi, where once the two boys had at least a good ten to twelve centimeters of difference, probably due to eating habits.

Secondly, his reports gave his chakra control on the terrifically wonderful side of the chart, while his chakra level was barely passable, he made it up with his infiltration skills and assassination techniques…

"Anyway, the mission is going to be a pretty simple one…we just have to snuff out a criminal-ninja team, known as…The Criminal Brothers," as he said that, Naruto sweat-dropped for a second.

"Originality isn't their forte, is it?" as the grey-blond boy said that, Anko grinned.

"Well, maybe they should have called themselves the Criminal Bothers…right?" at that, Itachi couldn't help but let a hand, its palm open, reach for his own face, while mentally thinking, _"I just didn't hear Anko say that, I just didn't hear her say that,"_ as the Uchiha shook his head, trying to remove the unpleasant crack joke, Kakashi's only visible eye, since the other returned to his hiding spot behind the Jounin's bandana, spoke.

"Two of them have been classified as Jounin-ranked, while one is probably on the Chuunin bordering Jounin level…we are to snuff them out, in the sense that we have to find them before they become a problem…in case of confrontation, I want you all to drop the battle and escape, understood?"

"Do we have info on them?" Naruto asked, as Kakashi simply nodded, before handing over a copy of the Bingo Book to each of the Genins.

"Here, have a read at them. Remember, only information gathering on their whereabouts, we have a track that has them in the Land of Vegetables, but it's getting cold…we depart tomorrow, five in the morning sharp, at the gate…" Kakashi knew he could simply tell them to go and they'd all leave already, with their stuff prepared in their scroll, but last time he had done so, not warning Tsunade had earned him another one of her beating.

The first one had been when he had come to see the boy at the hospital…and had mistakenly decided that silver dye would look good on him, after some speaking about teammates and friendships and bonds... Tsunade hadn't appreciated it, to say the least of it.

The second one had been when a bored Naruto had asked to read a book, and had asked if the orange covered one was available. He had managed to escape Tsunade's fury thanks to his skills…but he had been beaten an inch to death once more.

The third time…he shivered, recalling when they had gone on a two days mission, at the end of which both he and Naruto had been severely yelled at, and forced to stay on their knees on beans for the entire day…after the copy-cat ninja had obviously taken another sound beating.

Shuddering about it, he waved goodbye to the team, as the three Genins, like a single entity, all exclaimed.

"Dango!"

"Ramen!"  
"…Tea?" needless to say, Itachi won the round. Something about a really tired of eating dango or ramen Uchiha made him extremely convincing. That, and the sharingan in full view with a kunai in his hand.

"Really, Itachi-kun," Naruto whined, as they made their way to the tea café Itachi loved in the village, "what is it with you and tea?"

"Tea soothes the spirit and calms my nerves," Itachi replied.

"Actually, I read that the principles of caffeine applies with the same components of tea…it actually should worsen your situation," Anko pointed that out, as she thanked Kami that her trench coat, the one that Naruto had gifted her years before, was now coming more in hand than ever, especially at holding emergency dangos.

"Yeah…chamomile should work better," Naruto replied, "Unless you're allergic, that is, then it's bad…really bad," as he said that, Itachi's right eyebrow twitched slightly.

"We will have tea. That is final," and with that, he increased his pace, just as both Naruto and Anko began detailing the various negative effects of tea in one's own organism.

"Last thing he knew, he was dead! All because he gorged himself in tea!" as Anko pointed that out, Itachi sat down in one of the café's chairs, tapping slightly to the sides, to make the other two sit down, then, with practiced ease, he called the waiter, who basically already knew what to bring, to all of them, but had to be sure.

"Green tea for Anko-chan, Herbal tea for me," Itachi muttered, "And…*the Broth* for Naruto," he sighed at that, as the Broth was simply mashed biscuits inside what once, a long time before, would have been called Earl Grey tea…but that had lost all its flavor in favor of being stuffed with mashed biscuits of various chocolate-nature.

"Hai," as the waiter nodded, leaving to get their orders underway, Itachi brought both his hands together, narrowing his eyes as a slight glint was seen in them.

"So, plan of action?" He whispered.

"Well, Anko-san? Geographical news on the land of Vegetables?" Naruto asked, turning to face Anko, who, with a smug grin, replied.

"Plain area, little to no mountains, the Daimyo's castle stands on an artificial hill, there are many farmable areas…and its basic economy revolves around the selling to foreign nations their crops and vegetables, hence the name," as Anko said that, grabbing a dango stick, and proceeding to plop the dangos inside the tea, that had in the meantime arrived, Itachi did his best to hide the disgust in such a…criminal activity on such a delicate and wonderful beverage.

"Information on the Criminal brothers, except what Kakashi-sensei said?" As Anko asked that, Naruto grabbed the bingo book copy, and stood puzzled for a second.

"Here it claims, and I'm repeating it…that one of them can use magnetism techniques, without the use of a Kekkei Genkai, another can use strange Ice Release without the bloodline, while the third one seems a mere Water user, with a…Piranha summoning contract?" as Naruto stood perplexed at such an information, Itachi sighed.

"I suppose you never ate a piranha? And that's why you're making such a face?"

"Well, no, I just realized I never actually ate a lot of stuff…you think I can eat one?" as Naruto asked that, both Itachi and Anko sweat-dropped, as the boy gulped down the *broth*.

"No, I think they'd rather disperse in smoke than end in your own…jaws," as Anko couldn't repress the double meaning, Itachi's forehead sprouted a tick-mark.

"How's Sasuke, by the way?" Naruto asked.

The *thud* of Itachi's forehead against the table was answer enough, but since the Uchiha was sure his teammates couldn't read his mind, he decided to explain it.

"Oniisan, Oniisan, Oniisan, Oniisan…Gah! I can't sleep! Whenever I'm back home it's 'Oniisan this and Oniisan that!' There has to be a way to stop him!" as Itachi exclaimed that, Naruto mulled the thought, before letting his right hand, open in a palm, take a small hit from his left hand, closed in a fist, as he replied.

"Now, listen to this, because it's golden: Kaa-san uses it with Shizune-Neesan sometimes," as he spoke, Itachi moved closer interested, as Naruto moved his right hand in a punch-like motion, before flicking his right index at the Uchiha's nose, while saying, "I'm sorry, another time Shizune," as the index connected with the raven-haired boy's face, it send him backwards, sprawled on the ground.

"Ops, well, anyway," the grey-blond boy said sheepishly, "Kaa-san uses some strength in it, but not too much…I might have exaggerated, just do it without the chakra enhancing thing."

"I…I see stars…" Itachi muttered, before slowly getting back on his seat, sighing in relief, "I'll try that, if it works, and I doubt it will, I suppose I'll have you confess your feelings to the ramen stall's girl," as he said that with a smirk, Naruto paled.

"Ayame-chan? What does it have to do with anything?"

"Aren't you two a bit young, to get into love affairs?" Anko asked, with a smirk.

"I saw how you were looking at her, my sharingan sees all, you should know!" Itachi replied with a chuckle.

"Except through the Kirigakure jutsu…I had to tell you how to work around it," Naruto pointed out, as the Uchiha simply rolled his eyes.

"Never the less, I know you have feelings, either it's that, either you're in love with her ramen…which could be the true answer actually, since your stomach works in mysterious ways…" as he said the last sentence with a sort of subtle sensei-ish aura, Anko sweat-dropped.

"Huh…remind me, what are we going to do this afternoon? Kakashi-sensei basically gave us free time," as she pointed that out, Naruto was about to open his mouth.

"No," both Anko and Itachi said at the same time.

"Aw…Why not?" Naruto whined.

"Every time, your first suggestion is to go and do a D-rank mission, and truly, while I appreciate your way of working, I'd like *not* to clean dog kennels, especially if tomorrow we have a C-rank mission that could go wrong in more than one way," as Anko pointed that out, eating a dango stick from within her trench coat, Itachi added.

"What Anko-chan said," at that, Naruto started sniffing, before turning his lips a bit out in a sort of adorable pout.

"It's not going to work, I'm used to it, you know?" Itachi commented, just as Naruto suddenly made his eyes sparkle with watery effects.

"We could do a D-rank mission that doesn't involve dog poop," Anko muttered, being the first to cave in, offering as the excuse, to the narrow gaze of Itachi, "It has to be the female hormones! He's just too cute!"

Itachi simply rolled his eyes, before turning his gaze towards Naruto, and slightly tensing.

It was enough to make Naruto tense, the hair on the back of his head slightly standing up, before he ducked to the side, using his right hand to catch the fist thrown at him of a boy, with brown long flowing hair, that was swiftly immobilized, without even making a single bit of food from the table fall, as it had been a seeming continuous maneuver, that had ended, as gracefully as a dance move, with the assailer on the ground.

"You did not keep track of your surroundings," Naruto muttered, staring at the boy, the small boy of six years, that slowly was released, standing back up, letting his pearly white eyes, the sign of the Byakugan Doujutsu, stare at the grey-blond boy in question. His forehead sported the caged bird seal, but the boy didn't seem to be flinching, at all, under the gaze of the few who actually knew what the seal was, and what it did.

Slavery under the pretense of safety, and even then, to be a slave was actually a kinder fate than to be the first of the branch Hyuga family's members...because a slave only has iron shackles to break, but a seal that gives pain, whose only knowledge is kept hidden within well protect walls, guarded by all-seeing eyes? A seal that grants pain with but a hand-sign? How can one defy such shackles?

"I thought I would be faster than you, sensei," Neji replied, his gaze not faltering in the slightest, as he politely bowed, before turning to leave the tea shop.

"Neji-kun, I will not be in Konoha for the following weeks, and then, I will be in the chuunin examinations this year…but if anything troubles you…" as Naruto spoke, quietly, Neji stopped for a second, before turning around and slightly bowing once more.

"Your kindness is appreciated, sensei…if anything troubles me, I will come and seek your counsel," and with that, the boy left, not being stopped at all.

Once he did leave, the tension in the air suddenly dropped a good dose, as Naruto, turning around while chuckling, said.

"He's good, I did hear him when he entered the shop, but the dash was wonderfully executed…a pity his training forces him to act in a certain way," as he muttered that, Itachi sighed.

"Really, I do not know what is more surprising…you turning a wannabe assassin into a faithful student, or the fact that you seem a natural teacher," at that, Anko sported a grin.

"Maybe the Gaki was jealous of you having a younger brother, huh? So you adopted one from the Hyuga clan out of them all…still, those eyes, creepy and white and without a pupil," as she said that, Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Anko-chan, your eyes too don't have pupils…and they're brown," as a nervous tick mark appeared on the purple-haired Kunoichi, she gritted her teeth.

"It's…never mind, let's go take a D-rank mission, and then, tonight, we're all going to go eat Dangos," as she exclaimed that, raising her fist into the air, Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Actually…" Anko's shoulders slumped downwards, sighing.

"She…She invited me to dinner, again, right?" at that dreaded question, Naruto simply nodded.

"Damn brat, why can he refuse and I can't?" as the Kunoichi pointed at Itachi, who had, in the meantime, taken another cup of herbal tea, the Uchiha, making his most polite and calm expression, replied.

"Because, Mitarashi-san, I do not need etiquette lessons on table manners," and with that, the Uchiha's head swiftly moved to the side, avoiding a set of Dango sticks from the Kunoichi's hands.

"Repeat that, huh!"

"Anyway, I think we'd better go and get a D-rank mission, the sooner we get it done, the sooner we get the pocket money," at that, Naruto stood up, paying his share, as both Anko and Itachi paid theirs, and then, within moments, the three had already taken to the rooftops, dashing from roof to roof until they simply jumped down, in front of the Hokage's tower.

They slowly entered, Itachi in the front, and Anko last…this order was actually for a good enough reason.

"_Do you like looking at my ass wiggling, while I climb the stairs?" the question had been asked with a sing-song voice by Anko, and, since then, neither of the two boys wanted her to go first, or second…they truly didn't want to tell her that, with the trench-coat, there was no way they could see anything, with her in front…she probably wouldn't survive the shock._

"Aw, you young boys… Not wanting to grab a sexy piece of Anko-chan, huh?" as she sing-sung that with a wide smile, both boys simply waved at the Hokage's secretary, who knew them, and who simply gestured for them that it was okay to enter the Hokage's office.

As they did enter, Minato Namikaze simply tried to sport a smile, but was met with cool indifference, even the normal cheery Mitarashi Anko simply had her gaze pointed somewhere in the room, like the wall, or floor, or the table.

Itachi, on the other hand, politely spoke.

"Hokage-sama, since we have a mission tomorrow morning, and we still have a day ahead of us, would it be possible for us to undertake…"

"Just get the roster of D-ranks open for them, Iruka," as Minato turned his gaze, with his eyes rolling, to the man next to him, the Chuunin-sensei simply nodded, as Itachi, with practiced ease, grabbed one of the higher paying and less time consuming ones, before handing it over to Iruka, who approved it, and, within a couple of minutes of scribbling down and taking the mission, while forging Kakashi's signature in the process, they moved to leave.

"Just a second, Naruto Senju," Minato said, as Naruto stopped, turning his gaze to the Hokage, who, with a sort of stern face, spoke.

"It has come to my attention that you are doting over a Hyuga branch family member, said member has already shown incredible skills for one of his age…but the head of the Hyuga family asked for you to pass by their compound, as soon as possible, as he had something to discuss with you," with those words, Minato merely took in the nod from Naruto, who then turned to leave.

Iruka simply gritted his teeth when the three left.

"Hokage-sama…he was outright ignoring you!"

"Umino-san," Minato whispered, "The villagers scorn him, even though I asked them to look at him like a hero, so tell me, why shouldn't I, the cause of it all, get his scorn back? It is right that he acts like that…as long as his anger, or apathy, is directed towards me," the Hokage's voice was barely a hushed tone, by then, "Then I do not mind."

"But…He was a danger, and…" at that, Minato's eyes narrowed into two cold and icy orbs, staring straight at the Chuunin-sensei.

"Umino-san…all I said, was that he was a danger to himself, as the reason he had to be moved out of my house, and the reason he was disowned was because he was disrespectful, but in no moment did I ever claim he was a danger to anyone else, the rest…those were rumors that didn't stop, no matter how much time passed. He has probably never been a danger…but I was a fool not to see it, and I pay the price for my foolishness every day," and with that, the Hokage shook his head, before seeing the door open once more, as another team came to get a mission.

*Kushina*

The red-haired woman walked through the streets, holding tightly the hand of her little girl, who was now five years old. She had bright, long, flowing, red hair, blue eyes, that sparkled brightly, she was wearing a nice orange one-piece dress, and tightly holding in one hand *Mrs Dolly*.

That's when he passed right next to her, ignoring both of them, his teammates in tow, not even looking at her, at Katsumi, not even giving them a split second of attention…simply, like they weren't there, weren't worth of _his_ time, he wasn't there to sulk any longer. Soon, he'd be a chuunin. Soon, he'd probably be a Jounin, and, without doubts, he'd probably become one of the strongest ninjas of Konoha. Yet…would he manage to forgive them, once he'd learn the truth?

Probably he wouldn't, but…with the bonds he had developed, he wouldn't do anything rash, would he?

Still, something was puzzling her: he shouldn't have been the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

Not even Minato thought he actually held anything in him.

So what was it, with the Yin part being sealed into him?

"_Jiraiya…just what happened that night?"_

She felt her hand being pulled downwards, as Katsumi, her eyes looking at her Kaa-san with worry, muttered.

"Kaa-san! You alright!" her voice was always loud, she was always a bundle of energies, and, albeit she didn't want to actually say it, she *was* a bit spoiled.

"Yes, Katsumi-chan, must be the wind, sent something in my eyes," at that, Katsumi barely nodded, before smiling out wide.

"You think Sakura-chan is going to like my new dress?" as she giggled, swirling around in her clothing, Kushina couldn't help but nod.

"You're really pretty in that, Katsumi-chan, I'm sure you're going to conquer Sasuke-kun's heart with that, Dattebane!"

"Kaa-san?" Katsumi was worried: her mother must have had something in her mind, as whether she used that exclamation, it usually was because she was either excited, or had something troubling her.

"Oh, nothing! I just don't know where my head's gone recently…" as Kushina's cheeks slightly turned red, she was glad Katsumi didn't press the matter anymore, and, in a couple of minutes, they reached the door of the Haruno household, which, after a light pressing of the doorbell, opened, to reveal Sakura's mother.

"Mebuki-san, thanks for letting Sakura-chan come with me to play," as Katsumi politely bowed, the woman simply smiled, before turning her gaze inside the house and yelling out loud.

"Sakura! Come down here right now, Shānnarō!" Kushina did carefully press her hands on Katsumi's ears, preventing her from hearing the last word.

"Coming Kaa-san!" The voice ran from within the apartment, as a pink-haired girl, with bright green jaded eyes, came to the doorstep, already dressed in a red one piece dress too, albeit she also had black shorts underneath it, and a bright smile on her face, as she waved goodbye to her mother, and left together with Katsumi-chan and her mother.

"Kushina-san, I've got a question," Sakura said, as they neared the park, interrupting for once her chat with Katsumi-chan about dolls and clothes.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Kushina asked, with a small smile.

"What does *private time* mean?" as the clear green eyes of the girl settled on the woman, the red hot habanero raised a puzzled eyebrow.

"Private time?" Kushina asked, not understanding.

"Kaa-san said she was going to have private time with Otou-san…what does it mean?" at that explanation, Kushina's face simply turned slightly pale.

"_Typical of Mebuki, always speaking her mind out loud," _with that, the red Hot Habanero coughed, before saying.

"Well, why don't you ask her when we go back, okay? It's something…private," both girls were unconvinced, but said nothing more, as they soon began chatting happily about various things.

In the end, they reached the park, to find the mass of mothers, with their respective children, out of the premises, a couple of chuunins looking rather bleakly at the crowd, which actually was made of angry looking women and perplexed kids.

"Listen, they've done this hundreds of times, they'll be really quick about it," one of the Chuunin said, as he turned to the other, to mutter something that Kushina's keen earing grabbed, even though there was a constant murmur in the crowd.

"Kotetsu, next time, we take gate guard," as the other grimaced, he snarled again, "Gate guard doesn't force you against pissed off mothers."

Kushina slowly moved forward, the crowd parting, as the wife of the Hokage would certainly prove her point to the two chuunins, at least, that being the general thought of the crowd.

As Kushina held tightly the hands of both Katsumi, and Sakura, she saw right behind the backs of Kotetsu and Izumi three ninjas, one taller than the other, and with a trench-coat, spikey purple hair, and a flailing arms, as a mass of snakes was seemingly grabbing the rubbish and the garbage littered around, while another one, Itachi, at least Kushina recognized him, was waiting to the side, and just as if on cue, it began.

First, Anko raised her hands upwards, as the mass of garbage simply floated into the air, being propelled by the emerged mass of snakes, just as Itachi went through the hand signs, releasing.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" as the mass of fiery flames reached the collected garbage, it began burning it to cinders, as a worried Kushina exclaimed.

"But they're going to set fire to the park!" On the other hand, both Katsumi and Sakura stared at the scene, their mouths agape at such a display.

Just as fire seemingly stopped burning, and the flaming remains were about to descend, the grey-blond boy that had stood to the other side of the scene simply finished his hand signs, before exclaiming.

"Kaze no Yaiba!" at that, the already smoldering fire simply lit anew, as the air's strength sent the now fused together garbage back upwards, to burn some more.

"Was that an A-rank Jutsu?" was the general murmur of the crowd, as someone, however, snarled back, "It was weak, probably only good enough to relit a fireplace," and then, as if on cue, both Itachi and Naruto went through other hand signs, and, with a deafening exclamation, they both yelled together:

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" The Uchiha's one came out smaller, the small water bullet dashing upwards, hitting the now fused garbage object, as instead that of Naruto came out bigger, effectively knocking away from the very own park the thing, and sending it to crash in the nearby garbage collection area, slightly wet, and no longer a fire-risk.

Useless to say, the crowd was muttering something about being show-offs, while both Izumo and Kotetsu simply stopped preventing people from entering the park, and turned to walk towards the three Genins.

"_That was…two jutsus from different chakra releases…it's enough for Jounin-rank…I…"_ Kushina was slightly trembling, at the thought of just how strong her son had become, trembling, and, at the same time, disheartened, as she couldn't go there, like the two chuunins, to congratulate him on his work. She couldn't even invite him over for dinner, or order him to participate…certainly Tsunade was proud of him, certainly Tsunade was being called Kaa-san by him, and the woman was probably enjoying every moment she had with the grey-blond boy…and she couldn't.

That was the price, wasn't it? She bit her lips, as she realized that both Katsumi and Sakura were no longer there to begin with, having instead ran towards the three cool-looking ninjas.

She gasped, trying to reach them before some excessive damage was done, but to no avail, as, by the time she managed to catch them, Katsumi and Sakura had already exclaimed, both at the same time.

"That was so cool, Shinobi-san!" and both…both were eying Naruto.

The grey-blond boy looked at the two five years old, in front of him, raising a puzzled eyebrow, before Anko simply chuckled, and Itachi sighed.

"It's work," Naruto replied, monotonous in his voice as he shrugged, "and it was the fastest way," he added, before turning his gaze, that slightly narrowed as his eyes turned a bit icy, at the sight of her, Kushina, walking to the back of the two girls.

Why was she being sheepish about it? She did feel embarrassed, hoping Naruto wouldn't say anything, albeit she couldn't actually blame him, could she? If he decided to yell at her, or at Katsumi, could she actually silence him?

"Neh, Kunoichi-san," Sakura said, turning to Anko, who looked down at the pink-haired girl with a sort of curious face, "What do you do to have…those that big?" as the little girl asked that with innocence, Anko had already a devious smile on her face, just before Kushina interrupted.

"Sakura-chan! That's not a question to ask!" before putting both her hands on the pink-haired girl's shoulders.

"Aw…so cute! Well, if you must know," as Anko said that, Sakura did her best to free herself from the grasp of Kushina's hands, to no avail, obviously, "You need to drink a lot of milk, and have someone rub…" the purple haired kunoichi stopped, seeing the murderous gaze of the red-haired woman, who had stopped holding the kid's shoulder, to move a hand to her Katana, at the side of her body.

"Yes, Kunoichi-san?" as Sakura's eyes sparkled, waiting for something more, Anko shrugged.

"That's all kid, now excuse me, or serious frowning boy there is going to get wrinkles," as the girl winked, she moved to grab Itachi by the neck, who was being barraged by questions from an hyperactive Katsumi, about the whereabouts of Sasuke-kun.

"No I…" Itachi was saying, when Katsumi simply kept on pressing her questions.

"Is he fine? Is he sick? Is he here to play? Have you seen him? No because…"

"No more questions to our sighing boy!" Anko replied with a cheerful expression, grabbing Itachi by the neck of his jacket, and adding, after pushing him behind her, "We've got to go now, really important things to do," as she turned to leave, she realized Naruto had already turned his back to the three that had been pestering them, and was already moving just as she had grabbed Itachi's jacket's neck, so, she simply followed, shaking her head mentally.

"That was rude," Katsumi pouted, looking at both her mother and her friend, just as Kushina, on the other hand, had a sort of apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sure they had really important things to do Katsumi-chan. The life of a shinobi is one filled with responsibility," as soon as she said that, Sakura, on the other hand, exclaimed.

"And cool jutsus!"

As Kushina sighed, she simply took to sitting on a bench, watching the two young girls play, soon to be joined by other kids, like a blond-haired girl of the Yamanaka clan, and a couple of others.

*Naruto*

"So…I should go and see what the Hyugas want from me: if I'm not back soon, do send in a team of Anbus, Itachi," as Naruto pointed that out, nearing the Hyuga compound, the Uchiha simply nodded, before replying.

"I will send in highly trained Uchiha's clan's men to rescue you, Naruto-kun, do not worry about it," at that, Anko actually sweat-dropped.

"Your ways of lowering tension by making wild statements gets to my nerves a lot…especially when you sound serious about it," as the Kunoichi teased, the two boys shrugged.

"Well, we'll wait for you here, Naruto-kun…do avoid getting internal organ rupture by Juken strikes," Itachi pointed out, just as Naruto sighed.

"Yes, don't worry about that," as he neared, alone, the Hyuga guards outside the gates, the two white-eyed men simply looked at him without a glint of emotion.

"I suppose you know that Hiashi is waiting for me…" Naruto sighed, "Let's get going, right?" as he said that, one of the guards nodded, and gestured him inside.

It was kind of interesting, actually, seeing how there was a sort of distinctive difference in treatment between the main family and the branch family…especially after he had begun his _training_ with Neji, the main family loathed him, terribly so, with cold eyes and indifference, while the branch family looked at him with stern expressions, but deep down, they didn't fault him. The only reason the main family loathed the boy was because he could have been the perfect scapegoat to the deal with the Kumogakure ninjas, and instead, he had been spared because the Toad Sage had kidnapped him. Obviously they couldn't actually think a Genin could withstand a fight with a Sannin, but they still did think it was principally his fault…probably screwing one's own cousins to keep the byakugan on made that effect on their brain cells.

On the other side, the branch family couldn't fault the boy. Firstly, the head to be claimed should have been that of Hiashi himself, but Hizashi, the twin brother, had instead been sacrificed by the main family, that, at least, was the murmur. Secondly, the branch family loathed anything the main family loved, and vice-versa, cherished anything the main family hated. Thus, when the boy had actually taken Neji under his sort of wing, a branch family member who, like the others, was thought to never be able to shine, and to be forced to go through the ninja academy to learn anything, they had put up their *stern but secretly cheering for* looks.

Strangely four-hundred anonymous people had entered the Naruto fan-club at that moment: stranger still was that it was the same number of the female Hyuga branch family members in Konoha.

They couldn't outright like the boy, they couldn't, because it would invite stern retribution from the main family, their caged bird seals on the forehead would flare, and the pain, such sharp and mind numbing pain, would run through their bodies sending them like wracked mess on the floor.

So, silently, Naruto reached the training grounds within the Hyuga's compound, where Hiashi was standing, sitting down with a calm look, as he looked at a five year old girl with white pearly eyes, and short dark blue hair, train by giving punches to a wooden block. She was wearing a black karate-like kimono, and next to her, a taller and older Hyuga was looking over her training with a stern attitude.

Hiashi didn't stand up, as Naruto simply looked with a puzzled expression at the clan's head, waiting for a reaction of sort, though he did mentally plan his escape route: he could probably dash towards the wooden block, jump upwards to the closest tree within the grounds, and then jump over the walls of the compound, to reach outside.

"Senju-san," Hiashi said, after a moment, when the branch guard left, "It has come to my attention that you have been seen, repeatedly, in the company of my deceased brother's son," as he let the words roll in the air, Naruto simply turned to look at the sky, whose clouds were turning darker by the second.

"He came to me first…seeking answers," at that, Naruto's memory rolled back to that day, one year before.

_It was going to rain. He knew it perfectly well, his Suiton affinity made him able to sense water, flowing, moving, and even that above, in the clouds. He thought that reaching to the clouds for water was far-fetched, but he did, nevertheless, sense the great masses of condensed water vapor ready to unleash their furious droppings on the village._

_For once, he wasn't going to sleep in a leaky apartment, under a tree, or on a dirty alley._

_No, he had a room now, a bed, and nobody would dare trash any of those things. For the simple, yet effective reason that he was now Naruto Senju, son of Tsunade Senju, who'd probably punch to a bloody pulp any who'd try that, and then heal them just so she could punch them again._

_He smiled, as he decided he'd try getting some more training with the wind element, before going actually back home. He had to be careful not to get wet from the rain, or his mother was going to be the end of him…having a medic as a mother meant that, where others saw a normal flu, she could see five hundred different variations of illness, ranging from the lethal to the highly lethal._

_Her apprentice, Shizune-Neesan, was a nice girl, though she too was fawning over him a bit too much, to say the least. _

_He was standing outside, in the Senju's compound garden. Even though, with Tsunade missing from Konoha, nobody had set foot in there for years, right now it was in an acceptable state, as the Third Hokage always placed a mission request for Genins to cut the grass, or trim the tree-tops, or clean the ponds. Naruto knew about it, since he had done a lot of those D-rank missions, together with Anko and Itachi, while Orochimaru-sensei simply watched them with contempt, before giving training tips to Anko._

_Right then, he was standing, safely, on the pond's surface, his feet walking on the liquid like it was earth, and then, a moment later, he dodged an attack from a dressed in white boy who couldn't have been more than five._

_The attack did come without a yell, or a noise, but it was noisy never the less, especially because the kid in question had moved the water surface of the pond, and had caught by surprise Naruto, who had, however, managed to move a bit away._

"_Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, as he stared at the boy who was now panting heavily, the pond's underneath was in truth a training device, reacting to any attempt at moving through it by increasing its strength in holding down the *victim*._

"_What…This…A trap!" the boy exclaimed, panting heavily, as he now had the water at his neck. He stood still, taking deep breathes as he could feel that with every push he got deeper down, thus stopping any movement._

"_No, actually it's a training tool," Naruto muttered, *sitting* on the water's surface, his legs crossed._

"_Kill me then, I failed, and I'm going to be punished for attacking you anyway, so anything is better than living right now," the boy replied, his cold white eyes staring at the grey-blond boy._

"_Fine by me," Naruto replied, standing back up, as he moved closer to the kid. To his defense, Neji didn't as much falter as the boy came closer. He knew he was a Jinchuuriki, and, now that he could think about it, it had been a really stupid idea, to attack him by surprise and kill him to avenge his father. But he would die with honor, and thus, he stared at his soon to be murderer with a serious gaze, even as he felt being grabbed by the neck and…flung out of the pond._

"_Really brat! I've got better things to do than murder you! What's your name and why are you so keen on killing me?" as Naruto snarled that, he too got off the surface of the water, standing, with his arms crossed, in front of the kid._

_He had come at him without a bit of style, but even then, it had purpose, kind of like he thought he knew what he was doing, but had never practiced it before. _

"_You're the reason my father died!" Neji exclaimed, "If you hadn't stopped those Kumo ninjas, my father wouldn't have been sacrificed!" His gaze was filled with loathing and anger, just as Naruto raised a puzzled expression._

"_Your father? Wait…you're Hizashi's…" and at that, Naruto sighed, he had been told what had happened: both branch family members that had followed Hiashi to kill the Kumogakure ambassador, that day, had sworn falsely that it was Hizashi, with them, and so too had Hizashi himself…thus he had been the one to be killed, instead of Hiashi, all because he, Naruto, wasn't there to be used as a pawn for the Hokage and the Hyuga._

"_Yes. He died because you hid like a coward from your fate!" at that, the grey-blond boy scratched the back of his head, before letting a heavy sigh escape his mouth._

"_Listen, boy, how about I tell you a secret?"_

"_Tell me what you want, you're going to kill me so it won't matter what it is," as soon as Neji had said that, Naruto had walked in front of him, and, much to the Hyuga's surprise, he had held his hand in the motion used to help someone stand up._

"_I think the one who hid from his fate was Hiashi…but you are hiding from the truth…You fear it, and that is not going to help you along the way of life: How about I give you a hand?"_

_Neji narrowed his gaze, perplexed and shocked at the elder boy's behavior: he had just tried to kill him, and he hadn't even batted an eyelid! _

"_Why would you help me? My fate was to be born in the branch family, and what could I learn, from someone like you?" as he spat out that last point, Naruto chuckled._

"_So you *are* interested in learning, you betrayed that idea when you actually asked," as Naruto said that, he got on one knee, in front of the boy, his blue eyes staring at the white ones of the Hyuga, before slowly speaking again, "You see…" he started, "when I was your age, I suffered from something like that too…you lost your father? I lost my family, my place in the world, I became a Jailor for the Kyuubi…but I didn't lash out at the Hokage, or at Konoha…I grabbed my courage and decided to carve my road with my own hands…I am seeking the truth, boy, and I will stop at nothing until I have achieved it, that is my nindo, my ninja way. So…I see myself in you, though we have but three years of difference, I have a lot I can teach you…and a lot I can show you, so…how about it, kid?" _

"_Neji," the Hyuga boy replied in a murmur, "My name is Neji, sensei."_

He blamed the Shodai's library in the Senju compound, especially his written words about believing in his countrymen so that they, in turn, would believe in him, as that was the road to become Hokage.

Yes, definitively that and the fact that he just saw himself in that boy resorting to suicidal measures just to find his place in the world.

"I see…I suppose that one should not judge the book by its cover, although young, he has been judged a prodigy by the members of the branch family," as Hiashi said that, his stern eyes glanced briefly on the figure of his daughter, before turning to face the boy in question, "If I were to ask you to stop teaching him, what would you reply?"

"That you can't actually keep track of him twenty-four hours a day, that killing him would be a waste for the Hyuga, that it would probably send the Senju's clan heir, namely me," stressing the words, "on an uproar, and that, if you actually planned on killing me, trust me when I say that my Kaa-san would have more than one word with you," at that, Hiashi's jaws clenched.

"Just because you're a Senju now doesn't mean you can speak to a clan's head without respect, brat," at that, Naruto simply shook his head.

"This is a shinobi of Konohagakure speaking to someone who is wasting his time: clans don't matter when you call for me from the Hokage, so, Hyuga-san…what did you want? If it's nothing, I'll be taking my leave right now."

"You are not easily intimidated, are you?" Hiashi muttered, just as Naruto shrugged.

"I got my fair deal of death threats, and I have already killed, so I don't thing words can kill, I think steel or fists can," pointing that out, Hiashi nodded slightly.

"Well said…I will let you train Neji overtly, from now on," at that, Naruto's eyes narrowed, waiting for the catch, "But it will be done in the Hyuga compound, no longer at night, or during the academy's recess hours," at that, the grey-blond boy sighed.

"Mizuki rattled him out, didn't he? I'm having a word with that Chuunin one of these days…"

"You do not seem surprised about my leniency," Hiashi whispered, as the grey-blond boy simply muttered.

"It's because I knew you weren't stupid, Hyuga-san," at that, Hiashi flinched, he didn't know wherever to take it as a compliment, or as an insult, "Branch family members usually become ninjas, and are sent out of the village to take part into the more dangerous missions, thus it's obvious that they need to be better trained than others. You cannot however go against the elders decisions on who should be strongest between main family and branch family…thus you simply want to look at how I train Neji, and whether I would use anything I learn from his Juken style against your clan, or whether he *is* showing me the Juken or not, which he isn't, but why trust me?" as Naruto shrugged, Hiashi simply nodded.

"You could have kept silent on it, leaving me in doubt whether you understood or not my intentions," as the Hyuga's head pointed that out, Naruto simply smiled back.

"I hate secrets and lies, Hiashi-san…misdirect me how much as you like…but lie to me, and nothing will stop my revenge…that's not a threat, by the way…it's a promise," with that, he bowed and then turned to leave, as fast as possible. He got out of the Hyuga compound just to see Anko standing on Itachi's shoulders, trying to throw a grappling hook to scale the walls, with both Hyuga guards outside sweat-dropping at such a stupid display.

"I'm alive you two!" Naruto exclaimed, just as the henge dispersed, putting the guards on the alert, as the real two jumped down from the Hyuga's walls.

"Ohi Gaki! We were teasing the guards!" Anko said, as she ruffled the boy's hair. She could no longer knuckle-punch him, but ruffling his head? That she could do!

"I can't believe she actually convinced you," Naruto said, eying Itachi, who coughed back.

"Hyuga-Uchiha rivalry, I am bound by my clan's way to do something," as he used that as an excuse, Naruto sighed, Anko was rubbing off both of them, in different ways.

As they dashed away from there, leaving perplexed Hyuga guards behind, Itachi waved the two goodbye, as he headed towards his compound, while Anko, on the other hand, followed Naruto with an expression turning nervous the more the distance between them and the Senju compound diminished.

"You shouldn't be that nervous," Naruto pointed out.

"Yeah, because you actually never got hit by your mother's fists even once, did you?" as Anko replied that, Naruto actually thought about it.

"Once I did," he said, nodding.

"Oh yeah, when was it?" the purple haired Kunoichi asked, rolling her eyes, like if that woman could actually punch her *Naru-chan*.

"Well, she had left her necklace on the kitchen's table, while going to take a bath, so I simply took it with me," Naruto muttered, "when she came out and found I had it in my hands, she went ballistic, she was so scared she basically punched it out of my hands on instinct, she apologized for the rest of the day," the grey-blond boy added swiftly, he didn't want her to misunderstand, "but really…she was a lot scared, on the verge of tears too," as he said that, Anko's eyes were shocked.

"And why would a sannin, one as hard-headed as Tsunade herself, be that scared over a necklace she's wearing?"

"She told me how it was cursed, killing everyone who wore it except her, and that everyone who wore it wanted to become Hokage before dying," as he said that, Anko shrugged.

"Curses aren't real boy…life's tough, but curses? Well, except cursed seals," as the kunoichi chuckled to that, "there are no curses around, nope, neither ghosts," as she pointed that out, Naruto simply gave her back a slight grin.

"Oh, good," just like that, Anko felt herself being touched, and, turning around, gave a sharp shriek, as a head-less ghost simply waved at her, before dispersing.

"What the Kami-damned hell was that!" as the Kunoichi shivered, having brought Naruto in front of her as a shield, the boy simply chuckled, before grabbing from the ground a piece of cloth.

"I simply tossed at you the cloth for the Henge, that's where the touchy-shoulder feeling came, then the Henge did the rest," as he pointed that out, Anko sighed, before sporting a tick mark, and grabbing onto the boy's greyish hair.

"I might turn you bald, but that's fine, right?" just as she said that, she felt a looming presence behind her.

"Now, now, no turning my Otouto bald before his time," as a woman with short black hair, and dark eyes, wearing a long blueish-black kimono with white trimmings, held closed by a white obi, and open-toed sandals with low heel, came into view from behind them, Anko gulped down slightly, before letting go of the boy in question.

"Now Shizune-san, we were just playing…" as Anko pointed that out, the elder girl simply smiled, with a sort of wicked smile the same type of Tsunade in her bad days.

"Good, let's get going then, I just finished getting the groceries," with that, the elder girl simply lifted up to be seen a paper bag, containing the vegetables and the meat for the dinner.

"I'll carry that Shizune-neesan!" as Naruto volunteered, grabbing the grocery bag before the woman could say no, he got a gentle ruffling of the hair back as a thanks.

"Good, let's get home swiftly before Tsunade-sama eats Tonton," as Shizune pointed that out, Naruto sprinted immediately…he liked that pig too!

Anko, on the other hand, sighed: it was going to be a long night.

*The next Day, Gate*

Kakashi stood there, orange covered book in hand, as he watched his team arriving precisely on the clock.

Itachi had a strange grin on his face, something that usually belonged to Anko, or even Naruto, while Anko was doing her best emotionless face, her eyes seemingly a bit devoid of life, as, on the other hand, Naruto was actually angry. Not in the real sense of the word, but more kind of pissed.

"So…what happened?" Kakashi asked, dreading the reply.

"Well, it seems my advice worked," Naruto snorted, his eyes darting at Itachi, who was, on the other hand, whistling a happy tune, "So much that this…this monster here decided to tell Ayame-chan that I loved her…sea ramen," at that, Anko actually tried to keep her emotionless façade, but failed, going for a slight grin.

"It was actually funnier to see, one second, they're walking by, the other, Itachi takes the detour and yells out loud, yeah, the Uchiha here yelling, *Ayame-san! Naruto loves you!* and he," Pointing at Naruto, "added swiftly and flawlessly, *-R sea ramen!*, he couldn't even come up with pork ramen as a better reply," at that, the half grey half blond boy simply sighed.

"I was caught by surprise! And her sea ramen…is actually horrible," at that, with a shiver, Kakashi sighed, closing his book before turning to leave.

"Remember, Chuunin exams are in one month, so we will take all information we can get, but do remember we have to be back here for them…your applications are still in, so there will be no problems even if we *do* get here as late as the same day as the exam, but not a second later," and then, Kakashi began silently walking out of the village, dashing through the trees at a moderate speed, glad that his team could actually keep up, act like a team, and be worthy of him showing his serious side to them.

Not like all the other stuck up Genins that couldn't pass his bell test.

Unknown to them, a couple of hours later, a sleepy Tsunade would wake up, scavenge through the house in search of something very dear to her and missing, and come upon a letter written and carefully left on the kitchen's table.

_Kaa-san, I took the necklace of the First Hokage! _

_Now don't be angry, I just wanted to tell you that it's not good to worry about it, it's just a necklace and curses don't exist! I'll prove it to you by coming back, alive, and with it still on me! _

_Please don't be mad, I'm doing this to prove it once and for all!_

_With love, Naruto Senju!_

With that, Tsunade simply paled more, before taking a seat, and, at seven in the morning, ending three sake bottles before going back to bed. This had to be a nightmare, probably a really horrible one, as they had only three sake bottles in the entire fridge…a nightmare born from hell itself.

*Elsewhere*

"So, I declare the birth of the Crime Syndicate! Are all of you ready?" as a figure, clad in dark grey robes spoke, another grumbled in reply.

"We of the Kurosuki family are always ready," the voice came in a bit of a low tone, "Let's begin our mission: assassinate the Land of Vegetable Daimyo, and force his daughter to marry me…Raiga Kurosuki…"

**Author's notes**

**Yes, in this story, Neji will not be a stuck up ass with the fate crap.**

**Sorry to infringe upon your fate lovers/ shackled destiny guys, but Naruto's there to save the day from fate-boy.**

**And Itachi…well, he stood for two years and half with both Anko and Naruto…be thankful he isn't pranking around…too much.**

**If you're saying they're acting a bit mature…for their age, remember that in the strange Kishimoto universe kids of six year old (Kakashi) can storm the battlefield to become chuunins.**

**And really, (The age difference between Hinata and Hanabi is of 5 years, yet she's seen sparring against her…at an eight years versus three? And she loses against a three years old? I hope not.) I've seen all types of small kids growing into tough as nails fighters…and I'm always perplexed. Must be something in Konoha's water. **

**This chapter *was* meant to be light-hearted.**

**Though it does seem to have become cliché, my writing style of good-bad-good, I should point out that hey, an all going well/all going bad story never interests for long.**

**At least I get to surprise you along the way, do I? **

**The Chameleon summons will be better explored next chapter, (which will hold the C-rank mission+finisher+Chameleons!) **

**For those who are thinking I'm rushing, please do notice I'm writing bulks of 12K chapters a time, you could actually split them in two and have two 6K chapters…but I'm too good with my readers, and write as much as I can before uploading.**

**General Q&A**

**Naruto use of the Wind Blade is *not* something worthy of Jounin level, for all purposes, it's barely the strength needed to bring up a pile of fused and fiery garbage.**

**Itachi obviously copied the suiton with his sharingan, and…I believe that's about it. **

**Please, if you have gotten any wind on what *happened* do write a pm to me, don't review-spoiler it! *grins* **

**Something else…what am I forgetting…**

**Oh yeah, Ayame, poor girl, can't seem to give her some *air-space*, for the Ayame-lovers, that time will come, don't you worry.**

**Final note: **

**Do notice I tend to do a thorough check of history, though the criminals used as the *C-rank mission that suddenly becomes lethal* might have been *not* of that time, they now are. **

…

**Had to keep up the trope, right?**


	7. PC:Additions

Chapter seventh

The land of vegetables didn't need much of a border guard, since they weren't a fighting nation to begin with, they tended to keep neutrality, and it would be extremely stupid to attack a nation that basically was the primary source of crops and vegetables all thorough the year to all of the elemental lands.

However one knew, one clearly knew, when he entered said land. Not because of the sudden increase in food stores alongside the roads, not because of the increase in farmers moving with their charts, bringing fresh vegetables around, not because of shepherds and their sheep, no, it was because of the smell.

The acre and pungent smell of…

"Yuck!" Anko, with a distasteful scowl, brought her right hand to pinch her nose-bridge, while muttering, "The smell…oh Kami the smell."

"It's just manure," Itachi pointed out, "How do you think they can keep up productivity thorough the entire year?"

"Magic? Jutsus? Really… Why did it have to be manure?" Anko groaned, as she decided to keep the border-neckline of her trench coat in front of her nose, to breathe through the fabric, at least avoiding the worst of the smell.

"Kakashi-sensei, how should we approach the matter?" Itachi asked, as the silver-haired Jounin simply showed his best eye-smile, before replying.

"Naruto is the infiltration specialist, and since a Chuunin needs to know how to give orders and how to take them, knowing who is strong and who is weak to balance off the team's needs, this will be the perfect final exercise: You're on your own. I will wait you here at the border, remember that, for the mission's purpose, you are free to do as you like," as Kakashi pointed that out, he actually smiled under his mask for a second, before taking out his orange covered book, and a new, thicker, red covered one.

"The truth is that you've got the new Icha-Icha…Paradise Climax, right?" Naruto replied, his eyebrow slightly twitching, as the Jounin simply chuckled.

"Well, Jiraiya-sama has gotten an astonishingly better writing, to the point where it's outright divine now…I did my best to hold out till now," as Kakashi replied that without worries, he moved to one of the many inns for travelers, leaving behind a group of three, of which the Kunoichi was eying the man murderously, Itachi was slightly letting his hand caress the handle of his kunais, and Naruto was the one narrowing his gaze, before turning to the other two.

"So, three days to capital, infiltrating it should be my job…information gathering should be Anko's and Itachi, you can work together with her for extra persuasion," as Naruto suggested that, Itachi replied.

"Shouldn't I keep an eye out on you? You are the one who needs more protection," as he pointed that out, the grey-blond boy shook his head.

"We've got a lot of terrain to cover. I can infiltrate nearly anywhere, as long as I'm alone: you know that, Itachi," the boy spoke quietly, before letting his blue eyes fixate on some of the people around them.

"First off, avoid being recognized, use the Henge to transform into a couple of females, and remove the forehead protectors from sight, yes Itachi, no need twitching, there's a reason for that," as Naruto said that, Anko was chuckling, already planning the next years of teasing.

"Fine," Itachi sighed, letting a hand pass through his hair, he knew he was going to regret this, but the infiltration specialist was Naruto, "Let's get away from the main road and act."

The three moved to a dark alley, as Kakashi, from his hiding spot, slowly followed them, before looking perplexed for a second at the empty dark dirt road.

With a sigh, he brought forward his sharingan, and, good enough, the three were there, under a Genjutsu, just as Itachi had taken on the appearance of a slightly busty brunette, with a blue corset and a knee-high skirt. Anko had assumed a sort of twin-tailed blond with blue eyes appearance, a cheesy smirk as she also had…whisker marks on her face? Naruto was sweat-dropping at that sight, but said nothing, giving the final pointers to the two…

"While you gather information on possible weapon shipments coming through the border, I'll be heading to the capital, it should take me three days to get there, three more days to prepare a safe house, and three more days to start looking around, when I'm done, I'll come get you: if I'm not here after fifteen days, then I've been compromised, and by mission standards, you should just leave me here," as he said that, he handed his forehead protector to Itachi, who took it with a frown.

"Hey brat, if we did that, your mother would…" as Anko pointed that out, Naruto shook his head.

"She'd understand, probably, if you duck a lot while explaining…That's how procedure is, if captured into enemy territory, you have to abandon me to get your information across safely," the grey-blond boy pointed that out, as his hair slowly turned charcoal black, his eyes brown, "Now, you two act like you mean business, or the thugs around won't even think twice about whether to try and rape you in a corner or take you to their boss, be safe…I've got to go," and with that, Naruto simply started running upwards the alley's wall, reaching for the roof, and from there heading straight towards the capital's direction.

Kakashi made a couple of hand signs, before whispering.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu" as another perfect copy of him appeared right next to him, with a small puff of smoke, his clone silently followed Naruto, while he kept his eyes on the two *girls* beneath him.

Naruto had taken the bulk of the mission, but that was to be expected, he had become the spear-head for the infiltration to go as planned, unknown to the boy, that was probably the same way spy-networks were born: a set of safe-houses and satellite spies.

*Naruto*

Naruto's right hand lightly touched the pendant, the crystal pendant he had slipped on his neck on the morning of their departure. He was still alive, so either the curse worked slowly, or, just like he thought, there was no curse to begin with. His mother would probably be angry, really angry, but he was sure she'd be relieved to know it had never been her fault, and that the fact that she was the one to give the pendant to them didn't make her the culprit of her loved one's death.

He'd prove it to her, by coming back alive.

As he dropped his henge, one safely far from the village, his quickly rummaged through his pack, to take out a couple of farmer's clothes, and, with those on, he proceeded to cover with some dirt his face, before using a Henge to transform his backpack into a bag of potatoes, while at the same time giving to himself a more tougher and older appearance, hoisting it on his right shoulder, and proceeding on his walk towards the capital by foot, a blade of grass in his mouth.

Kakashi sweat-dropped, watching the scene while hiding in the bushes, his only visible eye slightly narrowing.

"_That's a good way of using a mixture of Henge and camouflage, hiding in plain sight…a farmer among farmers, flawless work…maybe there wasn't a need for me to keep an eye out on him too," _the clone didn't disperse, however. He could still go on for a while, and, worst to worst, he'd intervene.

The boy, on the other side, went by foot for most of the day, until he hitched a cart ride, that held in the back fresh hay, and that was going in the same direction as him.

"Me says it's good to help others right-o?" the cart driver said, as his old mule, a certain Bessy, simply kept on her light trot, as Naruto stood right next to him.

"Thank ya! Y'are a life savior!" Naruto replied with a wide smile, "I was gonna see city parents, birthday of the little one coming up ya see," he explained, as the man simply nodded with a smile, his pipe in his mouth letting out horrid stenches of burnt third rate tobacco.

"Yeah, city's parents always get the short stick, my cousin's there, and I'm going too, delivering da hay for da party's horses too," as the farmer spoke with a grin, he then elbowed slightly the blond boy, whispering, "gotta get some noble drinks and food from da kitchens too," at that, Naruto looked with a slacked jaw at the farmer, before exclaiming.

"Kami blessed ya! Noble's drinks must be a hell of a lot better! What's the party for?"

"Daimyo's daughter marrying off, dat's what," the farmer replied, "oh, darn it, nearly forgotten myself: I'm Tabako!" as he extended one of his hands, covered in rough calluses, Naruto extended his own, that too was rough with calluses, but not because of hard work on a farm, no, more because of the harsh training he went through to become a shinobi.

"And I'm Naruko," he replied with a smirk.

"Naruko? Tough luck got ya a sissy name," Tabako replied with a smirk.

"Ma's wanted a little sissy, but she got a tough farmer huh!" Naruto answered back with a shrug, and flexing his arm's muscles, he showed his best stern looking face at the man, who chuckled.

"That she did get! Nice to have someone to chat with for the trip, it gets boring alone!" and with that, small chatter ensued, as Kakashi's clone, following them from the undergrowth, remaining unseen, had a single tear of joy falling down his cheek, at such a scene.

"_He's good, he's damn good, he's really damn good!"_

Conscious that he clearly didn't need any help, the Kakashi-clone dispelled, letting his memories of the event flow to the original one, who, smugly, began turning another page of his Icha-Icha book.

The rest of the trip went by in small chatter, as the capital's gates and walls approached, the Land of Vegetable's main city rested atop an artificial hill, with a sort of spiraling build, meaning that one had to but always turn left, to keep on ascending towards the higher levels, and thus the better districts, of the village. Atop the hill stood the Daimyo's palace, but Naruto descended from the cart a couple of districts before, where the merchant's district was.

Looking around, while seeing merchants with bright purple or golden vests, wearing big pouches filled with gold and arrogant faces on them, coupled with their enormous stomachs, he couldn't help but wince at the fact that he would need to become a tree in a forest…a really ugly tree too.

Within a couple of moments, the blond farmer disappeared into a back alley, to reappear as a merchant wearing the same type of clothes that seemed to be fashionable in the Land of Vegetables, then, without a second of hesitation, he entered a casino.

The casino, known as the "Red Carrot," seemed to have a bunny-style approach on the matter, the chips were different colors of orange, the waitress that brought drinks around were dressed like bunnies and, much to Naruto surprise, there were strange services involving *Bunny Dancing* in private rooms, things that he didn't care about…he was there, Henged into a more adult form, for a single reason: earning cash and looking for bad losers.

The next few hours passed by idly, as he slowly cheated…ehm, won, his way through a couple of tables, before leaving after having amassed enough money to go by, but not enough to attract the patron's attention, by doing so, he managed to find out who *was* in heavy debt, trail him to their house, and then, with time, gather their *friendship* in exchange for the *cash* they would need to avoid meeting the *short stick* of the casino's bodyguards.

He didn't know wherever he should thank his mother, for teaching him everything about gaming tricks and gambling, or not, because after having mastered the lucky wheel of fate, especially in regards with card games, his mother had outright insisted he went with her every time she had an…*amicable* card play with her sensei and a couple of other older ninjas…as a luck charm.

Needless to say they all smoked like badly cleaned chimneys, or had the habit of actually pinching his cheeks calling him *cute* while at the same time being snarled at by Tsunade, who didn't want to lose her luck charm's *positive* energy to them.

Naruto, after less than a day in the city, found himself sleeping comfortably into a mediocre looking hotel, and, by the next day, he had already pried from a thankful gambler, that was no longer in the red now, the knowledge that the criminal brothers had been graced by the Daimyo and that, in three days, there was going to be the marriage of princess Haruna to a recently elevated to position noble, known as Raisuki Gakuro.

But every single time Naruto tried to pry why, he got back blank looks and scoffs, but mostly, shrugs. Nobody actually cared about why. All they knew was that the Daimyo was happy with it, albeit being sickly since a while and that as long as the crops would still grow from the soil then there was nothing to worry about, no matter what it was, and thus there was no need to inquire further upon it.

So, when Naruto, the second night he was in the capital, walked the barely lit streets, after having made another round in search for a suitable safe house, instead of a Hotel room, he sighed, hoping he'd soon find more information on the criminal brothers. That was when he realized that he was being followed, making him slid silently into one of the nearby alleys, in wait.

The next moment, his kunai moved to life, as the target, itself, was flung against the wall of the dirty small road, while Naruto's Henge, that showed him as a slightly older drunk man came away, to reveal his ten years old self. The sudden movement made the man lose his cool, and coupled with the appearance of the boy, it shocked him to the point that he dropped his hood, to reveal a tall, slightly lean man, with dark eyes and dark brown hair, who seemed to be dressed in a light purple and white robe, closed with strings instead of buttons.

"Who are you and why were you following me?" Naruto whispered, as the man, wincing, muttered back.

"My name is Kikujo, personal guard of the Daimyo…or once I was… I thought I could save your life, before it was too late," as soon as he said that, Naruto tightened his grasp from the man's clothes, looking around nervously.

"What are you talking about?" as he questioned the man, he got a worried look back.

"They picked up your trail, you asked too many questions around: if I managed to find you, so will they…you need to leave, they…" the man didn't get to say more, as suddenly, a voice screamed in the dark of the night.

"Fūton: Kaiten Shuriken!"

Naruto barely managed to do what his training instincts were screaming him to do, that is, to push the man, the man who probably was simply an innocent bystander who was however informed of facts, to his doom, by using him as a shield against the wind technique, that flung against the both of them bladed Kunais imbued with wind chakra.

As light faded from the man's eyes, Naruto's face paled, at the sight of blood coming down from the guard's lips, the kunais having passed straight through him, but with less force, and thus having barely wounded the boy himself.

"_I…I used him as a human shield…I…He…He wasn't…I…" _in fright, Naruto began to run, dropping the body behind him, but just as soon as he thought that, he heard another voice.

"Doton: Tsuchi Kairō!" as the very same ground rose, trapping him within an earthen dome, with barely an opening upwards, he could barely keep his calm, this wasn't like realizing he was being targeted by a six years old, or like being in the safety of Konoha…this was a fight to the death, alright…but he was the one with the short stick. He was the one getting killed because he was the one weak! He wasn't a predator, just a rat being snuffed out, he was the one that was going to die because of someone else teamwork…and that nearly blocked his brain's functions.

"Fūton: Kami Oroshi!" as the voice from the wind shurikens yelled that, another immediately added, just as within the dome the air pressure increased tenfold.

"Katon: Hibashiri!" the air column, that had been descending inside the earthen dome, simply became a raging inferno, as two figures, one with long blue hair and colored eyes, wearing a white attire with a pouch belt, a pair of black gloves and martial artists shoes, while the other was, while wearing the same attire, with white hair and red eyes, and a blue mouth cloth covering most of his face.

"Setsuna, we killed the little rats, didn't we?" the red-eyed man spoke, looking at the inferno blazing within the dome.

"That we did Gitai, this power…it's so great!" Setsuna replied, feeling the dark chakra that was flowing through his body, "I just wished he'd put up a better fight…I wanted to use it more!"  
"This power is so great…well, let's get going, if we tell Yomi-sama about how quick we were, he might give us another injection of dark chakra," as Gitai proposed that with glee, Setsuna smiled, turning around with a wide smirk, ignoring the seemingly half-destroyed alleyway behind them, like it wasn't their business to flatten out the earth dome, and disappearing in the night.

The earth dome, no longer laced with chakra, eventually cracked, to reveal a covered in dust form of a chameleon the size of Kozue that, while keeping his camouflage on did seem slightly dusted.

With a set of hesitant moves, he slowly got himself away from there, shaking off the dust, and, once deeming it safe, he opened his mouth, to drop in a street corner a grey and blond haired boy with a slightly burnt left side.

"That has to hurt," the chameleon spoke in a whisper that even seemed worried, and knowing who it came from, it made Naruto simply give him back a sheepish grin.

"You alright Ryuu?" as he asked that, the snarl that came was more on the normal tone that the chameleon tended to keep.

"Sure, though you did play a hard gamble brat, what gave away I was a Doton user?" as his skin turned to the usual slight brownish hue, Naruto simply whispered back.

"I didn't…I just hoped you would use a Suiton to quell the flames together with me…I didn't think you'd actually eat me, to keep me safe," at that notion, Ryuu smirked.

"So that's why you were screaming, well, we didn't actually tell you our strong points, did we? I'd better give you a quick run-up, so you know who to summon should the need arise…you sure you're fine?" as Ryuu asked once more, seeing the boy's eyes falter a moment, as well as gritting his teeth, Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, tell me, it's just…well, it should be obvious it burns…" as he pointed to his burnt side, Ryuu awkwardly smiled…with his teeth, that Naruto had seen in first view when the chameleon's tongue had literally snapped as fast as lightning to grab him and swallow him whole.

"I'm an Earth release user…albeit it would be more correct to say I can simply harden my scales and hide at the same time, so…if you need an extraction from a hot spot…" blinking his eyelids, recalling just what had happened, "well, you understand, you got to summon me," as he pointed that out, Naruto simply nodded.

"Kozue is an idiot, but also the best in stealth out of all us…don't let him know this, or he'd never let it go," Ryuu muttered with a slight growling tone, "he's a Suiton user, but not really the best of us, that would be Tokage, who can quench a forest fire with but the use of a single water release jutsu…so never get on his bad side, never," as Ryuu pointed that out, he then added, "As for Shiromari… she's not available right now, until you manage to get her to come back…but she's the second biggest of us, and she's a master of Wind and Water release, coupled with stealth techniques, just like Kamereon, the boss summons, is a master of Earth and Water releases, coupled with tough scales and ages of experience."

"I see…thank you then…I'd better get back to my hotel room," as Naruto tried to stand up, Ryuu simply gave him a thoughtful nod, before disappearing in a small puff of smoke.

The boy gritted his teeth, as he could feel his burnt side simply burn, repeatedly, as even the contact with the light wind was a painful reminder that yes, it was his blood that was slowly dripping on his charred flesh, and that it was his burnt piece of cloth that was itching and that looked nearly fused with his melted skin.

It hurt like hell, but if he wanted to at least mend it, and avoid infections, he had to get back to his hotel room, silently and without causing a noise. To his luck, his room was on the first floor, on the side that didn't give on the main road, so he could, at that late hour of the night, simply climb it up thanks to the one arm that still worked and a bit of chakra to stick his feet to the solid stone surface.

By the time he reached his room from the window, he slid in, not having closed it before, and with that, he came face to face with another man, dressed just like the one that had been following him before. He had been standing near the window, keeping an eye out on the door probably, as he had moved the wooden desk that was inside to grant him cover, should anything pass through it: probably to get a better chance at escaping through the window.

"Don't scream," this time, the kunai to the neck was that of the man, "Did you meet with Kikujo?"

"He's dead," Naruto replied in a meek voice, as, for once, the man turned on a small candle light, to stare with surprise at the boy, barely of ten years, that was standing in front of him, gravely injured.

"You…but…it was supposed to be an older," as the other man retracted his kunai, Naruto took a deep breath.

"I'm good with Henges…I'm a shinobi, and I was here to find information on the criminal brothers…tell me everything you know and your friend's sacrifice won't be in vain, please," the other man looked puzzled at the boy, before nodding.

"My name is Yurinojo, second imperial guard of the Daimyo…or at least, I was." With that, the man helped Naruto to sit on the bed, before taking out, with the boy's help, some medical tweezers and utensils, letting the boy work on himself while he went on with his tale.

"The Criminal brothers had begun their work here in the capital by keeping a low profile: they were nothing more than street thugs, great ambitions, but weak potential. That was until the medic of the daimyo died, and another one…Yomi, he called himself, arrived. At first, the Daimyo's health got better, greatly so," as Yurinojo said that, he winced, the boy was pretty much operating on his charred flesh without as much as a hitch, removing the burnt clothes pieces and carefully dipping a disinfectant imbued wool ball on the skin cracks that held fresh and dry blood within them.

"Then it worsened, as Yomi said that only determinate ingredients could save his life, thus forcing us to seek aid in getting them…and with that, the Kurosuki family arrived offering their contacts and helps…had we known who led them, and what scum they were…" as Yurinojo's voice trailed off, Naruto winced, grabbing a strip of tissue from the bed sheets, and biting down onto it, before proceeding to channel green chakra into his right hand, to start mending the flesh…which meant that it would split, crack, and then leave the place to new and fresh one, while hurting like hell.

"That's good…I only knew one other person who actually had guts like yours kid…Tsunade of the Sannin," at that, Naruto slightly repressed the urge to sputter out a set of low growling curses, obviously he had to know Kaa-san, out of all the possible things.

"Me and Kikujo, we both trained as hard as we could to get in her graces…we had a sort of childish crush on her at our time, you know?" Naruto gulped down, his forehead sweating heavily, as he had reached his elbow, before deciding to stop. He couldn't pass out from chakra exhaustion in that moment, but the worst was over, he would just have to do without his left hand and lower arm-side for a while, that he proceeded to bandage tightly.

"I am sorry for your loss," Naruto whispered, "But I need to have all the information I can get…would it trouble you if I asked you some more questions?" as the other man didn't refuse, the boy politely asked.

"The Kurosuki family has how many people within it?"

"Their leader is Raiga Kurosuki, who changed his name in Raisuki Gakuro, when the Daimyo, probably under some sort of control, nominated him his personal guard…removing me and Kikujo from service. Then there is Karashi, who, however, is more of a whimpering mascot than an actual fighter…and then there are his thugs, I witnessed their special technique, but, except for that move which is seemingly unblockable, they have no real fighting power," at those words, Naruto's curiosity was piqued.

"What's the move like?"

"Five of them stand one on top of the other, and spin around viciously with their bladed gauntlets, they create this sort of black tornado, that can't be attacked by weapons, as they are deflected by the rotation and the high speed of the spinning," the words of the man made the grey-blond boy nod in understanding, before whispering.

"Now, what do you know about the Yomi guy?"

"He said he came from the Land of Demons, and was a renowned medic-nin…I never saw him in action, but he never seemed a fighting type…his four pupils on the other hand…they looked like drug addicts, following him around and calling him Yomi-sama in adoration," as the man spoke, he slowly stood up, "I never saw them in action…but I knew they were strong, albeit a bit on the mad side…I just…felt it," with that, Naruto nodded.

"Does the Raiga guy have anything worthy of notice in his fighting style?" at that question, Yurinojo sighed, looking sideways, with a sort of guilty look on him.

"Had we known who he was beforehand… He is an ex-swordsman of the mist, known as the Raijin of Kirigakure, and is of Anbu level power, he's not something a ten year old can fight," Naruto simply nodded.

"I'm not here to engage enemies," Naruto replied, meekly lowering his gaze, "I'm here to gather information on the criminal brothers only, as part of a C-rank mission…to engage them, now…it would be S-rank, minimum," at those words, Yurinojo sighed in relief.

"I know I should probably feel saddened, that no help will come from the outside, but at the very least I'm glad one as young as yourself won't have to die…but you have to leave the city, it isn't safe in here, they'll probably look in this room next," had he actually not jinxed them, then probably nothing would have happened.

On the other hand, as soon as he finished speaking, a voice, some sort of feminine but filled with malice voice, spoke from behind the wooden door of the room.

"Two spies to fry! Raikyū!" as soon as the words echoed, the door exploded in splinters and shards that flew forward, throwing, from the shockwave, Naruto straight out of the window and bringing him down to crash against the road, one floor down.

He did get the better side of the deal, albeit his right side had now been covered in wooden shrapnel, and his left one seemed to be flaring with renewed pain, as it looked broken in various points, where he had landed on the cobblestone that composed the road's floor.

His left side was oozing blood from the shards of wood and melted metal of the inner door frame, but still, as his vision grew blurry from the shock and the blood loss, he couldn't help but see small flickers of blue force him to walk, and then run, away from there.

As his eyes closed, his body kept on running in a straight line, taking him farther and farther away from there.

Meanwhile, in the hotel room, Yurinojo, who had effectively managed to counter the explosion by jumping behind the wooden desk of the room, thanking his previous preparation of said contingency, cursed slowly…the boy was probably dead, but he could at least try and sell for a high price his own skin.

"Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyō!" as from his sleeves dried flower petals emerged, dashing as well as steel shurikens, all that Raiga Kurosuki had to do was bring his twin swords, sparkling with electricity, in front of him, before yelling out loud with a happy smirk.

"You truly think those puny projectiles are going to work!" and then, in a blur, they were all knocked around him, with precision, even those that would have hit him through ricochet, like he had eyes behind his head.

"No, but this will," and with those words, the man exclaimed, "To the Daimyo I pledged my life! Hana Ninpō: Hyakkoryōran!" and the flowers, the ones that had been deflected all around them, that had covered the room in broken petals and colors, suddenly flared with flames, before outright exploding, making the room, and the entire floor, explode in an inferno of unexpected intensity.

Out from the burning window, a covered in electricity humanoid figure jumped, to land without a problem on the road, before muttering to himself.

"Raigeki no Yoroi without the Kiba's I'd have died too, but in death I will remember your deeds!" as he began crying, earnestly, a voice whispered something behind him, making the man nod.

"Yes, you're right…one is still alive…I will give him proper burial for this, look, follow the blood," and with that, he began to run, following the trail of blood that stopped in a nearby alley, where a small grey-blond boy stood, covered in wounds from both sides, but still breathing, albeit raggedly, and slowly.

"There he is…such resilience…I do not know your name," Raiga whispered to himself, with a strange mad smile, "But I will bury you while my heart will cry for you."

*Itachi and Anko*

The fifteen days passed.

It was precisely as the fifteenth day came to an end, that Itachi, without a single moment of hesitation, walked straight in front of Kakashi, who had already closed his Icha-Icha book, and was sweating slightly, to the Uchiha's eyes, the man was a mixture of worry, tension and stress…but mostly, guilt.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's me," Itachi spoke slowly, letting his henge go. The days had been…most interesting, being forced into the women's bathrooms was something he would never forget, especially with his sharingan's ability…his father would probably have a mixture of a heart attack and a male pride thumb up, if he knew of that.

"Itachi-chan?" Kakashi said, slowly getting out of his surprise, as he knew pretty well how they had camouflaged themselves, before turning to Anko's Henged form, the female version of Naruto, probably, albeit a bit higher in height than the boy himself, still, he couldn't help but admit *it* was cute.

"We think Naruto's in trouble," Anko said, "He should have been here today, but he's not."

"Did you achieve information on the criminal brothers?" Kakashi asked, looking at the two who, awkwardly, nodded.

"We did: they shipped in from the land of demons medical equipment, and have been buying weapons, traps and explosive from Iwagakure, we've got copies of the forms and the various notes to pinpoint who is corrupted in the border's security," with those words coming from Anko, Kakashi nodded.

"Then the mission is done. What did Naruto say if this happened?"

"He said to leave him there, as rules dictated that we shouldn't rescue a captured shinobi, if we have important information to deliver swiftly," Itachi replied, before grabbing a scroll and handing it over to Kakashi, as Anko did the same thing.

"These are the information we got, Kakashi-sensei, we're going in to rescue our friend, so we thought you'd want to go back to Konoha…I know it's insubordination, but…" as Anko started, Kakashi simply grabbed the two scrolls, making the correct hand signs to summon…a small cub.

"Pakkun-kun!" as soon as Kakashi said that with an eye-smile, he tied the two scrolls to the small pug, before saying, "Now off you go to sensei's office!" and with that, he dispersed the small dog.

"Sensei?" Anko asked, perplexed, as Kakashi simply got up.

"We're going to look for and save Naruto. If he was captured, there is a high chance he is still alive, as the criminal brothers would probably try to get as many secrets as possible from him…" with those words, Kakashi dearly hoped the boy was captured when trying to leave, as, albeit he had high regards on his resiliency, he was pretty sure even he wouldn't be able to survive more than a week of interrogation, especially not from scum like the criminal brothers.

"This is entirely my fault," Itachi whispered, as they dashed through the countryside, their forehead protectors hidden, "I shouldn't have simply accepted his plan, I should have insisted on going along," as he said that, Kakashi narrowed his only visible eye.

"No, Itachi-kun, Naruto's plan was sound: he would infiltrate, prepare the area, and then have you join him when the risk of being discovered would have been minimized. He has learned how to avoid the people's gaze and stares through the hard way, and it's something you can't simply pick up, no matter how hard you train…"

"Sensei, doesn't that mean that, whoever found him, has to be extremely strong?" as Anko said that, Kakashi winced slightly.

"Yes, I should have thought better than to send him alone, but as a Chuunin, one must learn what to do no matter how dire the circumstances…but I'm impressed, any normal team would have followed regulations, leaving Naruto behind," as Kakashi pointed that out, Anko snarled, for once shocking even the silver-haired Jounin, who had never heard the purple haired Kunoichi going angry...

"I don't care if you're impressed or not: you'd better pray that Naru-chan's alive, because otherwise you are going to explain it to his mother!" as she exclaimed that, Kakashi actually paled.

"Yes, I understand: It's the duty of the team leader to take the blame…I'm sure Naruto is going to happily accept it, when he comes back, alive and well," as soon as the copy-cat ninja said that, Itachi sighed.

*Naruto*

It was dark.

That much was a given.

He remembered the medic's laughing, the calls, the shrieks, the pain he suffered.

He remembered it and at the same time he forgot about it.

He felt the tremor and the nausea coming once more, as his consciousness slipped deeper down than normal, like a pitch black darkness wished to surround his body, claiming him for the final rest.

It wasn't a bed, what his back touched, or soft blue fur, only cold, hard, concrete, spikes and twisted branches growing into horrible landscapes of nightmarish intensity.

There were snakes, black snakes, faintly emanating purplish hues, hissing furiously and letting their fangs and jaws snap at him, at him of all people.

But they were held back by a faint blue fire that seemed to be burning around him, casting a ghostly hue on the grass.

**So you're going to die.** The voice spoke from behind him, but he didn't turn, he had a hunch, one that he shouldn't turn around, or he'd scream, he'd cry, he'd probably go mad.

"Kyuubi?" Naruto whispered, his voice echoing through the clearing, as the black snakes waited, the fire dwindling.

**Yes.** Came the reply, slowly, as Naruto could feel solid, strong, and sharpened claws, or were they bone fingers, touching his shoulders.

"This…what is this?" the boy whispered, his eyes shivering just so slightly, as more and more of those vegetal tendrils grew towards the sky, surrounding them in a dome of pitch black darkness and faint purplish snakes.

"Moryo, the demon that controls the Ghost Army, he who seeks a Thousand's year kingdom, a Sennen Ōkoku, I knew of him sealed, but I didn't expect him try and come here…the Hubris…the violence against the laws dictated by Kami," as the voice now very much similar to Naruto whispered behind him, the boy gulped, he couldn't turn around, no, he wouldn't.

"So…I'm dead?" at that, the hands of the Kyuubi serrated themselves against his shoulders, causing him pain.

"Do you wish to be dead?" The Kyuubi replied, "To eternally sleep within the Shinigami's grasp? To never let your eyes open to the light of the day? To be at peace? Forever, and without troubles? Do you seek the escape from a reality of pain, of darkness, of hatred and of despair?"

"I…" Naruto's words died in his throat…what about Kaa-san? She'd certainly cry, blame Konoha, and leave to drink her sorrows away.

What about Anko? She'd never realize the beauty of Ramen over Dangos.

What about Itachi? Would he still go on, laughing and smiling, or would he revert back to being the serious and stiff boy the clan wanted?

What about Jiji? And Uncle Jiraiya? What about Neji, who he had saved from becoming a fate-crap follower? What about the truth? What about Shizune-Oneesan? What about Kakashi-Niisan? What about Yuhi-san, Ibiki-san, Teuchi and Ayame-chan? What about Konoha? What about the chameleon summons, that counted on him to kick salamander's ass?

"I have so many things…so many people…I can't die," as he whispered that, the Kyuubi merely stood silent.

"You remind me of a stupid individual…so much stupid, that she believed the very same things you do…until immortality claimed his toll, and she lost them all…I can save you, and me, but there is a price I want you to pay," at those words, Naruto gulped.

"What is it?" as the pale blue fire started to diminish, the Kyuubi suddenly spun him around to stare straight ahead at the horror he himself had dreamed of.

Bone hands that ended into arms that had been flailed of their skin, burns and slashes all across the body, both eyes crushed and bleeding, the hair removed, and turned to a sickening amass of wounds and broken bone splinters, an open chest and smashed apart legs, and yet…it stared at him, through crushed eyes of pale blue light, the iron choker around his neck, standing there, hypnotizing his gaze.

"Loosen the choker, and let us be…friends," as soon as he spoke that, Naruto stopped breathing, he wanted to scream, at the monstrosity in front of him, but at the same time, he wanted to understand what it meant, how much would he have to loosen it? What did he mean by becoming friends?

"I'm a female, by the way," the tortured and broken *him* spoke, as the thoughts ran through Naruto's mind.

"Wh…Why the form?" he managed to croak out, as the flames began to flicker down to a bare pallid hue.

"This is what your psyche portrays me…in peace, I am something you can relate, and understand, in this situation…I am your worst nightmare…but there isn't any time left, loosen it, or we're both going to die!" as soon as she spoke that, Naruto managed to barely grasp it, pushing it forward to loosen it greatly, and, the next moment, the flames brightly flared towards the enclosed skies, just as the body transformed into a nine-tailed blue fox, whose blue fire so much resembled that of ghosts in stories.

Then the fox increased in size, just as she grabbed Naruto within her jaws, throwing him atop her head, while her tails, burning with flames the color of the sky, crashed down on the ground around them, swiping away in a wave of fire the snakes, that began retreating just as, within seconds, the twisted and wicked vegetal spikes retracted, allowing the place in which they were to revert back to an enclosed room, with a giant bed.

**This is better**. The Kyuubi muttered, letting her neck crack a bit as she moved it, the choker was now more of a necklace, as the blue sky eyes of the fox looked around playfully, while Naruto simply held for his dear life on the beast's head.

"Is…Is everything alright now?" Naruto whispered, albeit his vision felt blurry, and his knees seemed to be giving in.

**I suppose…though you might want to grit your teeth…it's not over yet. **As the Kyuubi spoke, Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath…so, he had befriended the Nine tailed beast, who was a she, and he had been in the process of dying till seconds before.

What was worse was that he recalled perfectly well where he was now, but mostly, he recalled the condition his body *was* in.

"It's going to hurt like crazy…right?" he whispered.

**I'm going to mend you as much as I can…but you will have to claw your way out of here…literally.**

"What do you mean?" Naruto queried, worried.

**Until you get your hands back, I'll materialize my claws next to you…it's not going to be pretty…but I need you to latch onto the closest living being you sense, we probably won't have more than one chance at this…understood?**

"Latch? What do you mean, latch?"

**Bite him…you can't do much else.**

"…Let's do this," Naruto whispered, as, suddenly, all a new level of pain passed through his body.

*Outside*

He had lasted for six days, after having spent nearly a week in Yomi's hands to get information on who he was and who had sent him…but he had never spoken, always putting up a fight, no matter the torture inflicted. Now, however, Ranmaru had warned him that the boy was at his final breath, the boy's Kekkei Genkai had been really useful, and with that, Raiga had decided to move to assist at the scene with his very own eyes.

"Ranmaru-kun: tell me when he exhales his last breath," as soon as Raiga said that, the small boy held on his back whispered a reply.

"Hai Raiga-san," the boy could see the world thanks to his friend and caretaker, he didn't like what he did, but he knew that, deep down, the missing-nin from Kirigakure was a good person. As he turned on his eye's power, which made him able to detect presences, life and chakra of individuals, as well as wounds, he looked at the fainting blue hue that was the shinobi they had captured, asking questions around town…he never stood a chance of going undetected, because his chakra pool had marked him as an unique presence to Ranmaru, and he had obviously warned Raiga immediately.

Just as he concentrated on the boy, suddenly, he closed his eyes in a scream.

"Ranmaru! What's the problem!" Raiga exclaimed, suddenly extracting the Kibas, just as the ground of the boy's grave cracked, splintered, and mist erupted from within it, then, in a split second, a deafening roar followed ghastly blue claws that seemed to fluctuate, their extremities letting out blue fire as they pounced at the swordsman of the mist.

Raiga tried to move backwards, but just as he did, the grave exploded in dirt and mist, shrouding the area with a Jutsu he knew all too well.

"This is Kirigakure no Jutsu, Ranmaru, pay attention!" The boy was simply crying, screaming out to the top of his lungs.

"It hurts! It hurts! I can't see anything Raiga-san! Darkness! Only darkness!" the flash of blue light that had appeared for a brief second had outright blinded the boy, and just like that, the mist moved, as a bone clawed hand dashed forward.

"I'm sorry Ranmaru-kun," Raiga whispered, as he could feel the boy being taken from his shoulders, but without his eyes…was it worthy of fighting a man who had defeated death? Then he heard the screams, the growls, the tearing of flesh, and finally, the mist dispersed.

There stood Naruto Senju, his mouth covered in blood, his arms repaired by strong blue willows of chakra that recreated his very own tendons and muscles, his skin patching itself up as his smashed up legs resumed their normal aspect, his skull returning to normality as his eyes popped back into their place, returning their narrow sapphire gaze on the swordsman of the mist.

In his mouth, the blood still fresh, dripping down his throat, stood Ranmaru, who was then spat to the side, as the pale flaming white claws, coming from blue furred paws, that seemed to levitate around the boy, slowly dispersed, leaving the two of them to stare at each other.

"Who are you?" Raiga muttered, while his eyes fixated on such a monstrous being that had seemingly returned from the very dead, and repaired damage known to be impossible to repair.

"Tell me your dreams, and I'll give you your nightmares," Naruto whispered, his voice coarse, his thirst for water great, as his eyes, looking straight through the depth of the man, saw, for once, they actually saw.

"To find your place in the world," he spat out, "To find your haven," he added, "To seek refuge and solace, to cleanse your hands of sprayed blood, to seek peace for your soul, to atone your crimes," as he took a step forward, Raiga Kurosuki, leader of the Kurosuki family, Anbu level shinobi and Huntin Nin of Kirigakure, took a step backwards. Why were those eyes looking at him like that? Why were those eyes born of the pits of hell itself looking at him with such distaste and scorn? Those clear icy blue eyes that seemed to be lit with the pale ghost flames of the other life?

"Your nightmares are here, Raiga Kurosuki…may you never find peace," as moans and laments echoed through the graveyard, a mist slowly rose from the very graves, as blackish and shrouded with robes creatures flew silently closer, far graver screams coming from close by made the man pale, and with that, the ninja ran, he ran for his life, he ran because the thing behind him seemed to control death itself, darkness, the ghosts, the other life, because the dead seemed to obey his words, his commands, because the shinigami stood behind him, smiling wickedly, because the ghost fires danced at his back, and the demons waited his words…and he wanted to keep his soul to himself.

Then, the mist dissolved, and Naruto fell on the ground, fainting from chakra exhaustion…but with a single thought in his mind:

"_Note to self: Henges and Kirigakure no Jutsu are awesome in combination."_

**Obviously because *I* was there to lend you a hand…or two.**

"…"

**Oh…he fainted. Well…Goodnight then.**

*Kakashi*

"Chidori!" as soon as the copy-cat ninja slammed it straight through the chest of the man in front of him, the metallic dust that had been collecting, and holding both Anko and Itachi prisoners, reversed its effect, effectively engulfing the man into its own Jutsu, and bringing him to a gruesome end.

"That was Jiga of the criminal brothers…where are the others?" Itachi whispered, cleansing himself of the dust, wincing as he stared at the now desert streets around them.

They had barely entered town, that they had been attacked, sure, the fact that Kakashi had ordered them to put back on Konoha's forehead protectors in order to draw out the enemy fire was working…maybe a bit too much.

"Right here sweet pie!" a voice called, forcing Itachi to spin around, his kunai parrying a set of senbon needles being thrown at him. The voice belonged to an orange haired woman, that seemed to be holding a set of senbon needles per hand, and also had a sort of wicked and slightly mad grin, as blue lines seemed to pass through her face, her eyes dark.

"Just who…" but Itachi couldn't finish, as the woman simply roared, straight back at the Uchiha.

"Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!" as the highly compressed water jet slashed forward, Itachi's sharingan blared to life, granting him the nick of time needed to roll to the side, and avoid said blast, just as Kakashi's face drained of emotions.

"_Just where did they send us! This isn't a C-rank mission! It's an S-rank one!"_ using his own sharingan was a cost of chakra of immense proportions, but what surprised him the most was the fact that Itachi had actually managed to dodge the attack, that had ended up crashing against the houses, tearing them asunder as debris flew in the air.

Anko on the other hand had given a simple nod at Itachi, and had begun running away from the battle, or so it seemed.

"No running from me, girl!" The Kunoichi with the strange facial paint giggled perversely, as she raised both her palms in the air, yelling, "Suishū Gorugon!" the mass of water suddenly appeared like a thick blue wall of jelly, before she saw the silver-haired Jounin charge at her, but, with a smirk, she yelled again.

"Suiton: Suiryūben!" and in that moment, all Anko could do was bit her thumb, exclaiming out loud.

"Sen'eijashu!" as the snakes extended from her arm, they extended onto a nearby roof that was still intact, bringing her out of harm's way as the mass of water generated sharp water-spikes, that prevented Kakashi from outright charging in, while Itachi, in his own way, threw his kunai at the Kunoichi, while finishing the hand signs for his technique.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" just as the fire bullets dashed forward, hitting the water spikes that seemingly impaired Kakashi's charge, the silver haired Jounin narrowed both his eyes, before muttering.

"No choice: all-out we go, Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu!" electricity from his hand sparkled, before generating a leashed hound made entirely of electricity, that dashing through the holes in the water spikes, and increased in its potency by the previous passage of the fire technique in the air, struck the woman by surprise, as its electrical body tackled the Kunoichi's one, sending the current thorough her body, that, convulsing in spasms, quickly fell on the ground, where Itachi, without wasting time as the water techniques had dispersed, brought his kunai down on her neck, killing her without a second's thought.

"Itachi," Kakashi panted, heavily sweating, as he closed his sharingan eye, letting a forehead protector rest over him, "We need to find Naruto-kun fast…whatever is happening here isn't something that he could handle alone…" as the boy nodded, they both tried to dash after Anko, tried, because Kakashi simply fell on the ground, after just a couple of steps, and Itachi, knowing full well his limits, could do nothing but express shock, as he launched himself to grab the copy-cat Ninja, and then push him out of the road, to hide in a half-crumbled alleyway.

"_Anko, I hope you'll be able to handle whatever you find about Naruto-kun alone…"_ just as he thought that, he took a Kunai out, and began laying tripwire nearby…he had to defend the point until either Anko came back, or Kakashi awoke…one of the two things.

*Anko*

Those were some scary people and scarily strong.

She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared. She was scared because they hadn't had any news from Naruto till then, but had been attacked the moment they had put on their forehead protector…if the weakness of that man hadn't been electricity, something of which Kakashi was a natural at, then they would have probably died right there. Was that what had happened to Naruto? No, he was probably alive, somewhere, crying because his Anko-chan wasn't there with her healthy dose of Dangos. She had to save the brat, to show him that Dangos were superiors to Ramen.

Deep down, she knew she was afraid of losing the boy. Really, even though she had gone through shit, she had hit him, spoke badly of him, and then outright faulted him of things that weren't his fault, nor that he could control, and he had forgiven her, without a second thought, without hesitation…he had even smiled when she had asked if they were friends, like she had just opened a box of pure bliss…was it because of the Dangos? She didn't know…she just knew it would feel wrong, to be alive and for him to be dead. It would be utterly, horribly wrong.

So, as her snakes in her forearms guided her through pushes towards the source of the boy's smell, she dreaded the sight of the cemetery, she cringed, at the smell of blood, and she outright screamed, at the sight of two bodies, one of which sported a blond spiky hair.

The other was covered in blood, and seemed to have been ferociously bitten in the neck area, while the other, Naruto's, was practically unscathed.

Anko got on her knees right next to the boy, bringing her head to his chest, and then, she calmed her own heart in an attempt to hear his own. Seconds later, when her breath got steadier, she heard it.

His heartbeat was still there.

He was alive.

"Thank Kami," she whispered, but just as soon as she said that, she was forced to tense, as somebody, in the cemetery, began walking at a furious speed to charge at her.

She grabbed the boy and jumped backwards, avoiding a pair of arachnid like arts coming from a strange creature, wielding three faces, all sporting white hair, that simply seemed to be laughing repeatedly.

"Ahah! Yomi-sama was right! He *is* a container! Good, good! Give him to us! The great Moryo will awaken and use him as his vessel!" Anko gritted her teeth, using her left hand to throw a kunai at the monster that simply laughed at it, while exclaiming.

"Doton: Kōka Jutsu! With this, nothing will stop me!" as his entire body covered itself in hard rock, it didn't matter how many kunais Anko threw at it, they all flung back.

With Naruto on her right shoulder, thankful he didn't weight that much, she could but dash away, hoping he wouldn't manage to reach her.

"Let us play! Let us play! Doton: Tsuchi Kairō!" just with that, walls of stone rose in the direction Anko was taking, corpses laid to rest beneath the tombs suddenly sprung upwards due to this, and just as she found herself surrounded, they came back down with sickening crunches, falling all around her.

"I think I'm going to puke," Anko muttered, as her eyes were set on that man…just a step forward…just a step more.

"Let's g…" and just as the six-armed man was about to move, another voice snapped.

"Stop Gitai! There's a trap in front of you!" Anko looked at the pink-haired man who had spoken, and to which the voice belonged, gritting her teeth.

"Kusuna! Just in time! Give me a quick fix please! I want to burn the Kunoichi alive!" as soon as he said that, black snakes erupted from the back of the purple haired man, who whispered.

"Kyōka Shohō: Chakura Chūnyū!" just like that, the snake connected to the giant's back, and as his rock armor disappeared, it left the place to fiery red flames, that seemingly made him into a demonic appearance.

"This is better!" as he exclaimed that, the guy replied.

"We need the container's body intact…a pity we didn't know of his…qualities, before torturing him…dissecting him alive was something Amachi-san truly enjoyed," as soon as he pointed that out, something clicked into Anko's brain.

"_Amachi…Amachi…I heard the name…Did I?" _but just as the name came, so came the realization of what the bastards had done.

She gritted her teeth, letting Naruto gently down on the ground.

"So…you had fun harming my teammate, huh?" she snarled, as her neck tensed, slowly the blue nines started to spin vividly, as the same ink-motif so common to the cursed seal spread, albeit of a faint pale blue hue.

"Well…I've got bad news for you," she growled, just as she could feel power running through her veins, coursing through her muscles, her fingers twitching with desire to snap the necks of those in front of her, "Nobody messes with him except me," and with that, in a blur of speed, she disappeared from in front the two.

Her right fist, now enlarged in shape and covered with dark green scales, connected with the side of the giant arachnid man, flinging him against the cemetery's very own walls, meters away from where they had been fighting, while her entire skin turned darker, covered in scales, horns emerging from the sides of her temples. Unknown to her, the numbers that seemed to surround her cursed seal had been slowly diminishing, like a sort of timer, every nine slowly ticking down, first to eight, then to seven, and so on, until it disappeared and it moved on to the next one.

Looking at the pink-haired man, she smiled, opening her jaws, to release a thick stream of web threads, that, covering the area with no escape possibility, made her grin, as she muttered.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" Just like that, the fire extended from the threads, burning downwards like a fiery fire, incinerating through the screams of pain Kusuna, who couldn't free himself in time from them.

The other, Gitai, slowly got up, coughing blood and feeling weak, as his internal organs seemed to have been literally moved to one side from the strength of the blow.

Still, he could get to the container, if he dashed fast enough.

He wasn't that fast.

Just as his right uppermost hand reached the tip of the boy's hair he felt himself grabbed from behind by something strong, and, just as he barely turned his head to look, he realized the smile, that would have seemed sweet and tender to a demon's perspective, was outright wicked and diabolical, as Anko, without a second of thought, smashed his ankle, and then swiftly started smashing his all body while bringing him further away from Naruto and closer to her, until, in a final moment of outright mad laughter, she smashed his very own head like toothpaste.

"There you go!" Anko smiled cheerfully, as the last blue nine suddenly flickered to a halt at the number three, before Anko's form slowly reverted back to her normal self, as she fell on the ground, her chakra being drained just as the numbers suddenly sprouted upwards, returning to the normal nine nines that circled her cursed seal.

"Anf…What the…" the purple-haired kunoichi barfed to her side, holding her stomach with her left hand, while her right was on her shoulder, that was flaring with pain, "What…" the cemetery seemed to have gone through an apocalyptic scenario, fires were still burning, as she slowly crouched next to Naruto, trying to decide if she could, actually, lift him up again or not.

Deciding for the *not* she simply sat right next to him: without a doubt the police of the capital should have already arrived there…if they hadn't, then it meant something else was keeping them off. She hoped it was Kakashi-sensei and Itachi.

Unknown to her, a white-haired man with cold brown eyes was watching the scene, holding a kunai in his right hand, while ferociously biting his lips in an attempt to decide. His cold gaze was turned to the amassed bodies that lay just a bit further from the cemetery's sight. An entire city could crumble in a split second, if he wanted to, he could just write it off as a mystery, and be done with the diplomatic incident of having Konoha shinobis within another legislation. He couldn't, however, come to terms with the events he had watched.

Did that man really seal the Kyuubi in Naruto? But then, why…why tell him that sentence?

"_The seal…couldn't finish…Iron to strengthen it…Naruto…" _did he misunderstand those words? Did he truly make a mistake? Now it was too late to change anything. He could only watch from the shadows now.

As he went through the hand signs, he looked at the mass of bodies with the all too familiar slashes that had brought them down…he couldn't let them to be found like this.

"Raiton: Electromagnetic Murder" it was as soft as a whisper, but his chakra took form, refining itself into a mass of electricity that dashed through the road, cracking and burning to unrecognizable level the bodies, splintering and setting them ablaze by the intensity of the thunder. Then, the road gave in, falling downwards, bringing the bodies to become even less humanoid, and more of blood sacs that had been repeatedly smashed by the boulders of the nearby falling houses.

It was done, and, with a small flicker of light, he was no more.

*Itachi*

On the other side of the alley that he had carefully booby-trapped, while waiting for Kakashi to come back to his sense, stood two man with long flowing black hair, but one of the two was clad in a white attire, while the other wore blackish clothes.

"Setsuna, kill them," as the man spoke with barely an interested tone to the other one, the reply came with a sort incessant nodding.

"Yes Yomi-sama! Yes!" and just as the symbols for the jutsu was done, he roared: "Fūton: Kami Oroshi!" to his avail, Itachi didn't flinch at the incoming air tunnel of searing wind that would have reduced both him and Kakashi to minced meat. He swiftly countered.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" just as the two techniques clashed, exploding into the middle, Itachi's sharingan forced him to realize that it wouldn't last. Albeit wind techniques were weak against fire ones, there was a difference: it was like using droplets of water to avoid a giant oak tree from dying of thirst…there were times were advantage didn't matter against sheer strength.

Just as Itachi brought both of his hands forward, in an attempt to parry what he could, he gritted his teeth, ready to take on the concussive force and the tearing.

That was when a figure with a green mantle, the kanji for Gambler on his back, appeared in front of them, punching the ground to let the earth literally crack and rise to generate more cover, against which the wind tornado simply dispersed.

"Itachi! Where's Naruto?" Tsunade exclaimed, just as Setsuna, without even waiting for an answer from Yomi, roared again.

"Fūton: Kamikaze!" as tornadoes of air darted forward, encircling the woman's position, whoever it was, the twin-tailed Kunoichi simply sported an angry tick-mark, as she lifted her right foot in the air, before crashing it down while yelling.

"Tsūtenkyaku!" Itachi winced, as the very ground beneath them gave way to an enormous crater, that sent out of trajectory the tornadoes, but also forced Itachi to pin down Kakashi, before his knocked out state made him roll away.

"Talk later then!" Just with that, Tsunade charged forward, her right fist ready to pounce, as, much to Setsuna's dismay…he realized Yomi was no longer there, and he was all out of chakra.

With a final scream, Tsunade's furious punch connected with the body of the enemy, cracking through the ribcage and flinging him on the other side of the village, without as much as breaking a sweat on the sannin's forehead.

"Good," she muttered, turning to stomp right in front of the fainted Kakashi, her face now outright furious, as she grabbed the copy-cat ninja by the flak jacket, before letting her left hand, glowing a faint green, to move next to his head, waking him up in less than a second.

"Kakashi," Tsunade said, with one of her really sweet smiles that, however, made the silver-haired Jounin realize just how badly it was, "Where is my son, huh?"

To his defense, Kakashi thought about giving a valid excuse, one that would avoid leaving him worse than what he actually was. On the other hand, he knew that Anko, who had been sent to look for Naruto, could be in trouble, so he did the only thing he could do…he spoke before thinking.

"I don't know, but Anko was sent to…" and then he was flung on the ground by a really pissed off slug princess.

"You don't know? You're his sensei! You damn better hope he's fine! Itachi! Where's Anko!" as she turned her attention to Itachi, the boy gulped down, before replying.

"She went that way but…I'm not a tracker," at that excuse, Tsunade yelled.

"Shizune!" as soon as she snapped that to the sky, Shizune, wearing the Chuunin flak vest, appeared while holding Tonton within her arms.

"Tsunade-sama! Tonton has the track of Naruto-kun but…"

"But what?" Tsunade muttered back.

"It's going in two directions…" at that, Shizune fidgeted, and Tsunade, knowing fully well that her apprentice wouldn't fidget over nothing, suddenly narrowed her eyes.

"Where?" she asked, carefully.

"To the Daimyo's palace…or the cemetery," at those words, Itachi winced, before suggesting, seeing the shocked look on the slug sannin.

"Which of the two is closer, if one goes in that direction?" as he pointed towards where Anko had gone, Shizune simply paled, as Tsunade's eyes bulged in shock.

"No," the pig-tailed woman muttered, shaking her head repeatedly, "Don't say it."

"Tsunade-sama…" but Tsunade simply screeched, cutting off Shizune's attempt to say anything else.

"NO! Shizune, take care of Kakashi…keep him alive, because I'll have some words with him afterwards for the way he handled this mission!" with that, the head of the Senju clan simply dashed off, leaving behind a cloud of dust, just as Itachi, sighing, sat down, taking out his water flask to have a sip.

"_Putting tea in a water flask was a great idea…I hope Tsunade-san won't mind if I get a piece of Kakashi-sensei, if anything happened to Naruto-kun," _as Itachi thought that, while keeping a seemingly eased and tranquil expression, he mulled a thought that was then spoken to Shizune.

"Shizune-san, where are the village's guards?" at that question, the woman coughed slightly, turning his gaze elsewhere, making the Uchiha narrow his gaze.

"You did not," he muttered, "This didn't happen," he added, shaking his head.

"With the information uncovered, the Hokage deemed it necessary to send a higher-level team to infiltrate the premises…he sent Jiraiya himself to infiltrate the village, since he told us he was nearby and the easiest to contact," with those words coming from Shizune's mouth, Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"He stopped showing up for more than two years…it seems awfully convenient he was in the proximity of this…matter, and couldn't warn Konoha in time of how difficult the mission could turn out to be," as soon as the Uchiha heir pointed that out, Shizune simply shook her head, deciding to pop a soldier pill into the Jounin's mouth, and forcing him to gulp it down by controlling through her medical jutsu the muscles in the jaws and the neck.

"Maybe he simply didn't think about it, Jiraiya-sama is a really busy man after all, his spy network is one of the best there is," and just as she pointed that out, a loud cry came from not too far away, followed by a loud set of screams.

"YOSH!" the voice made Itachi wince, as Shizune sighed while Kakashi's body naturally twitched.

A cloud of dust with green flickers within ran, pursuing what seemed a scared senseless man with light purple hair, yellow eyes and a pair of wooden Tonfas.

"Suiton: Suiten Hōfutsu! Damn it! Stop dodging them! Gyah! Help! This guy is mad!" as bubbles of water erupted all around the fleeing man, the pursuer, now more recognizable as a clad in a green spandex man with dark bushy eyebrows and dark casket-cut hair, yelled right back at the tonfa-wielding brigand.

"Dainamikku Entorī!" as the kick sent the opponent on the ground, where it bounced leaving behind a small crater, due to the strength of the kick, the green clad beast of Konoha roared, while doing a set of punch and kicks against the now in the air opponent, "Dainamikku-Akushyon!" by the time it was over, the body lay limp on the ground, as the man, raising his right hand with his thumb up exclaimed.

"The sublime green beast of Konoha is here! My rival Kakashi! You are in need of the power of youth!" just as Kakashi slowly opened his normal eye, he closed it again.

"This is a nightmare," the Jounin whispered, "A really bad nightmare," he added.

"Maito Gai is one of the Jounins under Tsunade-sama's command, to free the land of vegetables from this organized crime syndicate," as soon as Shizune said that, Itachi's eye gazed in the direction the man had come from, to reveal two familiar silhouettes.

One belonged to a dark haired woman with red eyes, who, except for a Jounin flak vest, wore a sort of bandage-like one piece dress, with bandages wrapped delicately also around her arms.

The other was wearing a black cap, covering his head, a tough look on his face and a sort of smirk, as his forehead protector seemed to have been embedded on the black head warmer itself. It meant a Tokubetsu Jounin, and Itachi didn't need much to know what the man's specialty was…he had boasted it during the party given in honor of his promotion.

Kurenai Yuhi and Ibiki Morino arrived in a slight rush, sweat coming down in small quantities from their faces, having clearly been running till then.

Ibiki had a man on his shoulder, tied up and probably knocked unconscious, while Kurenai was holding what seemed like a girl, covered in rich embroiled clothes.

"You just didn't kidnap the Daimyo's daughter," Itachi pointed out, his Uchiha and family profession suddenly bolting up.

"We sure didn't boy!" Ibiki replied with a grin, "We saved the Daimyo's daughter, even though she didn't believe us, at first…but Yuhi-chan has her way too to make people believe…in her," snickering, the Genjutsu user turned her red eyes, that glinted with worry, to Itachi, Shizune and Kakashi.

"Where are Anko-chan and Naruto-kun, Itachi-kun?" as Kurenai spoke quietly, the Uchiha's gaze turned for a moment to worry.

"Naruto-kun came up with a plan which involved us splitting up: he'd infiltrate the city and then come and get us…we were just meant to gather information and leave if the situation turned risky," as Itachi explained, Ibiki dropped the man on his shoulder on top of the one knocked out cold by Gai, who, him too, turned to listen the tale of what had happened.

"We gathered it in the outskirts, concerning things that passed the border, me and Anko, while waiting for him to come back and then move together towards the village, but…well, he gave us a fifteen days limit of time, afterwards, we should have abandoned him…" as Itachi spoke, Kakashi decided to open his eye completely, to butt in the conversation.

"I thought the mission wouldn't prove to be any difficulty, Naruto's use of Henges and cunningness was perfect, and thus I decided to concentrate on both Itachi and Anko's situation…I couldn't keep up a Kage Bunshin for both sections of the team," as Kakashi admitted that, Kurenai narrowed her eyes.

"They should have stuck together like a team, instead of going their separate ways."

"Kurenai-san," Itachi spoke quietly, "The plan proposed was good. If the security was so tight that they caught Naruto-kun, then they would have probably caught us even sooner, and probably Kakashi-sensei would have sprung into action later than what we could have afforded," with those words, Ibiki started having a nice set of thoughts…he did have an assignment in a month…he could use this.

"Still, the Chuunin exams are going to be held in less than half a month, if Naruto was wounded, do you think your team would be able to participate?" at Kurenai's question, Itachi simply shrugged.

"Chuunin promotion can also come from participating in enough missions to warrant the increase in rank, or field promotion by a Jounin-sensei with the support of at least three other Jounins…and since it seems this mission was upgraded…I *do* believe it would utterly stupid to leave us as mere Genins any longer," as the raven-haired boy spoke, Kakashi chuckled.

"Uchiha pride finally coming around, Itachi?" as the boy narrowed his gaze to Kakashi, the silver-haired Jounin simply smiled with his only visible eye, before muttering.

"Don't worry though…If you don't make it in time for the exam, I'll personally file the team's promotion request," at the copy-cat's words, Itachi barely nodded.

All he could do now was hope: hope that Naruto and Anko were fine.

*Anko*

She felt movement, coming at an extremely accelerated pace towards them.

She opened her eyes, clenching tightly the grey and blond boy next to her, as she rolled to the side, avoiding a giant black snake, seemingly made of chakra that crashed and passed through the rock wall of the previous technique user.

A man with black long hair, light tan eyes with black pupils, and a facial goatee stood surrounded by those dark chakra snakes. He wore a grey shirt, a black trench coat, and martial artist shoes. His eyes showed interest, but not in her, no, in Naruto.

Those were the same eyes of Orochimaru, when he eyed something interesting.

Those eyes made her shiver, deep within.

"Please do drop the container," the man spoke carefully, a sort of gentle tone, even.

"No," Anko replied, raising her left forearm, "Sen'eijashu!" as green snakes dashed forward, the only reply she got was another set of dark chakra snake, that appeared from the man's trench coat, and that slashed through with ease, reaching her with their wicked fangs.

"Masui Sejutsu!" as the snakes were about to bit into her, Naruto's eyes, blue, clear-sky eyes opened up, as he pushed Anko away from him, saving her from the snake's ferocious bites.

"Naruto!" Anko exclaimed, getting on her feet after quickly rolling away from the snakes' range, only to see that the boy had been practically surrounded by those eerily horrific things.

"I should have realized when Amachi-san was dissecting you," Yomi spoke slowly, as he moved forward, strange black snakes erupting from his body, seemingly giving him a living armor of scales and dark chakra, "You were born to become the container of Moryo! Rejoice, for after I will train you in seeing the way of the great snake demon, you will become his container, and guide us towards…"

"**Shut up"** Naruto growled, as the snake's that had tried to near him, seemed to burn a bright blue flame, simply because they were close to the boy, and just as the flames moved backwards, they stopped halfway, tearing apart the dark scales and dispersing into willows of smoke together with said monstrous reptiles.

"**Need chakra,"** the boy whispered, his gaze, hungry and slightly feral, turning to the purple-haired Kunoichi, that had barely stood up, and was now wielding a kunai, slightly shivering at how the boy's aura seemed…wrong.

"Naru-kun?" Anko asked, hesitantly, as the boy simply smirked, before turning his gaze to Yomi.

"**Anko-san, provide assistance, right Hook formation,"** as the voice spoke with knowledge of battle plans only Naruto could know, Anko could but nod, gritting her teeth. She'd ask the boy about his voice change later, for now, all she did was to dash forward, to the right of the man.

Then, with a roar, the grey-haired boy charged straight ahead, his eyes fixated on Yomi himself, who, without as much as battling an eyelid, flung more snakes forward from within his trench coat.

At that moment, Naruto jumped to the right, where Anko, waiting with her hands in a receiving position, flung the boy high in the air, on the other side of the man, while twisting in mid-air to avoid the slashing and the biting of the snakes.

Just as Yomi turned around, not caring the slightest for the purple-haired Kunoichi, he didn't realize the strings attached to Naruto's right leg, knotted by Anko in a loose lace way when the boy had used her hands as a push-up.

Naruto was the Hook, and, within a second, the string was in the boy's hands, as pale blue flames rode through it, while Anko's own fire release rode the other way.

The spinning motion in the air not only helped the boy dodge Yomi's attacks, but also in encircling him into the thin cable, thus, when fire spread quickly, it burned the man.

Normally, Yomi would laugh at such a display of weak fire…the problem was the blue fire itself that, while not even showing its heat, was burning fiercer than the normal one, tearing apart into his very own armor and forcing him to bulge the dark chakra snakes outwards, to break the line.

In that moment, Anko flung forward the senbon needles coated in rattlesnake poison, aiming through the cracks of his armor, while Naruto, on the other hand…

"Naruto! No stop!" as Anko screamed that, the grey-haired boy simply ran straight ahead, his mouth opening up as, with what looked like a feral and utterly hungry stare, his teeth sunk into the man flesh, that suddenly jolted, before brighter blue flames surrounded the two, as Yomi's body burned, he couldn't help but smile…

"I don't even…feel the pain," he whispered, as his body, and what it contained, dissolved into the pale blue fire.

Then, Naruto spat, to the side, before starting a coughing fit that ended only when he regurgitate a mass of dark, vile chakra, that slowly seeped in the underground, letting the boy breathe normally, as what flames he had surrounding him subsided.

"Naruto?" Anko whispered, moving closer to the boy, who seemed to be…a bit better?

"Anko-chan," Naruto replied, trying an awry smile, "Are you…" but all he got back was a slap, and a slightly crying Kunoichi.

"Don't you dare ask me that question! Are YOU alright!" as she looked at him, worried, Naruto simply nodded, as he turned his gaze around.

"What happened?" He asked, perplexed.

**I might have helped you out.**

"_Wait…you're…"_

**Kyuubi-chan, Kurama-chan and Ku-chan for friends!** As the nine-tailed fox within his head giggled, saying that last sentence, Naruto stood ignorant of what was happening around him, as Anko *was* barraging him with questions.

"_Did you just…giggle that?"_

**Yes! But I need to go to sleep soon…the more I stay awake, the more chakra I consume from you! I know you have a lot of questions, but please, wait when you're fully rested, okay? Good! I'll be off to take a nap!**

"_Hey, wait, I…"_

…

"_She can't have fallen asleep that fast!"_ as Naruto's mind kept thinking about questions, no answers came back, forcing the grey-haired blond to simply sigh, a bad habit Itachi was giving him, and receive a knuckle-hit, one he hadn't received in a long time, for a really pissed off Anko.

"I was asking you questions!" She yelled, "Did you get a concussion or what? Just what happened, Naruto?"

"I…" Naruto muttered, "I'll write it in the report, yes: it's better that way," as he pointed that out, a nervous tick mark appeared on Anko's head.

"What are you speaking about? Huh? What is it that you don't want to tell me? Hey?" at that, the boy simply took a deep breath, before blurting out.

"You mean except going through nearly two weeks of torture! The last of which being buried alive, with both arms and legs flailed to the bone but STILL alive! Being dissected, tortured, shocked, jolted, burned, hit, drugged, and worse of it all? There's nothing now…look at me," as he pointed at his entire body, Anko was perplexed, he *did* have a battered, slashed, punctured and nearly destroyed outfit, but he didn't even have a single scar on him…had it been anyone else, she'd have called him a liar…but it was Naruto.

"Oh…" was all that she could whisper.

"Oh indeed," Naruto replied, bitterly, "Guess what? I will have to write it in the report, and nobody is going to believe me, because of who I am. So, claiming that I actually gave out secret information of Konoha, when I didn't, I didn't say a single word, but they won't care, and they will strip me of rank and send me somewhere, maybe prison, just because the Hokage has nothing better to do than make my life hell!" as he screamed that, Anko stood, shocked, at such a downpour of emotions coming out from the normal quiet and calm boy.

"Why! I think even this fucked up mission was his damn fucking fault!" at the use of swears, Anko paled, taking a step backwards, "HE sent us here with purpose! Just to watch me suffer and die! I'm sure the next thing I know he'll separate us, set us apart, and have me do the chuunin exam ALONE, just to kill me off in an accident! Well, two can play this damn frigging game, he wants my blood! I'll give him hell! I WILL GIVE HIM HELL!" as he basically screamed that, within tears, Anko did the only thing she could think off, and hugged him.

She hugged him tightly, letting her right hand caress gently his grey hair, as the boy simply cried out his pain, the tears he couldn't have dropped while being tortured, the yells, the anger, the frustration he couldn't show…the hatred he harbored.

A bit away, Tsunade simply stared at the scene. The first thing she had thought of, at the sight of Naruto alive, had been to rush over and hug him, before obviously slamming him against the ground…but right then, in that moment…she didn't know how to behave.

The boy had cracked, clearly, under the pressure and against the odds. How far the damage probably extended was something that she would need to check as fast as possible…but right then, all she could do was hesitantly step forward, silently waiting for the grey-haired boy, who was but ten years old, to stop crying.

*Two Days before the Exam*

It had been awkward, at first, as Naruto didn't even seem to be his usual self, closing himself up in a slight silent way, his coping mechanism seemed to be dreaming, and sleeping.

More than once, he had dozed off while walking, and it was only after a couple of hours that someone usually realized that. If sleepwalking didn't add to it, neither did the fact that, whenever he could, he avoided answering, leaving that to Itachi, or Anko, and, except for his outburst in the cemetery, he no longer yelled, or cried…but he didn't either speak about what had happened.

No matter how hard Kakashi had pried the boy, he had gotten back nothing but a half-sleepy stare, as all the boy seemed to do was sleep, walk while sleeping, or sleep-mumbling.

Like that, they had finally been in the vicinity of the village, but, except from Anko's second hand knowledge of what the boy had gone through, nobody had managed to actually answer their most important question: how was Naruto actually faring, within?  
You crack a bone, you wait and it mends. Every medic-nin, every ninja, knows that. What if, instead, you crack your own soul? What if you break, because of pressure, odds, because of fear? Well, some things, they heal with time. Other things, however, require a more delicate approach.

"Kakashi-sensei…I have a question," Itachi whispered, as the gates of Konoha came into view.

"Yes, Itachi-kun?" the silver-haired Jounin said, looking at one of his Genins.

"How did Tsunade-san and her team get to the capital so fast?" at that question, Tsunade grabbed Naruto under her arm, hugging him closely before saying, in a sort of cheerful way.

"Well, when it concerns my Naru-chan, I can go as far as convincing the Hokage himself to Hiraishin us right near the border!" at that, she realized Naruto had simply fallen asleep once more.

"I'm starting to think he's going Narcoleptic," Shizune muttered, worriedly.

"No…he's just exhausted, the poor thing," Tsunade replied, biting her lower lip, "He's got this severe case of chakra exhaustion, it's even a miracle he can walk right about now…but I didn't know he could sleepwalk," at that, Kurenai silently took out a camera.

"Ehm…Tsunade-san, would you mind if I took a couple of pictures?" as soon as she said that, Naruto slightly mumbled in his sleep, making such a cute pout that Kurenai instinctively pressed the button for the flash.

"Just make sure do give me copies of everything," the pig tailed blond woman replied, while, secretly, both Ibiki and Kakashi were silently frothing with jealousy: the boy was being lulled by the woman with the biggest breast ever to have existed, and many men would have killed, just to be in his position!

On the other side, Gai was simply going *Yosh! Yosh!* but far away from them, since waking up Naru-chan would have involved in him getting another set of eyebrows…and a new face.

Anko, however, was simply walking in a sort of dejected mood, last of the line.

Her eyes, light hazel, were fixated on the dirt road, as she couldn't help but feel that the breakdown was partially her fault too.

"_Stupid! It's not your fault or his! We're shinobis, ninjas, it happens! It can happen to anyone! It could have happened to you! It could have happened to Itachi or Kakashi-sensei! It could have happened to Tsunade-san or even to Kure-chan, so you can't say it was your fault!" _as she thought, sadly, she let out a frustrated groan. Every time she doubted herself, she felt under the weather, every time she wasn't cheery, or happy, or decisive, she felt like if something was syphoning off her vitality. She shook her head, deciding that certain thoughts were best left untouched, and she plastered a happy smile on her face, as she sped up, to get a glimpse of a sleeping Naru-chan.

"Aw…so cute!" she muttered, as Kurenai nodded vividly, taking another picture, while Itachi, a nervous tick mark on his forehead, turned to Kakashi.

"Sensei," he whispered, looking at the silver-haired Jounin, who rolled his only visible eye, before replying to the one-word plead of the Uchiha heir.

"Itachi-kun…I'll get you some silver hair dye too, it works wonders on the chicks, trust me," and with that, Itachi simply nodded.

Though a thought crept into the boy's mind…was he doing it to be called *cute*, or was he doing it for another reason altogether? Looking for a brief glance at Anko's face, he frowned, shaking his head. No, it couldn't be.

Kakashi reluctantly managed to get Naruto back on his feet, albeit the boy was simply scratching his eyelids, trying to keep himself awake, while, at the same time, Tsunade went ahead first, to relay her report, together with her team. Then, it was Kakashi's team's turn.

It was at that moment, that realization dawned on him that Naruto's hair was actually completely grey. It had been grey-blond, the roots of the hair obviously still belonging to the normal, natural color he had been born with. Now, however, as he stood behind his Genins, each of them giving their side of the report, he realized that there were some subtle changes that were happening on the boy.

The hair color wasn't the only one, as he could, kind of, see slight wisps of air, like the ones on the horizon during a really warm day, spiraling upwards from his body. It was so subtle he doubt he'd have caught it, if he wasn't that close to him and hadn't paid attention.

Naruto didn't speak, but fumbled something.

"What they said covers it up," he muttered.

Minato raised a puzzled eyebrow, seeing the boy in front of him looking like he had a foot already set for bed, and heavy bags under his eyes, that still seemed to be faintly more blue than normal…if one could go on a bluer color than cerulean, that was.

"I have a hole of at least two weeks on you, Senju Naruto," Minato pointed out, looking at the reports, "You simply wrote *captured* and *released*, that is clearly not enough, you understand I'll have to call a T&I department's officer to make sure you have not given secret or classified information to the enemy…a Yamanaka to read your mind will do, I suppose."

He couldn't have said something worse in that moment, as Anko's dreaded, and hidden, fears, suddenly realized themselves. Naruto had known, he had actually known the Hokage's movements, and ways of action…if everything went through, she was sure, she was so damn sure: the boy would probably never again be the same. She had to act, before suspicions became realities. Before paranoia turned truth.

"He can try," Naruto replied, "But I'm pretty sure Ku-chan will eat his brain out," he added, with a slight smirk, "Sorry, Hokage-sama, but my mind is mine alone now…"

The temperature in the room actually lowered of a couple of degrees, as everyone was trying to reason just *what* the boy had said, Minato, out of his best habits, decided to ask again.

"What did you just say?"

"If he tries, he dies," Naruto sing-sung, a cheeky grin on his face, that seemed prone to fall asleep any second, "Because Ku-chan doesn't like it when people wake her up, and if he tries it, then he'll die…" at that, he even chuckled slightly, just long enough for Minato to actually bulge his eyes in shock.

"The Kyuubi…you're referring to the Kyuubi?" carefully asking that question, Kakashi had slowly let his sharingan move to the light. How could he not realize that something was off? What if the boy had been controlled from the fox demon!  
"Yep…she saved me, and now I feel really tired…had to loosen the seal," gasps echoed in the room, "Or I'd have died…yep, all that torture stuff…bad stuff I tell you…" a chuckle from the blond boy, "Well, I'm just tired…really tired. I'll sleep, yeah…" as he yawned, not caring the slightest for the looks that were given around him, he simply fell backwards, landing on the office's floor, and, before any of them could register it, he was already soundly sleeping.

"I should call Kushina," Minato said, standing up from his desk, and moving closer, ready to scoop the boy up. At least, that would have been his intention, had Anko, and Itachi, not placed themselves in front of the boy.

"He could give you a written report tomorrow, Hokage-sama," Anko said, "Right now he should sleep," she added, as Itachi, on the other hand, muttered.

"It would be best to let him go to his mother, Tsunade-san, who could take care of his physical problems in time for the Chuunin exams," at that, Minato gritted his teeth, looking at Kakashi.

"Kakashi, order your team to stand down, I know what I'm doing: we can't risk the seal loosening and the Kyuubi being released!" as Minato sternly ordered that, the silver-haired Jounin grabbed both Genin and effortlessly brought them out of the room, leaving an asleep Naruto in there.

"Hey! Sensei! You can't do this!" Anko exclaimed as she was being dragged outside, "If he doesn't this is going to get worse!" as soon as the purple haired Kunoichi said that, Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow.

"And how would it, Anko-chan?" he asked, once outside the office.

"Naruto…listen, he broke down, in the cemetery, okay?" the girl said, trying to be as fast as possible, "He's feeling paranoid, but that's the less of it: he actually thinks the Hokage is out for his blood, and that he'd separate us just so he can be killed more easily, so if, right now, he wakes up, without us, what do you think he's going to do?"

"While this *might* be a problem," Kakashi spoke quietly, "The Hokage will certainly come up with a solution, and I'm sure Naruto will do what is best…"

Itachi simply frowned, slightly, but said nothing more…No matter how hard he tried, that boy always seemed to get into troubles he couldn't help him out of.

"Anyway, I'm filing you all for chuunin promotion straight away," Kakashi said, he didn't want to admit it, but that last stunt in the Hokage's office had been all he needed to actually send the request for a straight ahead promotion to Chuunin. Going against the Hokage to protect a teammate? Obito would have been so proud…

On the other side of the door, Minato had gently held Naruto in his arms, gently dropping him on the sofa of the office, before sending a shadow clone to call for Kushina.

There was a reason he had been worried.

If he could speak with the Kyuubi, if he could talk with the Kyuubi…then did he know what had happened? But…he had hoped he hadn't. He had hoped he would never know…but if that was the truth, then…how would he react?

**Look what we have here.** The boy's mouth moved, while his eyes kept being closed.

"You're the Kyuubi?" Minato asked, his eyes narrowing as his entire body tensed, like he was ready to pounce at the slightest movement.

**Don't feign ignorance with me: I know the truth, after all.** The voice snarled, without as much as a worry, as the Hokage, slowly, began moving a hand to his Kunai pouch.

"Did you tell Naruto?" The Hokage asked, worried.

**Why would I? I like the boy, if I did, he'd break. Completely break that is.**

"What happened during those two weeks then? Did you do something?" as the Hokage asked that, the mouth twitched slightly.

**I slept. Without chakra I sleep. When I'm awake I consume. He had been tortured, that I saw. What he went through, he knows. I…I'll go to sleep again. He needs rest, not me waking up.**

"Wait! What are your plans with Naruto!" just as Minato exclaimed that, Kushina had already arrived in a twirling of leaves, panting slightly as she had probably made a dash to get there in as little time as possible.

"Minato! What happened? Is Naruto…"

"Kushina-hime, not now: check the Iron seal with me, would you? Naruto said…he loosened it and…" he was pushed to the side in a moment, as the red-haired woman simply tore apart the side of Naruto's sleeve, starting to look at the kanji, the ink Kanji for *Iron* that made up the seal of the Bijuu within the boy.

It seemed half-transparent, from the normal black coloration of the ink, to a neat pale blue color, and it was slightly glowing.

"More than loosening it, he nearly broke it! This is what you get for not hearing me out!" Kushina snapped at her husband, her eyes slightly feral, "I told you he was going to need a seal master around all time, but you were scared of those dam Iwa pricks!"  
"Look Kushina-Hime, whatever happened, it was recent, I'm sure it can be solved, right?" the Uzumaki woman breathed slowly, calming her nerves, before grabbing from one of her storage scrolls ink and a paper-brush.

"If you so much as breathe on my neck, I'll chop you, Minato," and with that, she slowly began retracing the lines of the Iron seal, circling it around a set of smaller ink kanjis, only to find her efforts being thwarted, when certain parts began sizzling and burning off, leaving others.

"Oh no, don't you dare rearrange it," Kushina snarled, increasing her pace in writing down the ink Kanjis, repeatedly making sure that the one that had been burned off were re-written. It was like trying to whack-a-mole, only it was a write-the-kanji, with the kanjis burning off.

"And seal!" with that, she tapped on the complex ensemble of letters, that slowly glowed blue, before returning to a normal dark color, as the Kanji for Iron seemed to have never been removed.

"Done…but Minato, there's nothing we can do from having him remove it again…he'll need to have a serious talk…with him," at that, Minato simply winced, biting his lower lip, before nodding.

"I understand…well, I'll bring him to Tsunade now," at those words, Kushina's eyes simply showed a sort of bitter stare, before her right hand simply caressed the boy's whiskers marks, slowly.

"Kushina," Minato whispered, "It was a hard choice, but there was no other way," as he said that, he grabbed the boy from the couch, before turning to leave through the window.

"I know…I just feel we could have done something differently, two wrongs don't make a right…" and with those words, Kushina, the red hot habanero of Konoha, simply sat on the couch in the Hokage's office, her hands on her face, while Minato disappeared, to hand over to Tsunade Senju her son, Naruto.

And there was nothing she could do.

Nothing at all, as she had been the one to start it, didn't she? She acted before even thinking, always rushing ahead, straight on…and that had been the problem.

"_Get him out of here! He's a danger to Katsumi-chan!" the voice was angry, why was it always that angry?_

"_But I…" the voice was always meek, wasn't it? Yet why didn't she want to believe in it? Why was she refuting the possibility that it hadn't been him?_

"_Get that monster out of my house!" why did she yell that? Couldn't she understand the boy's sufferings, just like hers? No, in that moment, she didn't have time to tell him that he needed to be calm, and learn, no, she simply yelled, and grabbed him by the wrist, throwing him outside. She didn't even care about those eyes that looked at her with shock and fright, she was more worried about the newborn baby, she couldn't defend herself, could she? _

_Those eyes…those blue frightened eyes…_

Was she ever worthy anymore of being his mother?

Probably not.

**Author's notes**

**Chapter done!**

**Next chapter: Chuunin Exams, yes or not?**

**Ibiki got his *Do or die question* idea from them, for his younger brother's exam! (Yeah)**

**We saw more about chameleons (Courtesy of Ryuu-pedia) and…did I simply send three criminal groups worth of enemies against them? That I did. **

**Do notice that Raiga ran because…well, judging his Narutopedia article it seemed a thing he'd do, mad as he is. **

**AS I'm sure you've understood, the Yin Kyuubi's powers are more sort of ethereally connected, Genjutsus, shadows, fear-related, ghost-related, things like that, and since they sustain themselves on yang chakra, *vitality*…what best way than have Naruto go on a zombie-biting spree when need arises for more chakra! **

**For the *floating* fox's hands, imagine…I don't know, that legend of Zelda enemy with floating hands? Or the dragon age trailer where Hawk has those arms appear from fire clouds, and tears the Arishok into two neat pieces. (yeah, definitively that was the inspiration)**

**So, we've got him ready and set, and with an incoming (next chapter) thorough description of what *he* suffered through.**

**Right now, however, I feel 16K words are sufficient, while I go on a Prototype 2 spree. **

…

**Everyone has weaknesses. Mine is random slaughter for the glory of the Virus.**


	8. PC:Examinations

Chapter Eighth

The Chuunin exams that would be held the next day had already the village in excitement.

People had flocked from all over the elemental countries, even from normally awry-relation ones like Iwa and Kumo. Mostly, it was because the events served to showcase the strongest shinobis, out of every shinobi village. Even Daimyos usually attended, albeit the most one would see were the finals that, due to the low number of participants for that year, probably because of the Third Ninja war just so recently passed, had been scheduled immediately after the first two exams. Meaning that, within a week, they'd either be some promoted chuunins or they'd still be a flock of Genins.

The only problem was that Naruto couldn't train, having been forced to bed since the day before…which meant that, first thing in the morning, he had already disappeared from the house.

"Sensei, are you sure?" The voice asked with a bit of doubt, as the grey-haired boy simply rolled his eyes, trying his best *don't worry* attitude.

Neji Hyuga had been many things, but insensitive had not been one. Sure, he had tried, really hard too, but when his very own enemy had become his teacher, his friend and his helper, he couldn't help but stop actually following up with the plan of becoming a fate-obsessed boy. However, when said sensei, after having been forced to be bed-ridden for an entire day, had come personally to the Hyuga compound, to grab him for training, he had been shocked.

Not much because he had come, but because he had arrived from the main gate, had passed straight through the guards who hadn't even said a word, and had all but grabbed him by the ear while he was eating breakfast, carrying him to the training grounds…of the Hyuga family.

"Sensei, did you get permission?" Neji asked once more, he trusted Naruto *not* to have done this simply to leave him in deep hell and pain later on, at the hands of the main family, so the question that he had actually wanted to ask was if sensei was angry at him, at the world, or if he was simply messing around with him in some form of *Underneath the Underneath* training.

Naruto simply turned around, cracking his knuckles.

"Neji, I just feel so full of energies right now, a spar is what we need! Come on!" as soon as he said that, to further prove his point, the boy's blue eyes lit up more, as he begun a cartwheel, yes, a cartwheel, that ended with his right kick nearly hitting the Hyuga boy straight in the face, only for him to adequately push it aside with his right arm.

In that moment, Naruto chuckled, before letting his right fist gain momentum, from his legs touching the ground after having been pushed aside, and slamming it straight against the boy's left arm, that however send him a bit backwards.

"Ouch, sensei, did your mission go well?" as soon as he asked that, Neji's right and left kicks became blurs of speed, that however Naruto dodged by taking careful steps backwards, letting his very own body bend to avoid being hit.

"Nope, it went down the drain like hell was back on earth," Naruto replied, a smile plastered on his face, as his left hand swiped the air in front of him, grabbing a hold on Neji's right ankle, and then, instead of pushing it away, he simply threw it upwards, before moving his right arm underneath it, and twisting until the boy was forced to stop staying up with his left leg, forcing him to twist in mid-air as his body touched the ground.

"You seem…awfully cheery, never the less, sensei," Neji pointed out, as he slowly got back on his feet, slowly bowing in a graceful manner, and just as Naruto was about to do the same, the boy grinned, launching himself forward…with a head-butt.

As Neji's head was about to impact against Naruto, the grey-haired boy simply smiled, sidestepping and using his right arm to block the attempt, putting him in a stranglehold.

"Good! Not enough, but good," Naruto replied, ruffling the boy's head, before letting him go, as the Hyuga child simply seemed flustered. In that moment, the boy gasped slightly, recomposing himself and assuming a bowing pose, just as Hiashi Hyuga arrived in the premises of the training area.

"Naruto Senju…I see you have actually heeded my words," as the clan's head said that, he sported a small frown, "Though I must ask, what was…that? Warm up?"

"Training into different Taijutsus, Hiashi-san," at the informal tone used by Naruto, the Hyuga head simply sported a tick mark, before whispering, as Neji simply stood shivering and silent.

"The Juken style is the undisputable winning style of the Hyuga family," at that, Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head, before replying.

"Ehm…I don't know *how* to break it to you…but no, it's not," at that, Hiashi gasped, as Neji desperately thought he could be better off elsewhere, in that moment.

"Such insolence, what proof do you have?" What weakness could a fighting style that had held centuries of living, and fighting, possess? What wicked weak point could work against the ever seeing eye?

"Really? You never found out…well…" Naruto was squirming, before giving a sigh, a deep heartfelt sigh as he muttered, "Your recently trained Hyugas always start their attacks with the right arm," at that, Hiashi stopped breathing for a second. Well, didn't all styles have *that*?

"But…"  
"And they always, always, aim at the shoulder's Tenketsu point first, I mean…really, that's what they hit first, always, when they go on the offensive, it's kind of...automatic, I suppose…from training," At those words, Hiashi made a mental fight with himself, on one side, he wanted to say that it was preposterous to consider that a weakness, on the other, it actually *was* a huge flaw in the style. Having a sure way to at least predict a move, especially the beginning one, could end skirmishes and fights, a thing of five seconds most of the times, with defeat, rather than victory.

"I see," at those words, Neji's eyes bulged in shock, did the clan's head actually admit the weakness of his own style? Just what was his sensei capable of, if he could achieve such a feat?

"I will resume training then," Naruto replied, "I've got an entire day! And tomorrow, it's the day of the chuunin exams," as he grinned that, he gestured to Neji, who began attacking him, subtly shifting into his usual Juken stance, since the clan's head was still there.

"You need to put more strength behind the blows!" Naruto snapped, "No strength behind the deflection, keep nimble when you parry," as Naruto's kick shot forward, Neji did a backward jump, "And down goes the chicken," the boy exclaimed, grabbing Neji by the waist and pinning him down on the harsh ground.

"Where did you go wrong?" Naruto asked.

"I…shouldn't have jumped backwards?" Neji asked, panting for air.

"Not necessarily a wrong move…but you went too high," at that, Naruto helped the Hyuga up, "You see: you must always keep mobility, if your feet are in the air, you can't dodge any longer. You are a ninja, first. If you want to become a wall of iron then take on a sword and become a samurai, otherwise, you need to be like water," at that mention, Naruto went through a couple of hand signs, letting the water from the nearby pond to stand up on its own, slowly assuming the boy's form, albeit it did look a bit sickly.

"Well…I did practice only a bit on this," Naruto sighed, as *a bit* meant only a couple of hours, that morning, before going to grab his pupil, "And I've got nearly no chakra since yesterday…kind of buggers me," at those words, Neji's right eyebrow raised slightly.

"Sensei, shouldn't you rest for tomorrow?" at that question, Naruto chuckled.

"Back to the lesson, Neji: be like water, slip and attack only where you're sure it hurts, dodge, disappear, slid if you have to, but remember…never forget to look underneath the underneath," with those words the water clone, because that was the technique Naruto had tried to create, dispersed, resuming its normal status of water in the pond.

"Hai, sensei…like this?" and with that, Neji actually flung a hidden Kunai in his sleeve at the grey haired boy, who took it straight in the chest, just as the body collapsed into a puddle of water.

"Good boy! Why did you do that?" Naruto chuckled appearing from above the tree nearby. For a second Hiashi had been puzzled, but he had quickly realized how things like this, while seemingly doing nothing more than *playing around* were actually helpful in developing another side of the shinobi: the mind.

"It seemed strange you'd create a half-made water Bunshin while speaking of having low chakra, sensei…" as Neji pointed that out, the grey-haired boy nodded, getting down from his branch, and giving him his best smile.

"If I ever get to Jounin before you get out of the academy, I'm having you in my team, Neji, even if I have to forge the documents for it," at saying that with a cheesy grin, for once, Hiashi couldn't help but show a small hint of a smile, that quickly hid behind his normal stern composure.

Even though the boy was cold, his façade always a stone tablet, when training with his branch family members, with the Senju boy he opened up, even now exchanging smiling chatters and words about how the mission had gone, about random things, all while training. While he probably would never forgive the main family, for what had happened, he'd certainly at least be just like his father, who would defy more than the main family, the idea of being a Hyuga…his casual smiles, his smiling face…Hiashi couldn't help but sigh, thinking how things would have gone differently, had he been born minutes later than his twin, not only for him, but also for the clan as a whole.

The morning hours passed by so fast, that Hiashi actually had to recollect himself, when they told him he was needed for clan's business. Giving one last look at the two training, being now covered in sweat, he simply stood up and left, but it didn't escape the branch guard's white eyes that the man's face was fixed in a small smile.

"Lunch break?" Naruto asked, blocking Neji's right fist.

"Soba?" The Hyuga boy replied, retracting his fist.

"Ramen," Naruto said, with a tone that didn't tolerate second thoughts. He had missed ramen too much.

"Ramen it is, sensei," Neji said, before bowing once more, just as Naruto sighed, before assuming a slight smirk on his face.

"No," Neji said looking at the smirk, but it was already too late, as a mass of water covered both of them, the water from the pool suddenly losing a couple of meters in the meantime, while the two stared at each other, one with a warm smile, the other with a nervous tick on the forehead and a murderous glare.

"Let's go then!" and with that, Naruto dashed, swiftly followed by an enraged Neji.

"Come back here sensei! This wasn't funny!" as the two dashed towards Ichiraku's ramen, leaving droplets of water behind them, a shy heiress nearly had a heart attack, seeing her, now no longer, sweaty crush getting out of there, running, while also drenched in water to reveal the lines of his underneath…she had a light blush on her face. Still, she had her own training to do: it was a pity…maybe she could ask her father to have him train with her too? Her face turned to a great sorrow…there was no way she'd muster the courage to ask her father about it.

That's why seeing him coming over to her training session made her gasp in shock, before slowly gulping down her fear. Did he see her use the Byakugan to spy on Neji's training?

Obviously, Hiashi had seen that, but he wasn't there for that reason.

"As the Heir of the Hyuga clan, you will attend the academy starting next week, but you will need an escort," at that point, Hinata had a small leap in her heart, who could the escort be? Did father invite Naruto over to ask him that? She knew the boy's name was Naruto, she had asked Ko-san, her caretaker, information on him, but except a name, and the fact she shouldn't associate with the likes of him, she had known little else…well, except for him being strong, having saved her from the Kumogakure ninjas…in her dreams, and in her nightmares, he was always there to save her. Even with the grey hair he was sporting, he looked more handsome than ever.

"Hinata, for that, your escort will be chosen among the finest the village has to offer," at those words, Hinata was already thinking if Naruto could actually *be* the finest of the village, was he stronger than everyone else? Slumping her shoulders in defeat, with a sad sigh, she realized her father was looking at her with a perplexed expression.

"Hai Otou-san," she said, as those two words were the only one she wouldn't stutter in his presence.

"Hinata," her father's voice was always stern, "Protecting a clan's heir is not a trifle matter, that any Chuunin or Genin can do," _"No matter how good they are at fixing stuff, even persons" _but Hiashi kept that thought for himself, as his daughter simply looked at him surprised, like she had no idea what he was talking about, so, deciding to let the matter slip, he simply muttered.

"Though hiring an extraordinarily talented Chuunin would cost less than a poor skilled Jounin…I'll give it a thought," and with that, he turned around, his Byakugan silently active, as he left the room with his small smile slightly widening, at the sight of his daughter's day-dreaming face, which held a small smile on it too. Hiashi could keep up all the stern appearance that his clan ordered him to, but nothing would stop him from slightly grinning within the boundaries of his own mind, at the fact that his daughter was smiling.

*Ichiraku's ramen*

Neji, for all his love for his sensei, which wasn't much love and more a truly frightening amount of respect and loyalty, far more than the main family could ask of him, had no idea *how* he could manage impossible feats like those and still keep his alibi of being a normal human.

He clearly had to have taken the Kyuubi's stomach, it was the sole reason he could eat through twenty-nine bowls of ramen like they were nothing more than snacks, and ask another one.

More than that, however, was the fact that the girl on the other side of the counter was staring at the grey-haired boy with a smile, sending towards him and Naruto a barrage of questions that made him think that she never actually needed to breathe, to ask them.

"You know Hana-chan is so pissed at you for having skipped academy years? She wants a match with you, to prove if you're really strong or not," as soon as the girl pointed that out, Neji had to barge in to defend his sensei's honor.

"Sensei *is* strong! He just came back from an S-rank mission!" at that, Naruto gasped, stuttered, and then sighed.

"Neji, definition of S-rank mission," as he pointed that out, the Hyuga boy simply gulped, before going by memory, hoping he wouldn't make a mistake.

"They are missions assigned to highly skilled Jounins or large squads of ninjas, they cannot be refused, and are usually placed on a one million ryo worth of pay, at least," then, realizing the problem, he added, "S does not only stand for the high difficulty, but also for Secret, as, when possible, details on such missions are not to be divulged or spoken of, and, while not prohibited, it is advised not to say having even gone on one," at that, Naruto nodded.

"Good, another Herring Soba for my student Teuchi-san!" at that, the old man frowned, before shrugging and moving along with the order.

"You went on an S-rank mission?" Ayame asked, perplexed, and mostly worried, "Were you hurt?"

"Not much…really," Naruto replied, squirming on his seat, as his gaze slowly went to his jacket, and the small bottle of pills within, from which he remove just one subtly, using a Henge to avoid Ayame, or Teuchi, or even Neji, realizing it, as he slid it carefully in his mouth, gulping it down. He was fine. He was going to be fine. He wasn't a failure and he wasn't worthless, he wasn't a toy and he wasn't a bag of meat, everything was fine.

_The shackles were cold to the touch, and he was naked on the freezing metallic surface._

"_You know why the table you're on is metallic?" the voice asked, it didn't belong to the strange guy that had attacked him with the twin swords, but to another man, someone he couldn't see, because his vision was worse than blurry: it wasn't there. _

_The pain was, however, the pain was real, flaring through his face, as he could feel on his cheeks the freshly fallen blood, and even the mushy sensation that probably, once, were his eyes. He wanted to cry, but as he did, he realized it stung, like salt had been poured on his wounds._

"_You have permanently lost the use of sight…usually, removing the senses is a first in torture, some in Iwa prefer to crush down a subject's limbs, to stop mobility: considering both your arms are barely healed, I thought it wouldn't hurt you as much as taking your eyesight away would," at that, Naruto tried to mumble something, but he fumbled._

"_Oh, did I forget? Your tongue had to be sedated for a while…I didn't want you to speak so soon…I know this is an interrogation, but really, I want to see your body tense in pain, and then, then maybe…I'll get to dissect you alive as a form of torture…you don't know how…"_

_The voice, the noise, the panting, the…he couldn't simply keep track of the pain, of the feelings, of the objects that smashed his bones, tore his skin, detached muscle from bone, the blood that pooled, the pain…the poisons, the needles, the burning, the freezing._

"_Do you know why the table is metallic?" The question, asked, already had an answer in Naruto's mind. Because it conducted heat, it conducted electricity and it conducted cold, all to his body, all to him._

_And what should have been minutes, passed like hours, in his mind, devoid of clock, what were hours became days, days turned to eons, and, in the end, he simply lost track of time, as all he saw was blackness, then sleep was all he thought of._

"_You're a failure to your teammates, they probably already left you," that was what he believed, Naruto didn't._

"_Ninjas are but meat bags, meat shields, tools, not worthy of having a soul," that wasn't true, he was a human being, like anyone else._

"_You have a strange tattoo here…a nice quirk, I'll leave it, so they can recognize you when I'm done, but I might mark it in another way…" he was tired of it. Yet he kept at it, why was he keeping at it, was he never tired, was he never left alone?_

"_You're just my toy you know? When I grow tired of you I'll drop you off. No, wait, you're not even my toy…you're a worthless toy, left to rot by your teammates and your sensei…" Naruto said nothing, he never spoke, no matter the fact his tongue could now move, he didn't open his mouth. Not once, he didn't want to make mistakes, the pain was already enough, the humiliation was already enough, he didn't want anything anymore, he just wanted to go back home. _

"_Inject it, see the results," another voice, darker. No results, the tearing within his guts, his stomach. Kaa-san would probably cry, yet he was still alive. Where was that necklace? Somewhere, he recalled the man had stashed it somewhere._

"_Can I bury him now?" another voice, it seemed familiar, was it?_

"_You can," and then the nothingness, the dark snakes, the spikes rising from the ground, encircling him...the blue fire._

_The voice of the Kyuubi soothing him, calling to him, making him feel safe…and then it was gone. He no longer felt sleepy, but now…he no longer felt safe._

He sighed, as he let his right hand touch the center of his chest, before slurping down on his thirtieth bowl of ramen. They had found the necklace alright, firmly lodged inside of him, between his lungs.

Trying to remove it would have only risked his life, and, where it was, it didn't pose any threat. Though the implication of having a chakra crystal implanted in one's own body were unknown, it was still far better than having died.

He could actually keep the necklace: if he had survived whatever torture it was he had suffered from, something he didn't want to explain; then he was fine, fine and ready for the Chuunin exams.

He even felt filled with energies…but he no longer felt safe.

His voice rang into the emptiness of his mind…he could unloose it, he could do it…but Uncle Jiraiya had said…

_When he had woken up, after the debriefing in the Hokage's office, he had groaned, slightly, but strong enough for Tsunade, who had been holding his hand all the time, to wake up. She had left her face to fall down on her crossed arms, of which one's hand was the one currently holding Naruto's right one._

_She looked with her golden amber eyes at the boy's blue one, who seemed kind of empty, but the glint of worry was still there._

"_Naru-chan? Are you alright? You passed out in the Hokage's office…" she would have rushed him to the hospital, but if she didn't find anything, except chakra exhaustion, then she doubted any medic-nin would._

"_Ku-chan is gone," he whispered, closing his eyes for a moment, "Ku-chan? Where are you?" he asked feebly, earning a perplexed look from Tsunade, who, by reflex, held a slightly tighter grip on the boy's hand, before querying._

"_Who's Ku-chan, Naru-chan?" as she asked that, Naruto replied, with a low voice._

"_She's the Kyuubi, Kaa-san, and she's a really gentle fox, she's got a really pretty blue fur too!" it was then, that Tsunade realized the boy's voice was sort of…childish? Not that she minded, but probably was it because he was tired? Maybe she could let him sleep, instead of barraging him with questions about everything._

"_Maybe if I loosen the seal I can see her…" Naruto muttered, as Tsunade, on the other hand, screeched._

"_No!" as she screamed that, clenching tightly onto Naruto's hand, the boy winced._

"_But…she's my friend Kaa-san!" Naruto replied, holding tightly onto the bed sheets of his bed, a leaf motif with blue background, something that was similarly colored in the rest of the room, once the room of the second Hokage himself, when he was younger, and that now had been converted to Naruto's room. The predominant colors were blue and green, as tapestries hung from the wall depicting sceneries of the village, while the drawers and the desk, while exquisite in manufacturing, seemed to have been made by single wooden blocks…gifts from the older brother, with his Mokuton Jutsu, probably._

"_Naruto," Tsunade muttered, bringing his *entrapped* hand within both of hers, "I want you to promise me, that you will never, ever, break the seal. If you do, the Kyuubi will be free, and you will die…please, promise me."_

"_I…I promise Kaa-san…but I can loosen it a bit, can I?" at the question, Tsunade frowned._

"_Are you sure you know how to do it?" as Naruto nodded, the slug princess bit her lips, trying to come up with something against it, the window opened, to reveal the presence of the Toad Sage._

"_Heya!" as Jiraiya waved hello, Naruto's eyes darted to the figure, a small sparkle of recognition in his eyes, and, after a brief moment, Jiraiya jumped inside._

"_Jiraiya, first time in two years you're visiting your godson? And the first thing you say is *Heya*?" Tsunade scoffed._

"_Actually, I'm a shadow clone…so no hitting me, Tsunade-hime, I've got things to say…important ones too!" as he said that, moving away from a very pissed off slug princess, he added quickly, "Naruto, you should *not* loosen your seal, understood?"_

"_But! Uncle Jiraiya! Ku-chan is…" he tried to say something, but Jiraiya cut him off immediately._

"_No, Naruto…listen, the Kyuubi is a mass of Yin chakra," a wince from Tsunade, but Naruto simply listened, "That requires Yang chakra to be fully used and awakened…if you loosen the seal, Yin chakra starts to merge with your Yang one…but you do not possess enough of it to actually hold yourself awake with a loosened seal. Yang is vitality, Yin is imagination, where Yang is power, Yin is control, where Yang is strength…Yin is brain. However, with the mass of Yin in your body, the Kyuubi siphons it to herself…and without the proper chakra levels, it will simply kill you were you to loosen it too much," at those words, Naruto whispered back._

"_But…she was choking last time," at that feeble opposition, Jiraiya replied, his face stern._

"_Naruto, she's the Kyuubi, she attacked the village, destroyed countless lives… you will not loosen that seal, everything she tells you is a lie, understood?"_

"_But…"_

"_No buts Naruto!" Jiraiya snapped, "Promise me you will not loosen the seal, even of an inch!" _

"_I…What if I'm in a life or death situation!?" _

"_Then you may…but I'm afraid those won't happen for a while," at those words, Naruto's eyes jolted forward in shock._

"_Why?" he meekly asked._

"_As you know, Chuunins do not have fixed teams, like Genins do. Usually they are made of four man's squads. Thus you are probably going to be given Chuunin jobs within the village, to keep an eye out for the new seal's failures, should they occur…probably guard duty," at that, the grey-haired boy winced._

"_New seal?" he asked, tentatively._

"_Your old seal was breaking, Naruto," Jiraiya spoke quietly, as Tsunade instinctively narrowed her eyes, "That's why Minato had it redrawn, next time, however, it might not be enough, your…tenant, is apt at seal makings…and destroying them, give her a bit of space, and she will free herself, killing you." _

_Yes, it was at that moment, in the silence that suddenly fell in the room, that Naruto stopped feeling safe..._

"Naruto-kun…Naruto-kun!" Ayame exclaimed, trying to get the grey-haired boy's attention, which had his gaze settled on the counter, without much life behind them.

"Uh?" Snapping his eyes shot and then opening them again, he turned his blue gaze to Ayame's dark one, who was worried.

"You zoned out for a bit!" she said, with a giggle, "I've got to tell you: I've done wonders with the sea ramen, did you realize it?" as she asked the question, Naruto mentally recalled that a sea ramen bowl had been slipped in with the rest of his orders, and since he hadn't choked on it, it was probably the truth that she had improved.

"It was really good, Ayame-chan," as Naruto said that, Neji, standing to the boy's side, couldn't repress a small grin, looking at the two elder kids smiling at each other. It reminded him so much of when he and Hinata-chan had played together, on the day of her third birthday, on the day where he had been marked as a branch family…he no longer even spoke to her.

He didn't hate her, it's not like she could have ordered it, or like it wasn't meant to be. He just hated the mark, and the tradition behind it. However he knew that his sensei shared his very own curse: branded with a seal without even a chance to refuse, only, his kept a demon in check, and would lead to his death should it break, Neji's would bring him pain, but only if he acted out of the line with the main family. The only thing he could do then was work to find a way out of there.

His sensei would never be freed of his burden without dying, but he…he could try and find a way out. He had a hope, to live free.

"Glad you liked it," the girl replied with a small blush, as she returned to chop the vegetables for the broth.

"Sensei, will we train also in the afternoon? Shouldn't you be with your teammates?" at Neji's question, Naruto chuckled.

"Actually…they wanted me in bed, to sleep for the morning…I kind of ran to the only place I knew they wouldn't look for me," at that mention, the Ichiraku's ramen stall flaps moved to the side, to reveal a charmingly smiling Anko, a sighing Itachi, and a waving Kakashi.

"A pity we knew where you'd be for lunch," Anko sing-sung, as snakes slowly wrapped themselves around the grey-haired boy, who didn't make any resistance, as Itachi took out Naruto's wallet, and left the ryo bills for the lunch, his and of Neji.

The Hyuga boy watched, with a sort of curiosity, how the Uchiha looked kind of amused, at such a scene, before leaving with his sensei.

Neji turned to Ayame, who had been looking at the scene a bit puzzled, but with a slight jealous expression.

"Don't be jealous," Neji spoke quietly, standing up, "You're probably one of the few safe havens sensei has," and with that, the boy dashed away, grinning to himself at the sight of the ramen stall girl blushing furiously at his previous words…the Byakugan saw all…and he did want to payback on sensei for the shower.

*Senju compound*

"I do not need sleep! I'm fine!" Naruto exclaimed, vehemently, as he was dropped from Anko's snakes, in the outer garden of the Senju compound.

"Hey Gaki! You went nearly a week half-dead, and since last night you're a bottle of energy? Come on, you need rest," Anko pointed out, a nervous tick mark on her forehead.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm fine!" Naruto whined to the silver-haired Jounin, who, however, retorted.

"Still, if you exhaust yourself today, what about tomorrow? You don't really want to be missing the Chuunin exams because you overexerted yourself, do you?"

At that moment, Naruto's eyes turned sparkly, and it was only Itachi's quick pinning the boy to the ground that avoided the use of the puppy-eye Jutsu.

"Not working!" Itachi exclaimed, "Go to sleep, Naruto-kun," the Uchiha said, as the grey haired boy whined a bit more, but was easily carried upwards, to his room.

"But I'm fine!" the boy whined, once left alone in his room. He looked at the window, and, with a quick decision planning, opened it up, only to jump backwards when a couple of snakes on his windowsill hissed at him.

"No getting out from the window, Naru-chan!" Anko teased from the garden, which was obviously in perfect visual of his window.

"I'm a prisoner in my own house," Naruto whispered, sitting on a chair, while looking out of the window at the sight of Anko and Itachi training with Kakashi. The silver-haired Jounin, every now and then, sent him a wave with his hand, and, in the end, the boy decided to stop sulking and do push-ups…he'd die if he stood still!

"_This is getting annoying! Why can't I go around running…in orange? Yeah! Maybe I have some…no, wait, calm down," _the boy took a very deep breath, shaking his head, before remembering Jiraiya's words: was this the reason he felt like a sort of caffeine-addicted squirrel? There was no longer the fox siphoning his Yang chakra? Still…he didn't like it, at all. One needed to be calm and collected, to be a ninja, not a hyperactive brat that ran around in orange, yelling.

He took deep breathes, trying to calm himself down, before grabbing a book on medical knowledge, starting to skim through the pages.

He had to do something…so better do something constructive.

As he began going through the medical Ninjutsus, he realized the snakes out of the window had returned to look at the outside, not caring of him as long as he was inside.

Bad move, but the snakes could detect tremors, so he had to act fast, to get the advantage.

With a silent move of his hands, he slowly crept backwards, while letting the book stay in the same place, a Henge on him to slowly, but surely, come to resemble the carpet, while he silently generated a Henge of him still staying there to read the book.

He stood still every time the snakes turned, and, deeming satisfied, returned to crawl backwards when they went back to lazily take the sun.

Once he reached the door, he used his feet to open it, keeping the Henge on him, on the illusion of him and on the door not opening.

Just like that, he made it in the corridor, but once there was no line of sight, as he closed the door, he began to dash, knowing that, next time the snakes turned around, they'd give the alarm.

To his defense, the plan was well thought, but it didn't work, as just as he was descending the stairs, a voice called to him.

"Yo!" and with that, Kakashi grabbed the boy by the neck.

"But you're outside!" Naruto exclaimed, looking shocked at the sight of the silver-haired Jounin, who had appeared behind him.

"I'm also here. This is a Kage Bunshin, pretty neat isn't it? A solid bunshin, you can even do techniques with it," at those words, Naruto had to think fast, and so he did the only thing he could do.

His eyes turned to sparkle, and grew several sizes as their iris became a pure sky blue, with twinkles, just as his hair turned silver, like that of the copy-cat ninja and then, with the cutest, most adorable, pout ever, he meekly whispered.

"Kakashi-Niisan, pwetty please let me go?" it was enough for the Kage Bunshin to dispel from the utter shock, while the real one, receiving said memories, simply began crying from his only eye, as he tore apart his Icha-Icha book, once more.

"Sensei?" Anko asked, stopping from training with Itachi, who did the same to turn to their teacher, and, seeing the tears, the dribble of blood, the slight blush on the face, couldn't help it: he sighed.

"I think we lost him for today," Itachi muttered, as their sensei was simply squirming, rolling on the ground.

"What happened?" Anko asked, touching Kakashi with a stick.

"He used his secret bloodline card," Itachi whispered, his eyes narrowing.

"He who? And used what?" Anko queried, curious.

"Naruto, he must have used his secret *Oniisan* Jutsu…It has to be the eyes, I suppose. Or the hair, or the whiskers," at that, the purple haired kunoichi simply chuckled.

"My, jealous? How cute! Wait a moment…he escaped?!" and just as Anko dashed to have a look, Itachi stood there for a moment, in a half-daze.

Was he just being called cute? He kept a half smile on his face, plastered like it had been etched on his skin, for the remainder of the day. Albeit they never got to get Naruto, until his mother came home for the dinner, and with that, he silently smiled at them from the table in the kitchen…like he had never left the house.

*Chuunin Exams Day*

"Make me proud of you!" Tsunade exclaimed, hugging him tightly, to the point of making Naruto turn blue, while many men in the vicinity turned green, and others turned slightly red.

"I'm sure you'll pass without problems, Otouto," Shizune pointed out, holding Tonton within her arms, the pig actually oinking his approval too.

With a bit of fight, Naruto managed to break free from his mother's grasp, before exclaiming.

"Kaa-san! I'm a soon to be Chuunin! No need smothering me like this!" and just for that, he got himself another hug of doom, which however didn't last much, as he finally got to reach for Anko and Itachi, both patiently waiting near the building, in front of their sensei.

Kakashi, standing right in front of the building, that would house the first part of the Chuunin exams, simply looked at his charges, before smiling with his eye and saying.

"Third floor, fifth room, that's where the exams takes place," Kakashi pointed out, before adding, with a smile visible under his mask, "Whatever happens, I'm sure you'll pull through," and with that, he sighed, looking at Kurenai, who was dressed in her usual attire, but sported a small flag with Naruto's face on it, and was flapping it wildly.

"I'm starting to think she's going insane," Anko silently whispered to her sensei, who nodded thoughtfully.

"Prolonged exposure to the puppy eyes causes addiction, I think," Itachi added to their whispering, just as Naruto, narrowing his eyes, coughed slightly.

"It's not that bad!" he pouted, just before a set of flashes echoed through the area, coming from the group of stalk…ehm, highly trained operatives who had been hired to keep an eye out for cute expressions from the grey-haired boy.

"Stop that Kaa-san!" as Naruto pouted that, he grabbed both Anko and Itachi by their wrists, and began walking quickly inside.

Just as he disappeared from sight, Tsunade, with a smirk, handed the camera the *hired hands* had dropped in her open palm to Shizune.

"Have them prepared by tonight, got it?" at that, the girl nodded with a smile, hopping off. She was in an extremely good mood too: after that dreaded mission turned S-rank, her Shishou had stopped drastically on the sake intake; probably because if Naruto could survive an S-rank mission for more than a week, then there was little that could kill him.

Within the building, Naruto sighed, looking at both Anko and Itachi, who nodded back.

The fact that a group of scrawny Genins from Grass, Rain and even from Konoha had been knocked out, and whose bodies stood limp on the floor, covered in blood, did nothing to deter them from walking through it, to reach for the stairs.

It had to be said that Anko did her best poker-face, when one of said corpses suddenly jolted to life, trying to crawl up on her leg…only to get a sharp kick in the face.

"OW!" the corpse exclaimed.

"This is for trying to peak under the skirt, Kotetsu," Anko hissed, "Try it again, and I'll have you neutered," she added just as Itachi simply nodded.

It was at that moment that the Genjutsu simply dropped, and Izumo and Kotetsu appeared with a smile at the end of the stairs that went up, to the third floor, where the exam would have taken place.

"Damn good…but well, they did have a sharingan in their group," Izumo pointed out, before standing aside.

"Yeah, no need trying to pick a fight with you lot…I'm kind of wondering why they haven't promoted you yet anyway," as Kotetsu said that, Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, maybe the Hokage actually has but we haven't been informed yet, which means we'll better do the exam right now, and worry later, worst to worst two Chuunin promotion make a Jounin one, right?" with that, Itachi smiled at his teammate's words, following the grey-haired boy.

"I don't think they can stack, Naruto-kun," Itachi replied, entering the classroom, only to find it strangely half-empty.

As they took seats, without even being bothered by it, they waited until the time for the exam had to begin, letting their gaze wonder around the room, to find out just *who* was in there. There were some people from Grass, some from Konoha, some from Rain, but there were also some from Cloud themselves, probably due to the alliance, and there *were* even some from Suna. None turned to stare at them, at least, not with any murderous glare or harming intent…too nervous, probably, to realize that the team that had just entered held the Uchiha's clan's heir, the snake bitch and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

Or maybe they simply thought that if they didn't stare, then the successful team that had completed an S-rank mission while still Genins wouldn't kill them on the spot.

"Who do you think our examiner is going to be?" Naruto asked, carefully, in a low whisper to Itachi, who, mulling a thought, replied.

"This is usually a Jounin job, but not a highly prized one…so recently made Jounins would qualify for it?"

"I hope it's not Kure-chan," Anko said with a chuckle, "It would be too easy to pass otherwise."

"It can't be Kakashi-sensei, as it needs to be a non-involved with Genins Jounin," Naruto mulled.

"Well, isn't that Idate?" as Itachi pointed a bit down, at a fresh Genin with the Konoha forehead protector, with dark grey eyes and brown hair, held in a pony-tail…and he was smiling happily with his teammates.

The three members of team Kakashi simply looked at one another, sighing. They didn't want to break it to Ibiki, but *maybe* he should have given the boy some pointers…it seemed like he had never killed once in his life!

Unknown to them, rarely Genins tasted blood. Even in their C-missions, normally, brigands didn't attack caravans with Ninjas on them. It was the Chuunins who first got the taste of blood, usually in B-ranked assassination missions.

Which meant that, because of their sensei and bad-luck, team Ex-Orochimaru was actually highly qualified to become a Chuunin, if not for the spilled blood, for the fact that they hadn't gone mad already, at having taken someone's life, and some times, repeatedly in the course of the missions.

"He's smiling…so naively…makes me want to tease him," Anko whispered, a smirk on her face as Itachi, being next to her, sighed.

"Anko-chan," he admonished her just by calling her name and with his tone, and as the purple-haired kunoichi had a smile on her face, ready to answer back, in that moment, the door of the classroom opened, to reveal their examiners…and among them, stood a grinning Ibiki.

"Well! I think the Genjutsu was good enough to scare half the brats! I know I'm going to be on a roll today!" with that, he slowly descended the stairs to get towards the center of the classroom, straight in front of the chalkboard.

"Now! Brats, listen up!" among all of them, that turned their gaze towards the man, stood also his younger brother, who had a sparkling smile, like he would never fail the exams.

"You will now do a written test of ten questions! If any of you gets caught cheating, then you will lose two points. If you don't answer a question, then you lose one point, you start with ten questions that the examiners will now hand out, and before we start…team Kakashi, separate yourself! I understand you're like glued together, but a bit of difficulty to the "Mister Fixers" won't hurt, right?" at those words, said with a grin, Naruto pouted, before simply puffing out in smoke, to reappear straight in the first rows: a Henge and some special effects in the form of a smoke bomb, just to scare off the competition, coupled with a Shunshin.

"Better this way?" the grey-haired boy teased, "And remember you owe me one for saving your hide, during that patrol mission," at that, Idate gasped.

"He's the Senju!" Obviously, everyone expected the Senju, Naruto, the once Uzumaki, to be with blond hair. The fact that it was now Grey, completely, with slight silver hues, made it far more difficult to place him as that.

A pity, because he was wearing for the occasion his dark blue and light blue motif of shirt and jacket, with dark green pants and light blue ninja sandals, while on his back was sewed the Senju's symbol…yeah, that would have been a big give-away.

"Damn! He got a nice nickname, *The Senju!* what did I get? *The Snake bitch*…life's so unfair these days…" Anko replied with a scoff, as she moved on the far end of the classroom, her trench coat covering most of her features, but just so casually letting her *front* be slightly revealed, and at the same time slightly hidden.

"Oh shush it you," Ibiki warned, "The test is fair to all, so there's no need to start yelling about unfairness, and you won't get me to help you out just because you saved my skin, brat," at that, Naruto nodded.

"Wouldn't have expected anything less from the man who can't sense a porcupine," at those words, Ibiki's eyes turned murderous.

"It never happened!"

"What never happened?" Itachi asked innocently, "You sitting on the porcupine? No, I'm sure it wasn't a Genjutsu," the Uchiha heir said, smiling, just as the tension in the room slowly dissipated from the three simply joking with the apparently *not so tough* examiner.

"Just start the damn test," Ibiki sighed, gesturing to his colleagues, who handed over the papers, before taking position around the room to avoid cheating.

Naruto looked down at his test, with a frown, and then he looked up at Ibiki, with a sigh.

"I hate you," was silently mouthed from the boy's lips to the elder Jounin, who grinned, keeping his eyes fixed on the boy, as he grabbed his pen and began writing down the answers to the questions. Or so it seemed. Ibiki was Jounin, a Tokubetsu Jounin, a specialist Jounin in the Torture and Interrogation department. Finding the truth out of the lies was his job. The fact that the boy in front of him seemed able to pull Henges out of his hat like he was born for them wasn't something that normally would make him sweat. The problem was that indeed, he was sweating.

The boy was writing the answers down fast, really fast, like he actually knew the answers to the questions. Questions he had taken a great deal of time to look for in the hidden areas of the library, questions that would have made anyone, who hadn't yet understood the principle of *you have to cheat* sweat and frown and whimper. The purpose of this exam was to cheat, to find the answers from the hidden Chuunins within the ranks, who had, actually, the answers to the questions.

It was something impossible that the boy could actually complete all the questions so quickly. It was impossible and clearly out of normality. That's when he realized the Henge on the brat. He narrowed his eyes, and silently removed it, to find another one down below it.

Double layered? Well, fine by him, he could let his gaze go elsewhere, for the purpose of the exam; the boy was clearly good and far over the standards needed.

Still, Naruto was known to be unpredictable, and Ibiki was curious.

So, he pulled out the second layer of the Henge, and beneath it stood a third layer.

Three layered Henges were extremely chakra consuming, yet the boy didn't seem fazed by it.

So, there had to be a trick, somewhere. Maybe he had put back up a layer of Henge while he was removing the previous one?

Again, Ibiki silently removed the Henge.

Again, the proctor realized there was another one beneath.

The fellow examiners were silently looking at the battle of wits and stared between their Jounin and the grey-haired boy, both seemingly unfazed and doing nothing, while in truth engaged in a terrific fight to the last chakra wisp.

Or so it seemed.

Suddenly, the Henges dropped, and Naruto, actually done with all nine questions, smiled to Ibiki. For the tenth question, who had, written on it, to wait for the final ten minutes, for the proctor to announce it to the class, he simply left the space empty, in wait.

Ibiki, silently, turned his gaze to the rest of the room, staring at the purple-haired Anko, who was waving at him with a smile, and at Itachi, who, with a smirk, deactivated his sharingan.

He hadn't been placed under the Henge of the boy, the entire examiners had been put under a Genjutsu by the Uchiha, to concentrate their attention on a seemingly Henge using Naruto…and had thus ignored the rest of the class.

Within moments, a mass exodus of cheating students soon began to leave the classroom, as the examiners attention was now fully focused on those who they had been previously missing.

Concentrating on them, none realized the small brownish snakes that had slithered to Itachi and Naruto's positions dispersed in small puffs of smokes, while the messages, with the test's answers, simply were silently destroyed by making them tiny shredded pieces of paper.

Of half the classroom, that held in the beginning one hundred and two Genins, of various age and nationality, thirty-six were those who remained. Then, finally, it came down to the tenth question.

Ibiki coughed slightly, to get the attention of everyone who was still there.

"Now is time for the tenth question. This question is special, those of you who answer it wrongly will never again be able to become Chuunins: you will be stuck as Genins for the rest of your life," just as the voice spoke quietly, so did the room turn into an uproar, except for a group of cloud Ninjas, among which stood a blond-haired woman, with bright dark eyes, a red-haired woman with dark skin a bit further away, and a dark skinned white haired boy.

On another side of said room, a glass-wearing blue haired boy from Rain was also seemingly sitting there worried, but silently looking around the room, maybe for an escape route? In another corner, another with the rain forehead protector was standing, his hair an even paler blue, if possible, and with pupil-less teal eyes. One more rain ninja had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes, wearing a rebreather that covered the lower half of his face, another too, standing further down, had the same features, like they were twins, but instead of having a forehead protector with two horns, it only had one.

Those were the only ones who kept their cool, as, with a loud yell, the rest of the room finally plunged into silence once more.

"Silence!" Ibiki's single command worked perfectly well, into silencing the remaining Genins, "You were unlucky I was the proctor for this exam this year! Now stop your whining! Listen well: if you don't want to take this question, then leave, and next time around, maybe in Suna or in Kiri, you might get yourself lucky and pass their own Chuunin exam. Here in Konoha it goes like this: Make your choice!" Slowly, hands raised themselves, especially from the grass and from the Konoha's array of Genins.

It was obvious what the thought behind it was: if one took an exam in another country, there was no need to warn Konoha of it, but for a Konoha's Genin, or a Grass one who still belonged a neighboring village, and forced to hire people from Konoha itself, it was completely different.

Out of thirty-six, only twenty-one people remained: seven teams.

Ibiki's brother's team was among them, actually, something that did make the older sibling smile, a bit. Though it kind of seemed like a frown more than a smile.

"Good, now on to the question: You are with your team in enemy territory," Naruto winced, a thing that also Anko and Itachi didn't fail to do, "One of your teammate has been captured, and you have really important information that absolutely needs to be delivered back to the village, if you deliver it, your teammate will probably die, and if you don't deliver it, your village will probably suffer the lack of that information, now…" Ibiki took a deep breath.

"Those of you, who would deliver the information, remain in the room. Those of you who would save their teammate, but go against the shinobi rules, go against the village, go against the orders of your superiors, possibly making the situation far worse…leave the room now, because you are unfit of being together with the rest of the class," and with that, silence reigned in the room for a while.

Anko was fighting between the necessity to answer correctly, staying in the room, and her inner morality, but, was there even an answer? She had to recall what had happened…hadn't they gone to save Naruto? That was the right choice, but was Ibiki asking them that, or was he going with the theory, the ink version, the *Not applicable to real life* answer?

Itachi's eyes took in the stance of the proctor, who was far more than qualified to hide wherever or not one answer was correct, or the other wasn't. Thus, he decided that, since this was a team's exercise, he'd look at his teammates, and then value their choices.

His eyes pinned themselves on the slightly shaking figure of a conflicted Anko, whose light brown hazel eyes were looking around nervously, at the room that seemed to have no-one moving out.

That was, however, until those eyes fixed themselves on something that made the Kunoichi smile, and stop shaking.

Itachi followed her line of sight to where Naruto was, and a small smile escaped from his lips, as the grey-haired boy had silently stood up, looking at Ibiki with a serious gaze.

"If you leave now, your entire team will be disqualified, do you understand it?" Ibiki asked, once more, his voice stern and his look gruff, as he eyed Naruto's very own blue eyes that seemed to be narrowed in an effort to think.

And then, slowly, Naruto turned his gaze to Itachi and Anko, both of which were shaking their head…while standing up too.

"See ya later Ibiki," Naruto replied, moving out of the room, waving with the back of his hand to the man, who looked at the three Genin squad leave the classroom without as much as a thought.

The door closed silently, and then, slowly, another figure stood up, coming from the dark-skinned white haired Kumogakure shinobi, albeit the look coming from the other two girls from Kumo was murderous, he muttered, meekly.

"Well, you know, I don't have it in me so…I'm sorry," as Ibiki nodded, he then looked at his fellow examiner, who placed a tick mark on the names of the Kumo shinobis, like he had done with the Konoha's ones:

Omoi, Yugito and Karui.

Then, slowly, the blue haired glass-wearing boy stood up, albeit the look from the other pale blue haired boy was murderous, with his shark teeth snapping, in a sort of fury, and, as he exited, the names were signed: Chojuro, Mangetsu, Meizu.

Those were, however, all.

Ibiki narrowed his eyes, before yelling out loud.

"All those that remain in the room…YOU FAIL!"

*Outside said room*

"Chojuro, I'm going to gut you like a fish!" Mangetsu snarled, looking at the blue boy a couple of years his junior, who was backing down with a pale face, "And you wish to become a swordsman of the mist? You can't even have…"

"Really, Omoi, you made us fail!" Karui exclaimed, a couple of meters away, looking at the white haired man, while near them, the long blond haired girl from Kumo simply stared, without much of an emotion, at her red-haired companion yelling at their only male teammate.

"That was clearly copyright infringement," Anko said, with a chuckle, looking at the two boys who were staring at one another, kind of engaged in a battle of wills. Differently from those who had left before them, the three Genin groups had been brought to another room, since…*the previous one was full*.

They had no idea *what* anyone would have wanted with them, since they had failed, though it was, without a doubt, strange.

Which was the reason Naruto and Itachi were having a silent eye to eye battle to decide whom of the two should give the fleeting hope to Anko that no, they hadn't yet failed.

That's when the window of the room opened, and, with a flowery cascade of cherry blossom petals, a raven haired woman with red eyes, wearing bandage wraps around her body, entered the room with a wide smile and a Konoha forehead protector.

"Congratulation to you all! You have passed the first part of the test!" as she merrily exclaimed that, Mangetsu looked at Chojuro with a slight smirk, his shark-like teeth actually turning into a far more horrible smile.

"Well, then you aren't all that wimpy! I might let you use a sword, eventually…" just like that, the *culprits* of the team's failure became the *heroes*.

"I was thinking about…" Omoi said, only to receive a hit on the head from Karui.  
"No, you were just chickening out and we got lucky, that's all Omoi-kun," the red-haired dark skinned woman said, with a frown.

"Ehm…Anyway," Kurenai said, clapping her hands together to get the attention of the Genins, nine of them, "As you must understand, the second part will take place in the forest of Death, area Forty-four, and I will be the proctor for the second part of the exam…"

"Aw Kure-chan!" Anko exclaimed with a pout, "I want to become an evil woman just like you when I grow up!" with a nervous tick mark appearing on Kurenai's forehead, the purple-haired kunoichi chuckled to herself.

"Stop it, before I place you in a Genjutsu," the woman snapped back, before re-addressing all the shinobi present in the room, "Anyway, head over there in the next hour. You may not carry anything except three Kunais and one shuriken, plus your clothes, but they must come without secret weapons stashed within. You will be checked for extra weapons, but you can swap the weapon *load out* with another weapon of choice, like a sword, if you so wish," and then, just as she turned to leave, she added, "I'm sure you'd like to know *why* you passed the exam…well…those who abandon their mission are trash…but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash, that is the will of fire," and with those words, she left in a tornado of cherry blossom petals.

"I think I should write it down," Omoi whispered, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, "But what if it's a test? A test within a test? What if it's…"

"Oh just shut up," Karui muttered, "Samui-sensei is going to be happy we passed," it was at that moment, just as they turned to leave, that they realized something.

"Ehm…where *is* the forest of Death?" at that question, even the three Genins from Kiri turned around to the three Konoha's ones.

Meaning that there were six pairs of eyes actually staring at three pairs of eyes.

"You know, we *could* actually retreat with a bang and leave them to ask the civilians," Anko pointed out, as Itachi sighed.

"Then again, they could track us down, or actually they would ask someone who *knows* where the training ground is…" Itachi added.

"So why not just tell them to follow us?" Naruto said to the other two, with a small shrug.

"I like the kid," Mangetsu pointed out, just as Meizu chuckled for a moment.

"I think Gozu is having a fit, knowing he failed and I didn't," at that, the third one of the Kiri ninjas said with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah…Good think I moved out, huh?" just as Chojuro said that, Mangetsu replied with a shark-like smile.

"Do that during a real mission…and I'm sure the Mizukage will kill you," and with that, the Kiri ninjas followed the Konoha's ones towards the forest of death.

Silently, the Kumo shinobis did so too. Albeit the blond-haired girl with dark eyes kept her gaze on the grey-haired boy's back…there was just something…off, about the boy.

They moved out of the building to receive loud cheers from the crowd, only for them to stop at the sight of *who* had actually passed the exam. Silently, the Konoha crowd, or at least, the majority of it, dispersed without a word. Even among the Kumo one few actually remained, most noticeable of them all was a really big breasted woman, whose breasts could rival in size with those of Tsunade herself.

"Well, our excuse is that I'm the snake bitch and he's the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki," Anko said with a chuckle, looking at the Kumo ninjas that were following them, "What's yours?"

A gasp came from Chojuro, who slowly recoiled from the grey-haired boy, while Mangetsu frowned at such a display of weakness, he never the less brought his hand to his sword, strapped on his back with heavy bandages. Meizu simply decided to take the middle ground, by staying behind Chojuro, but with his armored gauntlet ready.

On the other hand, Yugito whispered, her eyes narrowing.

"I believe it's me, the Nibi Jinchuuriki," at that, Karui sighed, before muttering.

"And the Raikage said to not take a fight with their Jinchuuriki during the exams…damn, this is going to end bad," Itachi rolled his eyes, instead before letting his gaze go to the white haired and dark skinned boy, who seemed to be lost in thoughts.

"Is it something of this generation? Half of us seem to be apt at Kenjutsu," at those words, Anko actually chuckled.

"Yeah, the two blue-heads do have fancy swords, me and poor Naru-chan are going to have to fight with our kunais," at that, Naruto coughed slightly, letting his hand go to his Tanto, the gift from Kakashi.

"Aw…I'm going to be left alone," Anko pouted playfully, just as Yugito simply muttered.

"I don't use a sword too," but her whisper was barely heard…she sucked at human interactions, furthermore, Karui seemed of the idea of exclaiming something right then.

"Swords are useful tools! Everyone in Kumo knows how to use one!" except Yugito, who used her nails.

Really tough nails, the Nibi Jinchuuriki knew, but still…

She slowly decided to move closer to the grey-haired boy, maybe strike up a conversation, or two, about something, anything. Just…if life in Konoha for Jinchuuriki sucked hard just like it did in Kumo, if he had been trained since age two to control his beast, if his beast was a cat in heat that asked in whispers to jump on any male, not even necessary of the human race that passed next to him, or things like that.

Just…normal conversation.

That's when she realized that, while the group of Konoha Genins was helping them out, she couldn't get near the boy.

It was subtle, but actually both the purple-haired Kunoichi and the raven-haired boy moved in such a way that the grey-haired one was ever-swapping of position. Unless she actually asked a question, raising her voice, there was no way she'd manage to get *near* him, or next to him.

So, since she wasn't, at all, shy, just…unused to human conversations, she decided to ask, in a sort of normal, maybe even thinking it was polite, tone, a question.

"You killed anyone yet?" it was such a harmless question, at least to her eyes.

The point was that she actually got a reply back.

"Yes, you?" the grey-haired boy turned his blue gaze to the girl, who, under said gaze, actually nodded.

"Yes, my first was with a missing-nin," as she pointed that out, both Omoi and Karui bit their tongue from letting any sort of innuendo come through, but just as Anko was about to say something, Itachi narrowed his sharingan gaze to the purple Kunoichi, a clear sign *not* to interrupt.

"Mine was two brigands…explosive tag," he added, as he had to explain why it was two instead of one.

"I used the Nibi fire, what can you use from the Kyuubi?" at that, Naruto mulled over it for a moment, before chuckling.

"I've got fire…really hot blue fire," at those words, Yugito raised an eyebrow.

"I have that too…maybe it's something similar to all Jinchuuriki? But B-sensei never had blue fire tricks…"

"Meh," Naruto shrugged, "I didn't actually ask her, she usually sleeps…and they told me not to wake her up, since my chakra reserves aren't that high, yet."

**First off, the Kyuubi is a He. Secondly, it's a mass of chakra, if anything, he should have chakra to spare, not need to build it up. Thirdly, I have never, ever, seen him use blue fire. He used red flames born from the pits of hell itself, he scorched the ground where it trekked upon leaving behind nothing but cinders. If not for the seal on his forearm, I'd say he is lying to you, Kitten.**

The voice that resounded silently into the blond girl's head was enough to make her narrow her eyes, once more, in distrust, as she looked at the grey-haired boy that seemed the very spit image of trust and truth.

"I see…" Yugito decided to keep this information for herself, but she just had the feeling that the raven-haired boy was looking at her with something akin…suspicion.

By the time they reached the forest of death, Kurenai kind of sighed, seeing how everyone was seemingly standing a bit wary of the Konoha group...she, however, did her best to avoid looking *of part* and thus tried to keep her best, serious and *cool* gaze.

"Well, this is a test of survival and skill… Survive five days in the forest of death, while heading to the tower at the end of the fifth day. Each of you would have normally been given a scroll, but considering the low uneven number, it wouldn't be fair…thus the test is merely a scavenging one. Hidden in the forest are at least eight different codes, bring two to the tower by the time limit, and you'll pass to the second phase…"

"Why are there eight codes for just three teams?" at the question asked by Omoi, the reply came swiftly.

"Because nothing prohibits you from destroying code pieces once you find them…and look around to destroy others to bar your opponents from obtaining them. Survival, tracking, information gathering, this test will prove it all…be mindful that you do need to sign this form…you *might* die in this test," and just like that, the raven haired Jounin produced forms for everyone to sign.

"Meh, won't be as difficult as the Genin graduation exam," Mangetsu snarled, as Chojuro, on the other hand, winced.

"It must have been horrible," he whispered, only to be thrown on the ground by both Mangetsu and Meizu.

"Just shut up!" Meizu growled, "You got lucky that after Zabuza they didn't do it any longer…" and with that said, Kurenai took out three small wooden sticks.

"Everyone, take one, they are numbered, and will show you the order of entrance in the forest. Furthermore, please pick a gate from which to enter at that moment, so that the fact of entering first won't make it easier to trap the entrance…especially you, Itachi-kun," the Uchiha whistled innocently, it was Naruto that had shown him the wonders of trap-making, what fault did the Uchiha heir have after all? IT was fun! Explosions, wires going on, kunais flying…definitively not Uchiha-worthy, but also fun.

It didn't take a second to decide who would draw the straw. Naruto went in with a sigh, grabbing the number one.

"Wouldn't that be cheating? They play home, it could be rigged." Meizu scoffed, his eyes darting to the straw.

"I can assure you it isn't…but if you wish, you can hold all three and see for yourself," with those words, Kurenai and Naruto handed him all three straws, that the elder boy took with his non-gauntlet hand, only for Naruto to once more pick the number one straw.

"Better?" Kurenai asked, as Meizu growled, letting the Kumogakure shinobi pick a straw, with the number *three* on it.

"So we're seconds," Mangetsu muttered.

"We take gate one," Naruto said, pointing, obviously, at the gate straight in front of them.

"We take gate seven…I like that number," Mangetsu pointed out, with a smirk.

"We take gate four," Yugito said, as the rest of the people there winced. Four was an unlucky number…but well, their choice.

Everyone was moved to their respective gates, and just like that, in silence, Naruto cracked his shoulders, Anko twirled her Kunai, and Itachi sighed.

Then the gate opened, just like it did in the three other remaining ones, and the battle began.

*In the forest-Night*

The forest was noisy.

The forest was alive.

The forest was out for their blood.

It had been the first thought that all three Genins had in the same time.

It wasn't much about thinking if the forest was actually alive, or out to kill them in particular, but when you find yourself facing off against man-eating beasts, man-eating plants and man-eating insects, you find yourself thankful that you have an Uchiha with Katon Jutsus, a Mitarashi with snake summons and a Senju with a healthy dose of Suiton Jutsus. Sure, the mist wasn't a good way to actually hide, as it would give them away…but it kept the insects out of their way while they grabbed Honey from some hives.

Their dinner, and also lunch, for their first night in the forest had been with comestible turnips smeared with honey.

The fact that turnips, out of all possible vegetables, actually grew in that forest meant only one thing: they were horrible turnips. Adding the honey to it was like deciding they simply didn't want to eat, but just to taste wrenching and disgusting nutrition. To spite their stomachs, probably.

Still, honey was one of the things that didn't, at all, rot. So carefully folding the honey into leaf-made packages, the group had decided to nestle themselves deep within the roots of a giant tree, and there, with the favor of the night, and of some Ivy that had doubled as thread, they had created a hidden spot to light a fire.

"Okay…Anko?" Naruto asked in a low murmur, as the purple-haired kunoichi bit her tongue for a moment, before replying.

"I came here a while ago…training," the words came out with difficulty, remembering of that man with dark hair and golden eyes, who treated her like a daughter in their private training time…and who had then simply discarded her as a broken tool.

Naruto closed his eyes, silently nodding to the kunoichi's words. He was waiting for the thing that was slithering downwards to get into his range.

"There is a river that runs through the center of the training ground…going always straight will get us to it, even if we deviate a bit…and from there to the tower it's easy, as it can be seen from great distance too…there's just the problem of the *codes*…what are they?"

"Good question, usually I'd say something written on something else," Itachi replied, "Like ink on paper, or etched letters or numbers on a wooden tablet," his hand went to his Ninjato, the weapon he had chosen, leaving behind the kunais and the shurikens.

The fire cracked silently for a second, and then, in a sudden motion, Anko muttered.

"Sen'eijashu!" as snaked dashed from her forearms their fangs ready to bite at the descending intruder, Naruto's Tanto was already in a piercing position straight through the leaves cover, while Itachi stood ready for the Katon seals, his sharingan flaring into full view.

Naruto's Tanto hit straight against a Katana's blade, as the red-haired Kunoichi from Kumo made a couple of steps backwards, just as her colleague, the white-haired Kumo shinobi let his own blade fall in a crescent swipe, only to be blocked by the grey-haired boy's Tanto.

Sparks flickered in the air as Itachi took the back to back position with Naruto, the Kiri shinobi known as Mangetsu slowly…dribbling, down the tree's bark.

"Two teams against one, huh? Not fair!" Anko snapped, realizing how her snakes had seemingly dashed through the blue-haired boy's body.

"We're surrounded, Naruto-kun," Itachi muttered.

"Itachi…I hate when you're right," Naruto's index and middle finger of his free hand jolted upward, just as mist enveloped the three Genin's parties.

Anko's kunai moved to the side, deflecting what appeared to be extremely long claws, coming from the Nibi Jinchuuriki, while at the same time side-stepping the more wide movements of the other Kiri shinobi.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu against Kiri shinobis? That's useless," Mangetsu snarled, his shark-like teeth extending into a savage grin, as he unwrapped his sword from his bandages, to reveal Hiramekarei, an enormous wide and flat blade with two indentations near its base, creating a sort of guard, and two handles connected to each other by a short length of cord.

"Maybe…" Itachi whispered with a smile, "But you shouldn't have looked at my eyes," and with that, the sharingan locked his gaze with the shinobi from Mist.

It was a moment, and then the stalemate was broken, as Anko dashed into the mist, followed by the Nibi Jinchuuriki.

On the other side, Omoi and Karui both realized that they were no longer fighting a strength contest with the grey-haired boy.

The mist dispersed minutes later, to reveal a completely still Mangetsu, probably under a Genjutsu, and a nice pile of explosive tags…written on tree bark with blood.

The explosion rocked thorough the forest, as the three Konoha shinobi looked to one another with a nod. They would have simply looked for the codes, leaving the other teams in peace: but they had allied, Kiri and Kumo, to take down Konoha. If they wanted a recreation of the war so badly, then they would have it, and they would face the best Konoha had to offer…or what was available.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" Naruto had barely turned around, to launch the Jutsu, when it impacted against a water dragon that had seemingly been charging at them.

The remaining Mist shinobi, Meizu, was standing sentry, probably, and had seen them leave, and was now in pursuit.

"We need to shake him off," Anko muttered, "But if I waste kunais…"

"Don't worry…I've got this," Naruto whispered back, biting his own thumb, before slamming his open palm on a tree branch, and yelling, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" as a puff of smoke appeared, and disappeared, Meizu pressed on, the brat had miscalculated and nothing had emerged, ha!

The next moment, he felt himself being tugged away, like something had attached itself to his back, and, with a strong pull, he screamed, as a set of sharp teeth in a pitch black darkness was the thing he saw, before being twisted and crushed slightly under the strength of strong acids, that melted away at his clothes and wound his flesh.

Finally, he was spat out, gasping in relief as another cloud of smoke announced the disappearance of whatever it had been, that had eaten him alive.

He barfed on the ground, visibly shaking.

Did the boy summon demons? Invisible demons with sharp teeth and enormous stomachs? Did he summon them by pledging to them souls? He had been spared to be a warning to the others? Was that the reason? For once, in his life, Meizu felt fear…he felt the fear of being in front of the Unknown, the dark, the hidden.

As he slowly made his way back to his teammates, he realized that what little was salvageable of his entire equipment was barely his boxers and his shirt. He was effectively without weapon, even his poisoned gauntlet had been reduced to nothing but broken down, or better yet, melted down, metal.

The fun thing was that he didn't know it yet…but he had just become bald too.

The three Konoha Genins quickly made their way away from the two other teams, thoughts of how to actually survive against banded up Genins of the other two nations entering their minds, just to leave seconds afterwards.

"Can't believe Kumo and Kiri got together…though it does make sense to take out the opposition with overwhelming strength," Itachi whispered, "Do you think we are going to be able to rest?"

"Tonight? I don't think so…if they planned it well, they met soon after the beginning signal, rested for the day and then came at us during the afternoon…they'll do what they can to close it quickly," Naruto replied, "Because otherwise they know we'd take the upper hand," as he added that, Anko bit her lip, before suggesting.

"I could summon a big snake, but if I end up calling Manda…I don't have one hundred sacrifices," as she said that, Naruto and Itachi raised a puzzled eyebrow…just who was *Manda*?

"No need to bring out the big guns," Naruto muttered, as he stopped on one of the high tree branches, "Itachi…start peeling off the bark skin, Anko-chan, find me some more ink…" and the look on his blue eyes, that was more than enough to convince the other two to obey.

Naruto and explosive tags had a feeling, one to the other, it was the first type of seal he had mastered, the one he could do with his eyes closed, and, if the enemy wanted a piece of him, of his friends…then they'd have to pay it with their limbs flying scattered into the forest.

*Kumo and Kiri*

"Stop!" Yugito exclaimed, raising a hand, just as Mangetsu, of another idea, stepped on a twig.

The next moment, wooden logs fell downwards, inscribed with bloody symbols and shining brightly.

Chojuro managed to duck to the side, just as the wooden logs exploded, while releasing mortal wooden shards around, as Yugito on the other hand parried them with her Nibi cloak of chakra.

Not too far behind, Meizu had barely moved to the side of the tree when the fizzling sound at his back forced him to scream, as the roaring sound of fire and the concussive force of the blast sent him on the ground, his back flaring with pain.

All around them, they realized, was a minefield.

"We just gave them two hours!" Karui yelled, "What damn monster makes a minefield of explosive tags in two hours?"

"Well but…they survived an S-class mission, as Genins," Omoi pointed out from the rock he was hiding behind, holding his katana in his hand, just to be sure.

"Our mission should be finding codes, not avoiding losing limbs," Chojuro muttered among ragged breathes.

"Thank Kami it doesn't hurt that much," Mangetsu snarled, as his body slowly returned to a solid state, after having become half-liquid, to avoid the explosion and the shards.

"I think your comrade has fainted," Omoi said, pointing at the fallen body of Meizu, whose back was now not only filled with wooden splinters, but looked like it had nearly been ripped off.

"He'll be fine, eventually," Mangetsu replied, "Chojuro, carry him," he snarled, as the other pale blue haired boy nodded vividly.

"So, we need a plan," Karui pointed out, "Or we end up getting reduced to minced meat before reaching the tower," as the red-haired woman said that, Yugito sniffed silently in the air.

"I can still track their scents, but they're all over the forest now," at those words, Omoi queried.

"How can that be possible? I mean, how could…"

"The explosive tags are written in their blood, idiot," Karui snapped back at the white haired shinobi, "which means that there are explosive tags all over the forest…" as realization dawned on the group, Mangetsu's teeth gritted furiously.

"We wasted time…now we just upped the bar for this test. Let's find out what the code pieces are, and once we do, let's destroy the excess ones afterwards," as everyone nodded to that, they slowly made their way in the opposite direction, Chojuro carrying Meizu, until Omoi, who had been first in the line, stopped.

"Ehm…we're screwed," were the words that the white haired boy said, before paling completely, as what seemed like a massive amount of snakes, all with explosive tags attached to them, came down raining like they were nothing less than raindrops of a rainy day.

The point was that the snakes could disperse in smoke…the attacked group couldn't.

Far away, the deafening sound of explosions was dulled by the noise of the running animals, who all made haste to get as far away as possible from the subjected area. On top of one of said trees, the three Genins from Konoha huddled together, while keeping on their face a beaming set of smiles, as, in the middle of the group stood Naruto, who was laying out the rest of the plan.

Never anger an unpredictable ninja…especially if he enjoys explosions.

*Day of Code-Delivery*

The tower came into view of a group of smoked, scorched, covered in sooth, burned and tired, shinobis. The Kiri team and the Kumo team had managed, despite nearly been blown off repeatedly, to find pieces of code written around the forest.

The codes were nothing more than words, written in ink, which had been hidden all around the forest on small barely visible scrolls. They had barely managed to find four, by working together, just to be sure they'd actually survive the test. Except that dreadful first night, however, they had no longer been attacked by…raining snakes of explosion? Kamikaze reptiles? Those things.

They realized the door held small fissures, to let scrolls been pushed through, which both teams did, to unlock the door.

"Thank Kami…" Karui muttered, as she pushed open the door of the tower, as Yugito, her hair uneven and some even standing against gravity, felt the need to kiss the floor of the tower.

Just as they stepped in, the fizzle of an explosive tag sent the entire teams into a screaming fit of panic, as they all took a defensive position.

"…Yeah, we traumatized them good," the feminine voice that spoke belonged to the purple-haired Kunoichi, who, with a grin, chuckled at the sight of six shinobi, six extremely wounded shinobi, wobbling in.

"Did we deliver an apt enough message?" Itachi asked, rhetorically, to Anko, both of them standing in the middle of the entrance room that seemed to hold also a group of Jounins, who were the probable judges for the second part.

"I believe we did, Itachi-kun, I believe we did," Naruto said, nodding to himself, as a set of murderous gazes settled themselves on the three from Konoha.

"Please, no fighting within the tower's premises," Kurenai exclaimed, moving towards the three groups of arrived Genins, "Furthermore, you'll fight plenty at the end of the week, when the last part of the exam will take place," as she pointed that out, Yugito slowly nodded, before hissing.

"Can I kill him first?" Pointing at the grey-haired boy, just as Mangetsu butted in.

"No, I want to kill him first," and just like that, Kurenai's forehead sported a tick mark, as the woman coughed slightly to get back attention.

"Nobody kills nobody: now listen well, the final part of the exam will be held in the stadium of Konoha, under the watchful gaze of your Kages or their representatives, and the various Daimyos and their entourages, and while you should refrain from killing any and all opponents," as the woman said that, a set of low growls were heard from the general direction of the Kiri group, "It may happen during the last part of the exam, as you will be asked to go all out to show your skills, thus, you may be excused," she stressed that word, "but at the same time, the examiner for that last part *will* have final say, and if he declares a match is over, then you will stop attacking, understood?"

"Why tell us this now, instead of later?" Omoi asked, perplexed.

"First off, you may renounce now to aim for chuunin, and it will not impact the rest of your team, secondly, because right now we have to decide the pairings for the fight, and since you are an uneven number, one will advance to the second spot…so, pick a number from the box," as soon as Kurenai had said that, Meizu growled slightly shaking his head.

"I won't fight just to be embarrassed, I can barely walk with what those fuckers did to me…I'll take the exam another time with Gozu, he probably half-killed his team already," with that, Kurenai nodded, pointing at a room.

"Then please go over to the infirmary, through that door," as the elder boy did so, a box with a set of paper slips was made to turn around the remaining Genins, all taking out a number.

"Do I need to say it? One," Naruto said, showing his slip to Kurenai, who chuckled, just as Omoi paled slightly.

"I got two," the white haired and dark skinned boy said.

"Three it is," Anko chuckled, "Who's my enemy?"

"I am four," Yugito smiled back, gently, making the purple-haired Kunoichi wince.

"I am five," Mangetsu snarled, just as the red-haired girl from Kumo winced.

"I'm number six," Karui whispered.

"So Itachi and Chojuro are number seven and eight?" as the remaining two boys nodded at Kurenai's question, the woman nodded.

"Well…the end of the week is in two days…it's going to be pretty interesting by then," and with that, the order of battle was prepared.

**Author's notes.**

**All hands on deck!**

**Ahoy! **

**As you all know, I'm not an Oc guy. So, while it might seem bizarre, or strange, I took ninjas I knew could have some…justification, to actually be in that timeline at the exams.**

**That said, someone asked for the general age of people.**

**So:**

**Naruto and Itachi are Ten/Eleven.**

**Anko is Fourteen/Fifteen.**

**The *Jounins*like Kurenai/Asuma are Eighteen.**

**Kakashi is Seventeen.**

**Meizu and Gozu are Sixteen.**

**The others are within the Thirteen/Fourteen year range.**

**Now, Q&A time.**

"**You made only three team pass?! How could you!?" Answer: The case in which twenty-six teams passed was proclaimed *A rare occurrence* by Anko, in canon. Meaning that usually numbers were much lower. Furthermore, if anyone goes and look at Idate's failure during the chuunin exams, you see how basically only…what, one team? Refused the answer? (or two maybe), meaning that, since Chuunins are captain/commanders, it is to be believed that they lead the *flocks* of Genins through various patrol missions/useless stuff.**

"**You skipped through the forest of death!" Well, consider that Anko did that to half the teams, but the truth was that only Ten or less than ten could take part in the tournament, to keep it *Fast-paced*…meaning that the survival part could be done without the use of the scrolls, as surviving, information gathering, and mettle skills were all easily testable.**

"**Explosive Kamikaze snakes, really?" Why not? Anko's mad and so is Naruto. Be thankful Deidara isn't there.**

"**Due to canon in point XYZ the character ZZZ is supposed to be…" Listen, I did what I could with the timeline I read through, you want to be more precise? Write me a more detailed timeline. I write this story because it's fun to write this, if I need to wrap my head around everything, then it's not fun. **

"**Itachi placed the entire examiners under an eye Genjutsu, really?" Hey, he's a prodigy, he's smart, and everyone was looking at Naruto at the moment, not at the Uchiha, and everyone was trying to dispel a Henge, not a Genjutsu.**

"**What are you going to do with the massacre?" I still don't know, really, though it *has* been in my intention to put through a Half-Massacre. Only killing the bad ones, but it's…well, Itachi was never one to think straightforward, was he? I'll still come up with something.**

"**After the exams?" Chuunin mission (couple of chapters?) + Jounin exams!**

"**What happens afterwards?" The idea is Jounin-sensei, yup, a Naruto Jounin Sensei…so…you can start throwing ahead suggestion for team placement, (Obviously putting Katsumi in the place of Naruto from Canon).**

…**I'm taking suggestions, (through pms) for good Jounin-candidate exams, at the present *I* know that a Jounin is required to know Two elemental affinities, undergo solo missions of A-rank and S-rank, and be generally versed in *all* areas of expertise, from Genjutsu to Ninjutsu through (I suppose) Kenjutsu and a bit of Fuinjutsu too…anything else?**

"**Why Jounin-sensei and not elite-solo-anbu of doom?" Because really, think of the trouble of placing him in the same team as Hinata, or with his sister. Think of him placed in the spot of Gai's team. Think of him with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio…and trying not to kill them.**

**Those are reasons why I write…to chuckle evilly thinking of how characters interact with one another, not of who has the bigger sword of doom or the strongest powers, and to answer the *What ifs?* Fanfiction *was* born to answer the -What if?- Question.**


	9. PC:Confrontations

Chapter Ninth

The arena was swarmed with people.

The Hokage, with his blond spikey hair, stood in the Kage's box. The representatives from both Kumo and Kiri, sat in their respective seats, since neither of the Kages had decided to participate. The one from Kiri busy with some...internal problems, and the one from Kumo had smartly decided to send someone else and better suited.

Next to them, their bodyguards stood in wait. Obviously enough, Minato had chosen Genma Shiranui and Raido Namiashi, the only two, other than him, that knew of the Hiraishin technique. On a seat next to the Hokage stood his wife, Kushina Namikaze, holding her hands tightly clenched onto her robe. Her eyes, darting the arena, looked around with a vivid, and worried, expression. On her lap, the five years old Katsumi was looking with her clear blue eyes at the Kiri ambassador, who seemed to be a bulking brute with his mouth covered in bandages, and who had a giant broadsword on his back, covered in wrappings.

The red-haired girl was sure the man was hiding female-like lips under those wraps: just like she was sure Kakashi's mask hid a horrid witch-like nose.

The Kumo representative on the other hand was a bulky and tanned man with shades, who seemed to be scribbling down notes on his small book, muttering strange rap-songs that were giving her headaches. He had a kanji for Iron on his right shoulder, and, much to her surprise, her father was eying it pretty intensively, with a frown.

On the right side of the Kage's box, stood the Hyuga's family, both main and branch, since not coming would be seen as an offence, and furthermore, Hiashi did want to see how strong the only three Konoha's Genins were.

Next to the Hyuga clan stood the Akimichi clan.

It wasn't a casual position, instead, it simply was because the Akimichi, completely uncaring about gazes coming from the white-eyes next to them, would simply eat and watch the show, without starting ferocious battles on the *You've got something to say to me, huh!?*

The noise of chip packs bustling up and being shared around, some even going as far as bringing barbeque and sandwiches, was more than enough to actually cover the cheering of the Nara clan. Since the only cheering person in the clan right next to the Akimichi one was Yoshino Nara, the wife of the clan's leader, as she held her baby boy on her lap.

Right next to the Nara clan was the Yamanaka one, where Inoichi was currently debating killing or not a boy who was shamelessly flirting with his baby girl. Albeit his girl was already five years old, and there was no way another five years old could be flirting with her, he still was debating the use of mind-raping jutsus never the less.

On the other side of the Kage's box, the Uchiha clan stood composed. Many, secretly, had their sharingans activated but hidden under a Genjutsu…they would steal whatever they could in jutsus from the competitors, though *stealing* was a bad word, and *taking in loan* was better. Mikoto, the wife of Fugaku, was pointing at Itachi from her seat, with Sasuke in her lap, who was in his best *Oniisan!* exclamations-mode.

"Oniisan is going to win, right Kaa-san?" the raven-haired boy queried, his dark eyes looking straight down at the arena's ground.

"Well Sasuke-chan, we will have to see, he does have a really strong team," Mikoto replied.

"But he's so cool! He's got the sharingan already!" Sasuke replied, pouting afterwards, "Why isn't mine activated yet?"

"Just give it time, Sasuke-chan," Mikoto replied, hugging the five-year old, "Just give it time."

Right next to the Uchiha stood the Aburame clan, the only one who could keep up with the normal seriousness of the Uchiha, and, at the same time, feign ignorance to their next-door neighbors on the arena's rows: the Inuzuka.

The Dog-lovers weren't just cheering: they were howling, clapping hands and effectively making up for half of the noise in the arena…just by simply being there.

Among their numbers, Tsume Inuzuka, the clan's matriarch, was grinning widely, while looking at the scowling face of her first-born, Hana.

"Come on pup, one day it's going to be you down there too," she teased, as she held on her lap her five year old son, Kiba, who was doing his best to simply free himself and go running around.

"Kaa-san! It's just not fair! I mean, he's my same age…and he's already gone on S-rank missions!" as Hana whined that, Tsume simply grinned.

"Then you should train more, right, puppy?"

"Kaa-san! Do you think Aniki is going to win?" Kiba exclaimed, as Hana narrowed her eyes on her younger brother.

"Since when is he *Aniki*?" she asked, earning herself a loud laughter from her mother.

"Well pup, you did say you didn't want to babysit any longer, did you?" as she said that, she ruffled Kiba's hair, "So I hired the fixer's team to keep an eye out on this little rascal here," pointing that out, Hana's face suddenly turned a shade of red.

"Wait, you mean…he's been in our compound, in our house…and I didn't know it!?" as she basically screeched that, Tsume roared once more.

"My! Maybe I should give you a talk about dog's and bitches soon enough," the matriarch grinned, as another deep layer of red covered her daughter's face.

"What's this about?" Kiba asked, curious.

"Nothing *you* should know, for a while, got it pup?" as Tsume turned her gaze to Kiba, the boy whined.

"But you're going to tell Hana-Oneesan!"

"She's older than you!" Tsume retorted.

"But…"

"No buts! Now hush, they're about to start!" as the matriarch of the Inuzuka said that, to the side of her clan stood the seats for the civilians, and, actually, those for the Senju clan too.

Meaning that a group of people was there, sporting flags with Naruto's face or the Senju's symbol on, all cheering happily for the first match to begin. Neji was among them too, having previously asked permission, and being sure nobody would mind him missing from the Hyuga's side. This side at least was cheering for his sensei, so why bother staying with the rest of the family? He was sure the other branch family members had been jealous of his *freedom*, but he was a kid, and it would have looked bad if the entire branch family had moved seats just to be able to cheer.

Tsunade herself was waving a giant flag with Naruto's face, and the Senju's clan symbol, while Shizune, next to her, was half embarrassed by such a display and half envious…since her sensei *was* drunk, having drank from the happiness of her Naru-chan passing to the finals.

Next to the Senju clan, stood the Sarutobi clan, where Hiruzen, in first row, was silently smoking his pipe, right next to him was his second son, Asuma, smoking cigarettes, and right next to Asuma was Kurenai, frowning. Sure, she had been invited there for first seats, but she *was* under the impression that everyone in the Sarutobi clan smoked only to annoy her.

But to see Naru-chan down there from the front rows, kicking ass, it was worth it, a bit of passive smoke.

Strangely, Danzo Shimura was sitting on the other side of Hiruzen, as the two old comrades in arms were looking forward to such display of strength, one because he valued Naruto as a grandson, the other because he valued the future of Konoha and the strength of its future shinobis. Unknown to Kurenai, being a Wind affinity user, he could control a light breeze that sent the smoke away from him…and straight to the side where the red-eyed woman was.

"Kakashi! Begin this already you damn idiot!" the voice came from Ibiki Morino, who was standing in the civilian sector, not belonging to any famous clan, and not wanting to meddle with some of the shinobis, who he simply didn't like much.

His eyes darted for a brief second to the empty seat next to him, before a sigh escaped his lips.

"Idate…you know holding a grudge won't work with me," the man whispered, recalling the events of the previous week.

_Ibiki narrowed his eyes, before yelling out loud._

_"All those that remain in the room…YOU FAIL!"_

_The startled Genins were shocked, and scared, of having lost. Soon, yells and exclamations of impossible roared into the room, as the examiners did their best to act tough, Ibiki clapped his hands together, strongly, while letting a louder yell escape his throat._

"_SHUT UP YOU MAGGOTS!" as his murderous gaze reached the entire classroom, enveloping it like a snake crushing his prey, the Genins stood silent, looking at the examiner, to at least understand why._

"_Those who abandon their mission are trash," Ibiki snarled, "but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash!"_

"_But the shinobi rules are there to be followed!" a voice exclaimed in the room, only to be on the receiving end of a chalkboard eraser._

"_You pathetic fool! All of you would have delivered information to your village, while leaving behind your teammate, but what guarantees he won't be tortured for that very same information!? What guarantees that they won't try and pry from him the weak point of the village, its location, its patrols, its weaknesses!? By leaving your teammate behind, you deliver to your enemy tenfold the information you have scavenged for your own village! You bunch of pathetic losers are not only worse than trash, but also stupid!"_

_Silence had quietly reached the entire classroom, as realization had dawned on them that, indeed, there was truth in the man's words._

"_You may leave, and know that none of you has what it takes to be a ninja, so I hope you enjoy staying a Genin forever, these are the permission papers from each of your villages, by the way…all your Kages accepted my question as valid," and with a last, sadistic grin, Ibiki unfolded scrolls with the symbols of the Hidden villages whose Ninjas had participated in the exams…sorrow and grief soon clouded the Genins…all of them. _

As Tsunade, from her spot, make one last yell to Kakashi to begin, just like that, everyone turned their gazes to the eight people in the arena's center, where a smiling silver-haired Jounin, who was the examiner for the third part, stood as their judge right in front of them.

Kakashi cleared his throat, looking with his only eye at the eight Genins, keeping his emotions hidden when his gaze lingered for more than a brief second on Naruto's face.

This was going to be difficult for the grey-haired boy.

The arena held a center with sand and dirt, with a bunch of trees and overgrowth on one side, while tall green walls prevented Jutsus from flying away and hitting the village's houses that had been built nearby.

The spectators' rows had been protected with barriers, so that no stray kunai or explosion could reach the civilians, or the Daimyo's representatives.

There was only one problem: there was no water surface.

That meant, for the Suiton users, that water had to be created on the spot, making their techniques far more chakra consuming and difficult.

It was also a nice clear day, with the sun glaring its heat downwards with his fiery rays.

"The first match will be between Omoi of Kumogakure and Naruto of Konoha, the others may wait in the contestants box, over to the side," as Kakashi spoke quietly, six Genins moved toward the side of the arena, leaving the dark skinned and white haired Kumogakure ninja behind, together with the examiner and the grey-haired boy.

"Defeat him Naru-chan!" Anko winked at the grey-haired boy, before heading towards the bench, just as Itachi gave Naruto a simple nod and a wave of the hand…they'd see each other soon: at the top.

"Now, I may call in a defeat or a win if the match gets too much one-sided, and I will call you to stop if I can avoid a death," Kakashi explained, slowly, once the arena was empty of all but the contestants and him, "but you will not be considered punishable if you mistakenly kill your opponent, so…go all out," and with his usual eye-smile, he jumped backwards, before raising his hand.

"In position!" the copy-cat ninja exclaimed, just as the Kumogakure ninja grabbed his sword with his right hand, holding it in a soft, fluid way.

Naruto, on the other hand, moved his right fist to a Kunai's handle.

"Begin!" and just as Kakashi's hand lowered, the battle began.

*Omoi Vs Naruto*

The Kumogakure ninja charged forward, his katana's reach more than enough, coupled with his speed, to close the distance with the grey-haired boy.

He stopped midway his charge, suddenly jerking his all body in a twist, to roll on the ground to the left side, seemingly without reason from the crowd, until an explosion rocked the very same place where Naruto had been seconds before.

"Damn you and explosive tags!" Omoi cursed, actually, as he had seen the boy's Henge for what it was, no longer casting a shadow, and thus realizing it was probably a bait to trap him in.

Now, the Kumogakure shinobi looked around, the dust from the explosion settling in to reveal nothing around him. The boy had effectively hidden himself very well.

Omoi's katana began sparkling with electricity, as the white-haired boy drove his sword forward on the ground, exclaiming.

"Raiton: Electromagnetic murder!" the voltage and the current dashing towards the trees, cracking open the very same ground of the arena, as what seemed like a shadow, a blur of speed, jumped out of them, to reach with his feet on the green wall of the arena.

"I know your tricks," Omoi muttered, as the grey-haired boy's eyes settled on the shinobi from Kumo, "You won't defeat me," he added, charging, once more, straight in.

At that moment Naruto himself jumped from the wall, letting gravity do its trick, as a salvo of kunais appeared from within a scroll, taken out from his right sleeve, being summoned in puffs of smokes and being thrown by the paper itself towards the assailer.

Omoi's katana moved, fluidly, deflecting the barrage of weapons that otherwise would have wounded or crippled him.

As the boy was about to touch the ground, Omoi was already on him, hoping he'd reach him fast enough.

He had seen it, obviously, he had seen the boy go through a flutter of signs as gravity was about to claim him on the ground, he had hoped to reach him in time to wound him, to stop his attack, but just as his katana was about to pierce through the boy's stomach, the jutsu unleashed itself.

"Kaze no Yaiba!" as both of Naruto's palms thrust forward, the wind blades soared through the Katana's blade, and straight into the white haired boy's chest. Blood splattered and sprayed on the ground, as the Kumogakure ninja was thrown backwards by the wind's pressure and cutting edge.

"It's still incomplete," Naruto muttered, thankful that he hadn't hurt himself falling from that height, "that's why you're still alive," he added.

Omoi couldn't help but nod, even as the blood gushing out from him was no longer as fast as before, he muttered, a dribble of the crimson liquid coming out from his lips.

"I forfeit…" and with that, the boy fell to the ground, just as Kakashi called the medic-nins to carry him to the med-bay.

"Winner: Naruto Senju!" as Kakashi's words escaped from his mouth with pride clearly recognizable in his tone, cheers erupted through the arena, as up in the crowd's rows, Asuma let his cigarette fall from his mouth.

"That's a high-rank wind technique…and he's not a natural affinity user?" as the Jounin carefully questioned that, Kurenai, next to him, smiled while brightly clapping her hands.

"Yes, Naru-chan's a Suiton user, but he has some tricks on his sleeve, doesn't he?" Asuma couldn't help but nod at the statement, letting his eyes dart for a brief second to the woman's forms, before turning to look at where his father was.

Hiruzen, standing in his seat with a small smile on his face, was mulling a thought over Danzo's suddenly spoken words.

"He would make a fine Anbu," the words of the Yami of shinobi rested silently into Hiruzen's head, as, exhaling a light puff of smoke, he replied.

"He has seen death before…he doesn't even appear shocked over the blood on his face," at that, Danzo couldn't help but slightly twitch his face up in amusement.

"His wind blade needs refining, normally, such an attack, if executed correctly, would have carved straight through the enemy's chest, killing in one shot," Danzo spoke quietly, conscious that he was the best wind element user in all of Konoha, and that Hiruzen's son was the second best.

"I suppose so, still I doubt he'd easily accept," the ex Hokage said, taking a long breath of smoke in his lungs, before letting it out with a low wheeze.

"I didn't say anything, Hiruzen," the Yami of shinobis replied.

"You weren't about to say how you'd like to train him? I must have read your mind too soon," the Sarutobi clan's leader replied with a small grin.

In the Senju's rows, Tsunade was waving her flag with loud cheers.

"Naru-chan! Naru-chan! Go my boy! Beat the crap out of them all!"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune exclaimed, slightly embarrassed, "Please stop it!"

"Sensei! You're great!" Neji actually yelled, cheering too. This actually made Hiashi, from his position on the other side of the arena, wince. A subtle use of the Byakugan to see at that distance, and lip-reading, gave him that knowledge without having to actually move from his seat. The boy was happily yelling like any kid his age would be, and he was happy.

That was something that, instead, his eldest daughter clearly wasn't, standing right next to him, squirming in her seat, a mixture of fear and uncertainty on her face. Hinata was having conflicted emotions: on one side, she wanted to cheer, on the other, she couldn't because her father would clap only at the end of the tournament, meaning that nobody else in the Hyuga clan would be able to clap until he did.

Cheering was technically fine, as she could see her cousin, Neji, on the other side of the arena, the only Hyuga in the Senju's rows, happily waving at his sensei. But while she wouldn't have minded cheering, she certainly couldn't with her father, right next to her, looking at her with a serious gaze. So she stood completely silent, albeit, in her mind, she was glad Naruto had won.

Still on the other side of the arena, next to Neji, was actually a civilian girl wearing a pretty sunflower dress. Her father had given her permission to watch Naruto's fight, since anyway the shop *would* be deserted, or nearly so, so Ayame was there, clapping her hands as Naruto left the arena, having won that fight.

Up above, in the Kage's box, Killer B, the Kumo's representative, sported a smile.

"Well, the boy did good,

Though not to brood,

Against the Nine-tails,

Even the best would see fails," as he rapped that, the Kiri representative scoffed.

"I say the brat's got good eyes, and I heard he's got the Kirigakure Jutsu too: might as well have been born in Kiri, he would have made an excellent shinobi of the Mist," Zabuza pointed that out, his eyes not stopping for a second to gaze at the grey-haired boy cleaning his face from the sprayed blood, with the back of the hand.

"But he makes an excellent Ninja of Konoha, doesn't he?" Minato replied, trying to keep a neutral tone.

"Maybe," Zabuza pointed out, "But we will see how he fares against Mangetsu."

"Ohi, what makes you believe,

That he'd be relieve,

To survive the cat,

That all day raps?" as B rapped that, Kushina's forehead sported a nervous tick-mark.

"That doesn't even make sense, 'ttebane," she muttered, her voice murderous.

"Kaa-san? Did he hit his head?" Katsumi queried, looking worriedly at the tanned man, who lowered his head with a loud sigh.

"I'm sure Yugito-chan will swipe the floor both of your Kunoichi and of your Jinchuuriki, she can fully control her form after all," Killer B deadpanned, as he smirked, looking at the shocked gazes that stood on the face of the red-haired woman and, for a brief second, of the Hokage and of Zabuza.

"Kaa-san, what's a Jinchuuriki?" Katsumi asked, curious.

"It's…It's someone who harbors a Bijuu, or a tailed beast, within themselves," Kushina replied, looking down below, as the match was about to start.

If the Bijuu won, without troubles…then would she defeat Naruto too? Or would she…kill him?

*Anko Vs Yugito*

Kakashi looked with an eye-smile at his student, who, with a wide smile, was teasing the Kumogakure kunoichi with innuendos.

"Tell me Nii-chan: are you frigid also outside your clothes? Do you like bathing in milk? Do you spit hair-balls?"

"Can we start the match?" Yugito muttered, locking her dark gaze on the copy-cat ninja, who, with a nod, raised his hand.

"Ready…begin!"

Within a moment, Anko brought both her arm forward, as snakes, their jaws opening up to reveal the glittering metal of Tantos, literally jumped forward to wound the Nibi Jinchuuriki, to bite her, to poison her.

The next moment, an armor made of chakra covered the Nibi, a single tail of worth appearing on her back, casting a pale blue flicker of flames. Her eyes turned to little golden slits, as her nails prolonged themselves slightly, her face turning feral.

"I'm going to play with you a bit," the Jinchuuriki purred, jumping with unparalleled speed at Anko, who couldn't believe her Sen'eijashu was having no effect.

The snakes were torn apart and their weapons melted, under the advance of the Nibi's container, whose right hand, elongated into feral-like claws, closed quarters.

The nails of the Kumogakure Kunoichi met with the soft flesh of the purple-haired girl from Konoha, and just as blood, fresh crimson liquid that was about to spill out, Yugito realized she was hitting an empty trench-coat.

The wooden log, that now replaced Anko Mitarashi, was turned to splinters in mere seconds.

"That was a fast replacement," Itachi whispered, from the sidelines, his sharingan in full view to see the movements.

"I'm going to die next round," Naruto whispered back, his breath a bit ragged. He hadn't shown it, but using the chakra for the A-rank wind Jutsu was something consuming.

The Nibi Jinchuuriki got on all fours, sniffing around, until, with a wide smile, she punched the ground beneath her, letting cracks widen up enough to reveal her enemy, who, without flinching, finished the hand-signs.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" the fire sphere encircled and surrounded completely the form of the Kumogakure Kunoichi, just as Anko jumped out of the crevice, trying to get on the defensive with a kunai in her right hand.

That's when the fire dispersed, and Yugito Nii emerged unscathed, two tails of chakra on her back, a wide smirk on her face.

"Really? Katons on the fire cat?" she purred, and in a moment, she opened her mouth, "This is how you do Katons: Nezumi Kedama!"

From the Jinchuuriki's mouth, hairballs spat outside, assuming the form of mice that literally took fire, while flying directly against Anko.

The Kunoichi tried to jump backward, to fling kunais and even an explosive tag, but in the end, a set of fiery explosions brought her on the ground, her body covered in charred pieces of hair, her fishnet shirt torn in pieces.

Yet…Yet she stood up once more, cracking a smile.

"Is this…the best you've got?" she muttered, a dribble of blood coming down the side of her mouth, just as her shoulder seemed to be flaring with small flame-like motifs of a pale blue hue.

"No, but you're not worthy of that…" the blond haired girl replied, her right hand, covered in chakra, extending until it grabbed the Kunoichi from Konoha, like she was nothing more than a doll into her hands.

The spinning nines suddenly grinded to a halt, the flame motif retracting back into the seal, like something was stopping them, preventing them from doing their job.

Then, like a cat playing with a mouse, she crashed her body on the ground, once. Even though Anko screamed, and coughed, from the pain, she still kept that haughty and damnable grin.

Yugito was about to go for another round, of crashing the girl's body against the ground, when Kakashi yelled, bringing both of his hands in a *cross* like position.

"Mitarashi Anko is clearly unable to fight any longer! Stop your attacks!"

"She should have forfeited," Yugito pointed out, exiting her chakra armor form, and slightly cracking her neck, "and also, she shouldn't have teased me that much," she added, as she looked at the examiner, who, with a silent nod, declared.

"Winner: Yugito Nii!"

Just like that, the Nibi Jinchuuriki moved to the bench to the sidelines, sitting down next to Karui, who instead stood up, being her the next one.

She didn't realize it yet, but both Itachi and Naruto had stared at each other briefly, for barely a second, before nodding.

The mental message had been clear, and easy to understand even to the most naïf of shinobis: she would pay for that, for the way she had belittled their friend, their teammate. Jinchuuriki or not, they'd face her with everything they had. Not right there, because they couldn't, but once on the field, they'd show her. Both didn't rush to the medic-nins or next to Anko, they knew that firstly, they'd be just fussing over things they wouldn't be able to help in, secondly, Tsunade herself was moving out of her seat, probably to check on Anko, and thirdly, the Kunoichi would hate their guts if both ended up disqualified by following her to the medical bay.

Up above, in the Kage's box, Katsumi looked with wide eyes at the scene.

"Was that a Jin…Jinchuu…Jinchuuriki's power?" Katsumi asked, looking star-eyed at such strength displayed, while her mother, slightly pale, turned to look at Killer B.

"Why didn't she take the exam in Kumogakure, if that is her strength?" the red-haired woman asked, slowly.

"Bro thought it would be best,

To put her strength to test,

So the nine tails she will fight,

And she will best him with her might!" the rap actually had rhymes, probably meaning he had prepared the lines beforehand.

"Basically a slaughter of other village's Genins…nice," Zabuza replied with a grin, visible even under his mouth wrappings.

"Though she didn't kill that girl," he added, looking at the medic-nins carrying the purple-haired Kunoichi out of the arena.

"She did well, considering her opponent," Minato pointed out, "Didn't appear scared at all."

"She trained under that Orochimaru, right?" Zabuza replied with a scoff, "I kind of wanted to see if his Kusanagi or my Kubikiribōchō."

"He probably wouldn't have fought fair," Kushina pointed out, her face showing a small frown at the mention of the now Missing-Nin of S-rank.

"Neither would I," Zabuza replied, chuckling, "We're Ninjas, not samurais."

With those words, the gaze returned down below, where another match was about to start.

*Mangetsu Vs Karui*

The Kiri shinobi brought his sword out in full view firstly, his shark-like grin appearing on his face a second later. Karui, instead, spat to the side before taking out her own katana.

Kakashi, mentally musing how this would turn out into a Kenjutsu match, simply raised his right hand.

"Begin!" and as he lowered it, sparks flew…for a second.

Mangetsu's sword, suddenly spitting out chakra, assumed the form of a giant hammer, that, with unspeakable strength and force hit straight through the girl's parry, throwing her off her footing and sending her flying backwards, to crash on the ground, repeatedly.

Mangetsu didn't give her time to rest: he was already there, ready to finish the deal quickly before the Kunoichi from Kumo could counter with anything else.

Just as he was about to drop the hammer straight on the kunoichi's back, the girl's katana flickered for a second, before the Kumogakure's ninja yelled.

"Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri!" from her prone position, that wasn't a small feat at all, to swipe the area in front of her with her blade, describing a crescent moon arc while at the same time cutting through the ground, to avoid resistance in finishing the motion.

It had been so sudden Mangetsu actually got hit, and slashed, straight through the center.

For a split second, Kakashi thought the boy had died…until no blood oozed out, but water, like it was melting, slowly reformed itself around the boy.

The slash, no matter the fact that it was imbued with Raiton chakra to increase its lethality, did little, as the Kiri shinobi reformed himself.

"That would have hurt," Mangetsu snarled, "A pity my clan can become liquid water, to avoid such trifle damage," he added, with a smirk.

With a swift lateral swipe, the red-haired Kumo shinobi was once more flung against the ground, rolling to the side and agonizing, for the probably broken ribs.

There was no mercy, no kiddie gloves: no control in his strength. Mangetsu simply hit, and he hit hard…like he should.

"I think he's going to win this, he's just toying with her, you know," Zabuza pointed out, from the Kage's box, where Killer B was simply tapping on his right leg, looking at the fight reaching its probable end.

"Boy is fast,

I'm aghast!" the tanned man replied, in a sing-song voice, before assuming a more serious frown.

"But with one of the swords of the seven swordman of the mist in his hands…I doubt he's a light weight…why put him in the Genins exams too?"

"For the same reason you put your Jinchuuriki there…to slaughter the competition," Minato replied, his face slightly darker.

"We have a Jinchuuriki too, right Otou-san?" as Katsumi asked that, worriedly, Kushina made an awry smile.

"Yes, and he's the one who won the first round: Senju-san," the red-haired woman felt her tongue nearly rasp, at the last word coming out from her throat. Senju-san was her Naru-chan, the one she could no longer call like that, the one who was called that by Tsunade now, who was in the Senju's rows down below, with that giant flag…or at least she was, till the purple-haired Kunoichi had been badly wounded, and the woman had dropped it all to go look at her wounds, probably.

"Is he strong? Can he do the cool things like the blond girl? Like smash-smash and such?" at those questions, Minato felt the need to bit his tongue, before replying.

"He is unpredictable, Katsumi-chan…trust me when I say that he won't need to rely on all of his strength to win," but both Zabuza and Killer B saw the dark look on the Hokage's face, barely hidden by his hat.

Down below, finally, Kakashi raised his hand, seeing how there was no way the Kumogakure Kunoichi could fight on.

"Stop attacking!" The silver-haired Jounin's orders came just in time, as Mangetsu's sword had transformed once more, from a hammer to a broad-sword, and would have probably sliced in two the red-haired Kunoichi had he kept the motion he was going through.

Instead he stopped, licking his shark-like teeth, before turning around to the examiner.

"So, I won?" Mangetsu asked with a sort of delighted tone.

"You did. Winner of the match: Mangetsu Hozuki!" as Kakashi exclaimed that, the blue haired boy simply moved back to the bench, while the medic-nin, obviously, came to pick up the wounded Kunoichi.

Just as Chojuro stood up, followed by Itachi, there were two short exchanges of words, from both sides.

"Itachi, be careful out there," the grey-haired boy whispered.

"Don't worry for me, you're going to have the tough fight," the Uchiha replied, eying silently towards Yugito. The blond haired girl hadn't even showed worry over the terrible beating her teammates had sustained, instead keeping her gaze steeled and her body calm and collected. There wasn't fear or anger, just…control.

"Win this Chojuro, or if you can't weaken him for me," Mangetsu muttered murderously in his teammate's ear, while the other blue-haired boy simply nodded, extremely pale in his face...he knew how bad it would turn out, were he to fail.

*Itachi Vs Chojuro*

The two boys faced each other in the center of the arena, and already, Chojuro had done the first mistake.

He had stared straight in the eyes of Itachi, from the very moment the referee had given the start signal, which meant that, in that precise instant, he had lost. He just didn't know it, yet, but as the sharingan's Genjutsu hit straight ahead Chojuro, the boy couldn't help but think he'd have an easy time.

To Chojuro's eyes, he was dashing extremely fast in a flurry of his Kenjutsu moves, and the Uchiha was just slowing down every now and then, getting his clothes ripped slightly by the tip of his blade. The problem was that what the rest of the crowd, and Itachi's eyes too were seeing, was the boy standing still, as Itachi moved closer to him with a Kunai in his hand.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" Mangetsu basically yelled from the sides, pointing at his teammate, "I'm murdering him!"

"Itachi's Genjutsus are top stuff," Naruto replied, locking eyes with blue haired boy, "Only *I* have chances to break through them…and only if he doesn't actually do the hand signs."

"Still bullshit, bullshit, damn fucking bullshit," Mangetsu muttered, punching the wall near them, not wanting to look at how Chojuro embarrassed himself in front of the entire damn crowd of the arena, embarrassed their sensei, who would be murderous, by now, and embarrassed Kiri to finish it all.

Itachi's Kunai was now resting delicately right next to Chojuro's neck, as he eyed Kakashi, the silver-haired Jounin couldn't help but sigh at such a display, before turning his gaze upwards, to the Kage's box.

Minato was in the process of barely repressing a grin, a really big grin, as Zabuza's face was actually scowling, dense murderous intentions visible clearly behind his eyes.

Killer B on the other hand was outright laughing.

"Oh boy that was fast!

This ended up without even a blast!

More than a bloody fight,

This came out as a sleepwalk outright!" as he rapped that, Katsumi actually pouted.

"This was boring!" she whined, as Kushina, on the other hand, explained.

"Itachi is really apt at Genjutsus, even more than normal, and he does train with Senju-san, who's also a proficient user of the art…"

"Boring! Why couldn't they use Ninjutsus!?" Katsumi exclaimed, interrupting.

"Not every battle is won with flashy techniques, Katsumi-chan," Minato replied, as Zabuza, for once in his scowling, nodded slightly.

"Precisely, silent killing is one of Kirigakure's most prized ways of defeating an opponent. There is no need for flash, when it gets the job done."

In the Uchiha's rows, Fugaku was watching with an annoyed expression the fight, while Mikoto, simply taking on a small smile, was trying to console a betrayed Sasuke.

"But Oniisan won like that!?" the five year old boy was utterly shocked, that wasn't a way to win. Using strong fire jutsus, over the top blade battles, something! Anything was better than a Begin-standstill-win match of barely two minutes length.

"Now Sasuke-chan, you know your brother is conserving his strength," Mikoto replied, as Fugaku actually smirked at that.

"I doubt the Senju, for all his worth, will be able to beat the Kumogakure's Jinchuuriki," just as he said that, a loud yell echoed through the arena.

"Want to bet on that Fugaku-Teme!?" the voice came straight from Tsunade Senju, just then returned from tending to Anko's wounds, albeit the girl was still knocked out cold.

A nervous tick mark appeared on the man's forehead, as his gaze obviously went to the rows where the blond woman stood, her flag obviously back in her hand.

"Tsunade-san," Fugaku replied, standing up, "I say he won't last more than five minutes!"

"I say he's going to trash that Kumo Jinchuuriki to the ground!" Tsunade replied, and just like that, a set of heated discussions took ground, so loudly that they were heard even down, in the arena, where Naruto, and Yugito, were slowly heading to the center of it.

Kakashi stood silent, waiting for the betting pool to be completed, before smiling with his eye and saying.

"Well, seems like your mother just jinxed you Naruto-kun," as the silver-haired Jounin said that, Yugito raised an eyebrow.

"You have a mother?" the blond Jinchuuriki was actually curious, and for once, surprised.

"I do…you don't?" Naruto asked back at the woman, whose gaze turned stern in a second, at the question.

"I was chosen from the recently born in Kumogakure, my family is the village, and, loosely, the Raikage," the Nibi's Jinchuuriki said no more, her eyes cold, as she got into position.

*Naruto Vs Yugito*

"Begin!" as always, Kakashi jumped backwards, but this time, to be sure, he actually got as far back as he could. There was something in Naruto's eyes that warranted taking some measure of distance from the boy, and from the fight itself.

Suddenly, mist condensed itself around the two, much to the surprise of Kakashi himself.

He was sure the Kirigakure no Jutsu was a weapon in Naruto's arsenal, but he had thought that without water, it would become far more difficult to use it.

"The boy's smart," Zabuza muttered, "And I'm not saying this because he's using one of Kiri's favorite jutsu for silent assassination," he pointed out, as he was gazing at the thick pearly white mist that seemed to surround the arena's ground.

"He's still going to get burned,

And then grilled and turned,

Cause our cat's on the prowl,

And she has yet to howl!" B rapped straight back, as Kushina, silently, was clenching both of her hands tightly, till her knuckles turned white.

"I am sure he will pull through…unpredictable, remember?" Minato muttered, but for once, he actually hoped it would be enough.

Yugito didn't take a second to decide her course of action. The mist was impairing her vision, but also her scent. This was probably because the mist itself smelled like the boy in question, and thus, she didn't at all want to waste time.

"_Let's trash him, Nibi."_

**Aw…he even gave us some private time for some session making! Couldn't we…you know…give him a good grind?**

"_No."_

**You really *are* frigid, the smelling like snakes woman was right!**

"_NIBI!"_

Just in time, the chakra armor coated Yugito's neck barely in time to avoid a Tanto aiming directly at the woman's throat.

As swiftly as it started, it disappeared, as the woman got on all fours, the second tail appearing slowly in a bubbling of flaming dark blue chakra.

The mist, however, seemed but to thicken, instead of diminishing.

"Where are you?" Yugito muttered, and just like that, a voice resounded all over the place.

"Eight choices," the voice spoke quietly, but grimly, "Liver, Kidneys, Lungs, Heart, Spine, Clavical vein, Neck Vein, Brain," strangely, the voice was carried also in the first rows, and the subtle hearing of the Hokage and of the Kiri and Kumo representatives obviously managed to pick it up too.

"You think this is going to scare me?" Yugito muttered. Her tails were lashing around madly, hoping maybe to catch the boy before he could strike.

"No…but this is," the reply came abruptly, as what seemed like barely flickers of shadows suddenly dashed at her with uncanny speed, seemingly ghosts with no face, tattered black robes swaying in the mist that reached for her.

"Katon: Endan!" as soon as Yugito roared that, letting a giant sphere of fire literally engulf the mist and the surrounding areas, the people in the first rows scampered, in fright.

Luckily for them, the barriers set up for protection did their work, and the sphere impacted harmlessly against them, small sparks of electricity flying around, as the light purple hue of a wall deflected the jutsu.

The problem was that the mist, except at the very beginning of the fire technique, in which it evaporated, simply reformed.

"You made one mistake, today," the voice said, grimly, "And for that, you are going to pay," it was a moment, and then a strong push to the side flung Yugito straight against the arena's very own walls, the mist not only following her, but expanding.

In the rows, the crowd was actually sweating, but not from the heat. It seemed a sort of eerily scary confrontation: on one side, power, strong fiery power, but on the other…the unknown.

It was making a lot people feel their hair rising in the back of their necks, especially when they could, squinting their eyes, see flutters of black robes and things that seemed truly to resemble ghosts…or worse.

Yugito, however, wasn't amused.

"I know you're there!" and with a deafening roar, she outright opened her mouth, to release a fiery stream of fire that crashed straight through the mist, dispersing it, leaving behind a smoldering crater, but no trace of the boy.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

Catch a _Nibi_ by the toe

If he _roars_ let him go,

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe."

This time, however, the voice came straight from behind Yugito's head, forcing her to turn around, to stare at what looked like a shinigami, his face hidden behind a mask of darkness and…bones.

"I…I should be immune to Genjutsus, the Nibi…" she muttered, as the shrouded figure simply stood there, eying her.

It was a moment, and then Yugito simply widened her eyes, as the figure all but disappeared in a fine dust.

"Where am I…Who am I…I think I've got it, don't I?" And then, again, a strong push, like it was an enormous rock being hurled straight at her sides, sent her crashing against the barrier, the one placed for the crowd's protection.

She hit it hard, before falling on the ground, her chakra armor could deflect hit and absorb blows, but, whatever this was…it was different: it had been mere concussive force, plus sparks generated by the barrier.

And the mist, slowly, began creeping in once more, emerging from the very ground like a might river of white, that suddenly raised itself, covering the entire area in thick fog.

"You don't know, do you?" at the question, directly whispered into her ear, Yugito screamed, for the first time in her life her lungs filled with air let out a giant, horrific scream, as the only safety she could muster wasn't even to forfeit. Her brain had long since forgotten that option, instead deciding to go all out, to transform, fully.

Just as the flames covered her entire body, and she increased in size, to assume the form of the two tails completely, the mist around her began evaporating, under the intense heat, the barriers protecting the crowd glittering with purple hues.

Minato winced at the scene of a small scale Bijuu trudging around the arena, in the middle of Konoha, and his eyes went to Killer B, who was looking at the scene with interest.

"To scare off Yugito like that, you have one hell of a boy…but she's still fine, otherwise she would have already gone on a rampage," B pointed out, "and if she does, I'll calm her down immediately," he added.

"You know…a shinobi exchange program wouldn't be that bad…" Zabuza said, his eyes not leaving the arena's ground, "You see that, kid? No flashy, but the Jinchuuriki is so damn scared she's losing control…that's real power, real shinobi strength."

Katsumi didn't reply, instead holding tightly her mother's arms around her. The scene down below *was* scary, because what seemed like a full-fledged mist monster was twirling in the middle of the arena, gesturing at the Nibi to attack.

"I never heard of any jutsu like that: might be one of the second Hokage's secret jutsus?" Kushina whispered, as Minato, wincing, replied.

"No Kushina-hime, that's just the Kirigakure no Jutsu…but he is shaping it in such a form that it appears something else entirely."

"Wait…he's doing all this only with a D-rank Suiton Jutsu?" the red-haired woman turned her gaze to her husband, who shook his head.

"No, if you look really well, you can see the theatrics, in place. The Nibi is just too scared to see them too," as he pointed that out, Zabuza nodded.

"Really, couldn't the boy have been born in Kiri? That's nothing a Jinchuuriki can do, it's just pure brain matter and cunningness," the swordsman from the Mist actually didn't give praise easily, but even he would have problems with the Nibi Jinchuuriki, no, more than certainly, he would clearly have difficulties, alone.

Instead the boy was seemingly getting through it without a scratch. Probably because even a single scratch would result in him dead on the arena's floor. The question however remained…where was the boy to begin with? The trained eyes of the Jounins, and of the Kage, were more than enough to pinpoint his location, but many were completely under the assumption that the boy could actually summon ghosts, hit from nowhere, and control a mist monster as tall as a Bijuu.

Furthermore, the Uchihas were baffled at the lack of Jutsus to copy.

So…where was the boy?

"Where are you!?" The small Nibi roared through the arena, looking around, and, just as she did that, jumping against the mist monster, while in mid-air, two, not one, no, but two, deafening roars echoed in the arena.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!"

"Suiton: Teppodama!"

From one side, an enormous torrent of water struck the enflamed demon with unparalleled strength, flinging her tightly against the wall, the mass of water evaporating quickly, but just as quickly being replaced. On the other side, a giant water bullet dashed forward, hitting the Nibi straight in the face, after the torrent of water pinned her down.

Then, in a moment, the flames extinguished themselves, and Yugito Nii, the Nibi Jinchuuriki, fell on the ground, from a two floor's high height, minimum.

As she crashed on the ground, the mist dispersed, letting the sun, finally, to blare his rays once more, but the heat wasn't the first thing the people around them felt, no, it was relief.

The match was over, and Naruto Senju walked out of the disappearing mist, his dark blue and light blue attire on, with a pale face and his bright blue eyes eying Kakashi, but he walked out…and he walked out fine, and without a scratch.

Next to him, for a brief moment, flickers of scales showed themselves, before disappearing into two giant puffs of smokes.

Kakashi was the first to regain his cool, and, raising a hand, he yelled out loud.

"Winner: Naruto Senju!" Just like that, that exclamation broke the silence that had plagued the arena till then and the claps that soared throughout the rows weren't stopped for as long as Naruto kept standing there; embarrassed at all the attention, sheepishly scratching the back of his grey-hair.

"A Suiton User, a Senju…he's got all the cards to become a Tobirama's second, right?" Hiruzen mulled the thought, as Danzo, on the other hand, sported a small grin.

"Even down to the part of summoning the dead, I might say…though those *ghosts* of his…mere blankets tied to ninja wire, but it served the purpose, didn't it?"

"I think we can both agree that this was far more flawlessly executed, and held no need for the sacrifice the Second Hokage required…if he summons these *dead* then there should be no problem," the Sarutobi clan's leader replied, with a smirk.

"Hey now, get to the bench and rest, you're a bit on the falling from chakra exhaustion side, Naru-chan," Kakashi said with a small eye-smile, before receiving a nod from the grey-haired boy, who wobbled to the bench to the sidelines, just as Mangetsu, and Itachi, got back into the arena.

But Mangetsu did stop for a moment, eying Naruto, just to ask a simple question.

"How did you conjure the mist?" and, with a simple movement of his hand, Naruto took out from within his jacket two small water bottles.

"With enough control, it was enough to coat the arena," and that was all, no need to add that, with the starting mist, he had summoned Tokage and Kozue, using them both to obtain the necessary water, and hiding spots, to perform his plan.

To hide his smell he had been flung from one chameleon to the other, in the deep mist, at high speed, plus their scales were able to reflect the scenery behind them, making them act like *capes* of invisibility.

Up above, in the Kage's box, Minato was making a wide smile at the Kumogakure representative.

"Well, she did get into the semi-final rounds, didn't she? But against Senju-san, she should have been more prepared, maybe?" as the teasing tone didn't go unnoticed, Zabuza began chuckling softly.

"Damn, this seems taken out of a history book," as Killer B stood silent, not replying to the Hokage's taunt, it was Kushina's turn to speak.

"What is?" the red-haired woman from Uzu queried, perplexed at the Kiri's representative.

"I have no doubt Mangetsu's good, but there's a reason he's still not a swordsman of the Mist: he's rash and he acts without thinking. He's probably going down, in this round…and the next one will hold a Senju against Uchiha battle…"

"Something fated, it would seem," Minato mused, before shaking his head, "But Itachi is not Madara Uchiha, and Naruto is not Hashirama Senju," as he carefully said that, Kushina nodded vehemently.

"Yeah, they're both good kids, 'ttebane."

"Strange, coming from someone who disowned the boy," those words escaped the lips of the Kumogakure representative before he could keep them close.

Katsumi frowned, for a moment, as both her mother and father had stood still for a second, before resuming the conversation with colder tones.

"He improved, good thing, because otherwise he would have kept being a brat," Minato muttered, his tone and his face stern, as he added venom to his words.

"He improved so much he was adopted into the Senju clan, and became the heir, effectively, of the noblest clan of Konoha? I should notify the Mizukage, if disowning boys works miracles, it should be done as a standard," Zabuza muttered, before his attention finally went back to the battle that was just about to start.

*Mangetsu Vs Itachi*

"We'll see if your tricks will take me down, now," Mangetsu said, his Jaw-like grin extending widely, as he got into position, ensuring that his eyes stood on the ground, and not on the Uchiha.

Itachi, on the other hand, flared his sharingan, a Ninjato carefully in his right hand.

"Oh, want to use your puny sword, huh?" Mangetsu simply grinned at that. He wasn't a fool: he knew the boy would probably go with a dodging preference in his attacks, trying to be nimble. A pity the arena had been so thoroughly trashed around by the previous fights, filling it with uneven footing, debris, holes, even small water basins, scattered all around.

"The size doesn't matter…know nothing about compensating with big swords the lack of something else?" as Itachi actually taunted that, from the Uchiha's row, Mikoto turned red…with anger.

"ITACHI!" she roared, "That's not appropriate! Just WHO taught…"

"Mikoto," Fugaku snapped, "Silence, he's taunting an opponent, it's a perfectly useable tactic," he replied.

Kakashi had to keep himself from chuckling: Itachi had actually begun taunting people? That had to be Anko rubbing off him, clearly.

"Ready?" The silver-haired Jounin raised his arm, "Begin!"

With that, Mangetsu, once more, like he had previously fought, charged forward.

"Katon: Endan!" was the first thing that met him, and his sword, head on. This forced the Kiri shinobi to parry the jutsu with his sword, as smoke and dust settled through. He clenched his teeth, realizing that Itachi had disappeared from view.

"Oh now you did it," Mangetsu snarled, closing his eyes, he was a user of silent Killing techniques too, and there was but a core basic to that move: understanding how to pinpoint an enemy's location by sound. The better one was in that, the better the killing technique went. If one could hear the heartbeat of the enemy, then one was already plunging his sword through the heart in question.

He parried the block that came to his side, and then, instead of using the sword, he went for kicking the Uchiha's stomach, sending him tumbling backwards, losing his footing and rolling down the smoldering crater where the Nibi fire had previously struck.

This was different from the previous Kiri ninja. This one seemed to be actually trained, and fast. The previous one *was* a Genin-level, but Itachi's eyes, now focused on Mangetsu, could clearly see that there was a neat difference in level.

"You are strong," he pointed out, and soon, he went through a flurry of hand signs, "But you fight alone," he added, as his sharingan spun, the Jutsu completed.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" and just like that, the water that had been collected from the previous fight, in the craters that had been created in the fights even prior to that, suddenly jolted to life, assuming the form of a menacing water dragon.

"Obviously he had to get it down before me," Naruto muttered from his position on the bench, "And obviously he had to show-off his B-rank technique…he's too good," the grey-haired boy added, looking with a small smile at the water dragon, avoiding straight ahead the parry of Mangetsu, to simply crash against him and fling the Kiri shinobi straight on the barrier: the only thing that let out jolts of current when struck. The only thing that could repel jutsus, like the one that Mangetsu seemed so apt at using to make himself the consistency of water, the one that Itachi's sharingan had picked up.

Mangetsu actually howled in pain, as the pressure from the water kept him there, pinned against the barrier, but still, in his pain he did not let go of the sword.

Then, the dragon came loose, dispersing into smaller droplets of water as a panting Mangetsu got back on his feet, recomposing himself from the puddle he had become.

"I…I hate you!" he snarled, his eyes fully open in anger at the Uchiha.

His eyes open.

The next moment, Mangetsu Hozuki stood still, as Itachi whipped out a kunai and pressed it to the boy's throat, looking at Kakashi for confirmation.

The silver-haired Jounin chuckled a moment, before turning to the Kage's box, where Minato was repressing the urge to grin. Two out of two defeated by the same technique? The same style? In the same way?

"I'm drilling them into dispelling Genjutsus…tough luck for your Kyuubi-brat: he's never going to make it pass those eyes," Zabuza muttered, as Killer B couldn't help but smirk.

"I'm sure the last fight is going to be interesting, a pity Yugi-chan got knocked out and won't see it," the tanned man said, looking at how the grey-haired boy was now limping back to the stage.

"Though he seems low on chakra, you know? Even the Uchiha is…one would think they planned it to have a fair fight," Zabuza just so casually pointed that out, as Minato's eyes actually narrowed, looking at the scene.

Could they really plan that much ahead?

*Naruto Vs Itachi*

"Naruto-kun," Itachi whispered, barely making a nod, as his Ninjato stood straight ahead of him, held carefully in his hand.

"Itachi-kun," Naruto replied, his Tanto in his own hand, a smile on his lips.

"Boys," Kakashi added in, before raising his hand.

"Give the people a show they can remember! Begin!" and with that, the two clashed.

There was no need for eye Genjutsus, Itachi could use them, but Naruto would remove them. There was no need for flashy jutsus, they would nullify each other. There was no need for Taijutsu, one would escape the holds and the other would hit the air. There was only a spar, a spar that in their eyes was nothing more than another test at their strength: a spar with a victor and a defeated, but nothing more than a spar.

The Tanto and the Ninjato met repeatedly, crossing the air and cutting through motions that seemed more to showcase the various styles used, rather than to actually maim or kill the opponent.

Subtly, Itachi's eyes began spinning, just as a Genjutsu was placed into Naruto's mind. The boy stood still, long enough for Itachi to disarm him of the Tanto and place his Ninjato at the boy's neck, or at least, tried to: swiftly, Naruto's right hand hit in a punch-like form the right arm of Itachi, who had thought to have at least a small nick of time, thus catching him by surprise, and disarming the Uchiha.

The left hand of Itachi moved to throw a low jab at Naruto's stomach, only to have the boy slightly sidestep to the side, raising his left leg to counter with a kick. The kick was immediately blocked by the returning right hand of Itachi, and just like that, a flurry of blows followed the two opponents.

Itachi didn't need to try again: he knew he would fail to apply another Genjutsu. As much as he had done to level the field, for a fair fight, the only result was that he still would need to win this with a Ninjutsu. Sure, he could use *that* technique. Kakashi had taught him that.

But he would never use an assassination technique on a comrade, a teammate, a friend.

Naruto too knew that, that was the principal reason he too wasn't resorting to Jutsus to end the fight.

The fight was eerily silent, the only noise audible was the quick speed and fast attacks, the hits being parried or deflected, the breathing of the two boys fighting in a nearly destroyed terrain, under a scorching sun that was starting to lower.

Then, finally, the slip: Naruto couldn't hold the chakra depletion's pain in his chakra coils any longer: he winced. Itachi grabbed the occasion, and with an all-out right punch flung the boy to the side of the arena, where he fell down on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Exhaustion, the enemy of all shinobis," Zabuza muttered, from his spot, "I doubt he'll get up after that, it was good enough he got to this stage," he added.

"Mah, that's a strange thought,

All the Jinchuurikis I fought,

They all acted real tough,

And never were ragged that thorough!" B rapped, his eyes, hidden behind his shades, actually narrowing in perplexity.

**You sure that's a Jinchuuriki, B? I mean…Just look at him! He's wheezing from fatigue!**

"_He went against Nibi-chan, Hachibi! It was no small feat!"_

It was at that moment that Naruto actually got back up on his feet.

The way he got back up seemed to be scary, to say the slightest: he simply stood back up, like an invisible hand had actually lifted him on his feet.

Then, just as Itachi was staring at the scene worried, Naruto's right hand slowly lifted itself in front of him, and Itachi felt pain.

Something, as strong as a rock boulder, hit him in the guts, sending him to crash on the ground, and then bringing him soaring in the air, straight towards Naruto's right hand, curled into a punch.

The impact sent the Uchiha on the ground, but, just like that, so too did Naruto fall.

Everyone stood silent, in the arena, and around them.

Just *what* had happened?

"You know…Chameleons are pretty loyal," Zabuza pointed out, "That one though…I didn't think he'd trick the arena and the boy itself," his eyes were accustomed to seeing the fluttering of camouflage jutsus, especially Suiton ones, but that chameleon…He was good at it.

Kozue slowly smiled, before dispersing, this time truthfully, in smoke.

Who did the raven haired boy think he was, to bully their summoner like that?

Kakashi, coughing slightly, moved to where the two boys were laying, both knocked out cold, both wounded, both completely exhausted.

"Winner…No-one, it's a draw!" as Kakashi exclaimed that, loud whines echoed the arena, especially in the Uchiha area, albeit the Inuzuka simply howled: no matter what, it had been a good fight.

"Aniki didn't win!" Kiba whined, as his mother simply laughed.

"You can't win all your fights, pup!" just as Tsume roared that, Hana found the moment to butt in the conversation.

"Just what was that last attack, Kaa-san? It seemed like Itachi was winning, and then Naruto simply got back up!"

"Oh well, you didn't smell it well, but there were actually two hidden reptiles in the arena, that the boy summoned. One of them actually disappeared after the match, but the other kept itself hidden on the arena's walls," Tsume replied.

"But wouldn't that be cheating?" Hana asked, in a lower tone.

"No: it's no different than leaving a thrown kunai on the ground, summons are useable like that, albeit it depends on the summon's goodwill."

The Hyuga clapped silently, while the Aburame buzzed.

Tsunade, biting her lip, was being reprimanded by Shizune.

"That's why you shouldn't have betted he'd win the tournament, Tsunade-Shishou! Look what you did! This is entirely your fault!"

"Sensei fought very well, didn't he?" Neji said, looking at his right, where Ayame was standing, a worried look on her face, "If someone were to be there for him, when he'd wake up…I'm sure he'd be really grateful," he added, in a really smooth way. At least, to him it sounded smooth.

That got Ayame's eyes to lighten up, as she decided to follow Tsunade herself, who would probably be in the medic area, to tend to the wounded…especially to her son.

*Mindscape*

There it was: the fox, sleeping as usual on the bed that his mind seemed to create every single time. The choker tightly closed around her neck in such a way that it was actively making the Kyuubi bleed, but instead of blood, small filaments of blue chakra seemed to be seeping out of it, disappearing into the air.

Naruto had promised not to loosen the seal, hadn't he? But the seal had never been that tight! He could see it, the pain, the suffering: the ragged breathing of the sleeping fox.

So, carefully, he repeated to himself he wasn't doing anything wrong: he was just…putting it back to normal.

He began slowly moving the chains of the choker back, little by little, until the strange blue whiz of air stopped leaking, and the Kyuubi looked more comfortable, and sleeping better.

Feeling woozy, he decided to grab a quick nap too: it wasn't like he had anything better to do, he was sure he had lost against Itachi. Damn exhaustion.

*Outside*

The medic bay held a total of twenty beds: all separated by a set of paper thin privacy curtains, with a central empty area, to guarantee the medics' passage. There wasn't much of a sound, albeit a blond pig-tailed woman with a large rack was in the process of looking over a boy, while on the bed next to him, the curtain moved to the side, was a slightly worried Anko Mitarashi. The Kunoichi had seen Naruto enter the room in a medical tray, but hadn't pried much, as he didn't seem in too bad of a condition. Until he had been attached to the hospital's machines.

The machine that normally would have taken a count of the heartbeats of the subject suddenly beeped, as Naruto's body went unearthly pale. Tsunade herself had been trying to find the reason for it, but couldn't, for all of her expertise, realize what was wrong with the boy. It was just like if his chakra was disappearing from his very own coils, going Kami knew where.

What was worse was that the now wide awake Mitarashi Anko, right next to her, was worriedly exclaiming.

"He's going to be fine, right!? Tsunade-san!?" the reason she was actually worried was because, not knowing *how* it had gone, but seeing Itachi knocked out cold, and arriving afterwards, right in front of her, she could, at the very least, come to a theory.

The Nibi had basically hit hard both Naruto and Itachi, just for spite.

She had cracked ribs, ragged breathing, and felt her entire body sore, but with the painkillers coming in through her Iv drip, she wasn't that much in pain. The shock over Naruto's condition, especially the infamous beeping sound of the machinery, that usually meant a cardiac arrest, wasn't making her calmer, at all.

"Oh come on Naru-chan! You defeated the Nibi, you can't die now!" as Tsunade exclaimed that, starting a direct chakra-pulse heart massage, she was muttering vile curses to the gods.

"Tsunade-shishou, the coils are nearly empty! This looks far worse than the normal chakra exhaustion! Something is…" Shizune had barely said that, that Anko was already standing up, or at least trying, her breath ragged.

"Get back to bed you!" Tsunade's assistant snapped, only to hear the girl's voice.

"He…He gets better if he bites people…He sucks chakra by biting them," she muttered, only to be brought back to bed with a firm grasp.

"Tsunade-san, you heard?" Shizune asked, as the pig-tailed woman, with the strength of desperation, did the only thing she could come to terms with: she brought her forearm to the side of the boy's arm and forcefully had him bite on her until he drew blood.

It was instantaneous.

Suddenly, Tsunade felt her feet getting wobbly, as her Yin seal activated, pushing her stored chakra into the boy's form.

The chakra simply flew, like there was nothing to stop it, into the boy's body, to be absorbed. The machine began giving the rhythm of his heartbeat once more, the wounds, the scrapes, the bruises disappearing from his very body as the boy suddenly opened his eyes.

His light blue eyes, so clear blue it could even hurt to look at them directly, looked around for a brief second, in fright. A moment later, Tsunade removed her forearm, the bite wound closing up, as her Yin seal receded.

"You alright, Naru-chan?" Tsunade asked in a low murmur, her amber eyes looking at the pupils of her son, letting a finger move sideways in front of them, to be sure everything was fine.

"I think…I'm hungry," the grey-haired boy spoke quietly.

"Typical, now he's going to ask for ramen, isn't he?" Anko snorted, from her bed, resuming her normal tomboyish attitude, no matter the fact that she had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown. One thing was to lose someone like Orochimaru, because of being betrayed and used like an object. Another was to lose someone like Naruto, to wounds inflicted by the Two-tails, probably trying to avenge her, and right next to her, in the same damn room!

"Anko-chan, I defeated…" but he was cut short of replying, as, in that moment, Minato Namikaze chose that moment to enter the medical bay. His Kage's clothes fluttered briefly because of his movement, but his hat was down, held within his hands.

"Well, if it isn't the Hokage," Tsunade muttered, gritting her teeth, "To what do we owe the visit?"

"I thought I should mention it now, to give the boy more time to think about it, but I have already received at least twenty recommendations to put Naruto Senju in Anbu," Minato spoke quietly, eying the grey-haired boy, whose eyes closed for a brief moment, probably in wait for the rest of the Hokage's words.

"No," Tsunade's reply was firm, "You are not putting him in Anbu, and that's final."

"The decision is not yours, Tsunade-san, but of your son. Also," the Hokage turned to look at where Itachi's form lay, in his own bed, "the offer was already proposed to Fugaku, and he said his son would accept it, wholeheartedly…"

Minato took a step backwards, as Tsunade simply moved closer to the Hokage, her single right hand index moving in a sort of accusing tone.

"You. Will. Not. Bring. My. Son. In. Anbu. Or I will find a way to make you suffer from chronic gastric flu for the rest of your life. Now out of here, I've got patients to see!" and with that, Minato Namikaze was actually pushed out of the medic bay.

"I won't be joining Anbu, Kaa-san," Naruto muttered meekly.

"You know it's a prestigious achievement, to be in Anbu?" Anko retorted, coughing just so slightly, a hand in front of her mouth.

"I don't want it," Naruto replied, looking at his teammate, "And, by the way, I beat up the Nibi," he added.

"Spoilsports," Anko replied, sticking her tongue out, "Now how can I give her payback with you acting chivalrous?"

"Shush it you, you got lucky," Tsunade replied, moving closer to the purple-haired girl. Discussing with her son about his seemingly leech-powers related to chakra could wait for when they'd be back home. Right now, she had to make sure the girl was fine.

"You say I made it to Chuunin?" Naruto queried.

"You and Itachi-kun probably did it, the Kumogakure Jinchuuriki too, and maybe, maybe also the guy with blue hair wielding that strange sword," Shizune replied, moving closer to Naruto, to check on his pulse.

"Shizune-neechan, why is Itachi here?" Naruto asked, perplexed, "Didn't he defeat me?"

"Well, no Naruto-kun. You suddenly got back up and landed some strange hits on him without moving," Shizune replied, perplexed, "It ended in a draw between you two."

"Oh, Kami be damned, so, not only does he defeat the Nibi, he also ends in a draw with Itachi? Naruto, are you on steroids?" Anko asked, with a smile cracking her lips.

"Nonsense," Tsunade replied, "I saw it clearly: chameleon summon, though I didn't see when you actually summoned him," as soon as she finished speaking, Fugaku Uchiha entered the room, together with Mikoto and a fussing Sasuke in tow.

"That would explain why Itachi lost, and no technique was visible to the Sharingan," Fugaku mused out loud, as Mikoto moved next to Itachi's bed, "I should have made Itachi sign the Hawk summoning scroll, but I didn't think Naruto-kun would have signed one, or the chakra to conjure a summon to begin with," he pointed out.

"You didn't see it?" Tsunade asked, with a small smile, "Are you telling me that whatever my son summoned you couldn't actually see it?"

"I didn't…I deactivated the sharingan when the fight was over, or at least, when I thought it was," Fugaku replied bitterly, having let the slip of the tongue already go, he couldn't do much. He knew however that Tsunade would never see the end of teasing him for not seeing it, where she, instead, did.

"You just got lucky Senju!" Sasuke exclaimed, after a moment, pointing his finger straight at Naruto, "My Oniisan is far stronger than you! You just didn't fight fair!"

With a disgruntled gurgle, Itachi slowly opened his eyes, stopping anyone, even Mikoto, from actually replying.

"Sasuke…" Itachi whispered, as his brother was relatively near, "Stop yelling near my ears," he added.

"Oniisan, but he cheated! He used…"

"Sasuke, Ninjas do that: they cheat, they lie, they play dirty, that's why we're ninjas," Fugaku replied, narrowing his gaze on his youngest son.

"Naruto…chameleon summons, huh?" Itachi whispered, "I doubt you actually wanted him to stick around, right?"

"Got me…I didn't know, you know I promised you we'd fight it fair," Naruto replied, a small smile escaping his lips, "I'm going to have a talk with Tokane or Kozue, one of the two will know enough," he added.

"Why would my brother trust you? You broke your word!" Sasuke exclaimed, not at all pacified by the gazes that Fugaku and Mikoto were giving him.

"Sasuke…" Itachi sighed, beckoning his brother closer, before giving him a light tap with his index on the younger boy's forehead, "Be quiet," he muttered with a smirk, before addressing the issue, "Trust me when I tell you this, if Naruto gives you his word, then he will carry it through, that's why I believe him, as you should too. So, apologize for being an overreacting boy," he added.

"But…Fine! I'm sorry!" Sasuke pouted, looking at Naruto who smiled.

"Apologies accepted," with that, Mikoto returned to the matter at hand…of teaching her eldest about what words should be mentioned, and what shouldn't be mentioned to a swordsman.

Anko stood silent, watching as Itachi's family and Naruto's family fussed over them…even though she was happy for her friends, she still felt…something, in her heart.

A slight tinge of pain.

Wasn't there anyone there who would come see her? Well, she was an orphan, her friends abandoned her when Orochimaru became her sensei, and then abandoned her again after he betrayed Konoha. Her sensei abandoned her, and she had no-one who would actually come through the door with the sole purpose of seeing her battered form and her weak self.

She knew it…yet she actually hoped someone would.

That's when someone actually walked in, Kurenai Yuhi and Morino Ibiki strolled in, followed closely by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Asuma Sarutobi.

Kurenai did wave at Anko, before moving close to Naruto, but it was Ibiki, who actually moved to the side of Anko.

"So, how're you doing?" he asked, carefully.

To say she was surprised, was an understatement: of all the people…Morino? Ibiki? The recently made T&I Jounin?

"Fine, if by fine you mean cracked ribs and broken bones," she replied, "But the painkillers are a blast, let me tell you this," she added, with a small smile.

While they went on with pointless small chatter, albeit Anko did her best to put some teasing in, the anesthetic's effects actually making it even more difficult, on the other side, Naruto was literally being fussed over.

"Second affinity with Wind element, huh?" Asuma, in one of his rare moments away from cigarettes, was actually holding onto his willpower from lighting one up in that moment.

The reason he didn't was that he knew better than offend Tsunade, the legendary Sannin.

Same with Hiruzen, who did all *but* dare to cross Tsunade, especially on smoking tobacco: considering he shouldn't, for health reasons.

"No," Naruto replied, "Only Water affinity…I trained from scratch with the Kaze no Yaiba, since Jiraiya-sannin showed it to me…did he watch the fight?"

At the question, Hiruzen nodded briefly, before replying.

"I'm sure he did," he pointed out, "Wherever he was hiding, that is."

"Well, if you keep this up you're going to have a bounty on your head soon: you defeated their Jinchuuriki," Asuma joked, "Maybe you'll reach mine, one day," he added, only to see a murderous gaze, a set of murderous gazes to be more precise, settle on him.

"_Poor son of mine…You should have learned to bit your tongue,"_ Hiruzen thought, as he slowly got his pipe in his mouth. Only to stop on his motion when another pair of murderous eyes went to him.

"_Crap…I have this bad habit of smoking when things get bad…Kami be Damned, I'm the Third Hokage, I'm the Kami of shinobis, I will…"_

"I'm going outside," Hiruzen hastily retreated, "Good fight in the arena Naruto-kun," he added, before running for his very life.

"I'll be going too," Asuma replied, moving away, swiftly followed by Kurenai, who had, however, managed to get a couple of pictures of a hospitalized Naruto…they'd sell well within the fan club.

"Anyway, I'll be off too, even if you didn't make it to chuunin today, you'll do fine next time," Ibiki pointed out, "And you *are* starting T&I internship nevertheless, understood? Good, see you," and with those final words, the man actually left the room.

"He doesn't even let you say *no* to him…I like that," Anko pointed out.

"Tsunade-san…when will Itachi be ready to leave?" Fugaku asked, neutrally.

"He's got some heavy bruises in his stomach, but no internal bleeding or organ rupture…but some ribs are cracked, a cast to the torso, a couple of weeks, and then he'll be as good as new."

"Sorry Itachi," Naruto whispered, "I'm sorry I didn't double check they had dismissed themselves truthfully."

"Not your fault…it just means I'll have to take it slowly," Itachi replied, and maybe…maybe he could actually manage to convince Shishui to hand over one of those orange covered books? And with the wounded body, could he ask for tea more than three times a day?

*A couple of days later*

_Naruto Senju, Chuunin of Konohagakure, adopted son of Tsunade Senju, Disowned son of the Yellow Flash, Yondaime of Konoha and of Kushina Uzumaki, of Uzushiogakure, Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, is a B-rank shinobi of incredible potential, even at his young age of eleven._

_His chakra affinity is Water, his secondary element is Wind._

_He possesses no particular Kekkei Genkai, though he might yet have to unlock it._

_Worthy of notice are his summoning contract with Chameleons and his mastery of Henges._

_The Jutsus seen by him are: Kirigakure No Jutsu, Kaze no Yaiba, Kuchiyose No Jutsu, Henge._

_Mission completed: 431 D-ranks, 33 C-rank, 0 B-rank, 0 A-rank, 1 S-rank._

_Enemies defeated worthy of notice: Yugito Nii, Kumogakure's Jinchuuriki._

_He is known as the Ghost Lance._

_The Bounty on his head is of 50000 Ryos._

"I've got a bounty on my head!" Naruto exclaimed, waving the bingo book Kakashi had so kindly deposited on his desk around, where other Chuunins, albeit older than him, looked slightly annoyed, but understanding...they had done the same at their time too.

As a recently made Chuunin, his duties were wide and varied.

Firstly however was apprenticeship: to learn to lead, one must learn to obey.

Naruto Senju was thus asked to submit his preferences for a career path, as Chuunins were pretty rare material, and many jobs were simply assigned to Genins, elder Genins, or flocks of Genins.

For every chuunin, there were at least fifty Genins of various age, going from the recently failed ones, like Anko was, to those who were twenty-two or twenty-three years old. There was also a special case of one older than Tsunade herself, but he was special.

Teams usually would stick together until the bitter end, meaning that their Jounin-sensei *would* claim them for team missions when needed, but with two Chuunins in group, they were now eligible for the B-rank ones. The Jounin would cover for the Genin's weakness, and the two Chuunins could stand their ground.

Or they could go solo. Chuunins *could* go on solo missions of D and C rank, or on assassination missions of B-rank…because everyone was able to throw an explosive tag at an enemy civilian, bypassing thug guards.

A-rank assassinations involved shinobis, S-rank assassinations involved High level shinobis, and those were only for Jounins.

So, with a wide variety of options to choose from, subjects to pick, specialization to decide, Naruto Senju chose the only thing that would land him behind a desk surrounded by other chuunins half of the time.

He chose the rode of the Jounin-sensei.

Meaning that, as of that precise moment, he could undertake solo missions on his own, team missions with Team Kakashi of B-rank that weren't assassinations, train in the chuunin training grounds, and mostly get a nice flak jacket that he had managed to convince the quartermaster to dye a dark blue with the Senju symbol sued on the back.

That wasn't everything, however.

To become a Jounin sensei one had to be exceptionally skilled, above the line of normal, like Kakashi, which was also a rule exception, or go through the process of apprenticeship.

So he was behind a desk, surrounded by other chuunins…chuunin-senseis, on his first day at the Ninja academy of Konoha, assigned to Chuunin Iruka Umino…and he was waving the Bingo book with him on it.

Unpredictable, to say the least.

The scene was also viewed by a recently appointed Anbu, who was standing on a tree, perched outside of the academy. Had Naruto turned the pages of the Bing Book, he would have found out that he wasn't alone in there.

_Itachi Uchiha, Chuunin of Konohagakure, son of Mikoto Uchiha and of Fugaku Uchiha, is a B-rank shinobi of incredible potential, even at his young age of eleven._

_His chakra affinity is Fire, his secondary element is Water._

_He possesses the sharingan Doujutsu._

_Worthy of notice are his Eye-Genjutsu abilities and his mastery over the Doujutsu of his clan._

_The Jutsus seen by him are: unnamed Genjutsus, Katon Endan, Suiton Suiryūdan no Jutsu._

_Mission completed: 431 D-ranks, 33 C-rank, 0 B-rank, 0 A-rank, 1 S-rank._

_Enemies defeated worthy of notice: Mangetsu Hozuki, of the Hozuki clan._

_He is known as the Incubus._

_The Bounty on his head is of 75000 Ryos, preferably he is to be captured alive._

Obviously Itachi wouldn't say it was because of his Doujutsu that he was on a capture-alive notice. Although the bounty on their heads would rise, with the coming of years, he couldn't help but childishly remark, in his head, that his bounty was bigger than that of Naruto.

With a single sign from his squad-leader, he left, following on his assigned mission. Naruto would become Hokage, walking through the light, and he'd guard him by the shadows, then the Uchiha would no longer be shoved into a corner, and the very foundation of Konoha, the friendship between the Senju and the Uchiha, would be born anew.

At least, that was the raven haired boy's thoughts, hidden behind the Anbu-mask of a crow, his face covered by the wide white trench coat, that had to be worn to hide one owns features within the village, and that easily disappeared in a backpack the moment they were in enemy territory.

**Author's notes**

**There, exams done.**

**I remain rooted in my ideals that I will never excel in writing battle scenes. Jutsus/describing what happens always seems to break the continuum, for me.**

**It seems strange that on one side I get reviews claiming I write well, and then reviews in which I write badly. **

**I don't think I'm an excellent writer, but I *have* seen some stuff around that made me itch to burn my eyes with bleach, so…let's just say I'm average?**

**Before someone complains: yes, Itachi and Naruto *will* still do mission together, but they are now following two different paths. **

**Why is he going through some Chuunin-sensei stuff? Because I always wanted to write about a Teacher-Naruto. So I've got the ball, and I'm using it. **

**Concerning the Sword of the Thunder God, remember that it was stolen a bit after the exams…so…*next chapter* *Grins*.**

**As for why Anko's seal didn't activate in the Nibi fight, that's for me to know and for you to find out.**

**Concerning the Bingo Book notice, the bounty is unnamed, because obviously no village would be as stupid as claim that, in a frail peace-like period, they placed bounties on someone's head. That's what black market brokers are there for.**

**And…does Ibiki have a crush on Anko? Might be. Might not be. There's no pairing because something horrible is going to happen a good chapters away.**

…**and I'm afraid of how it will develop…**

***chuckles***


	10. PC:Preparations

Chapter tenth

It was five in the morning, and Ayame was sulking. The day was probably going to be sunny, with little to no clouds and a clear blue sky. Still, the ramen stand girl was clearly not in a good mood, as anyone could see by her scowl, showing it to the world as bright as the sun that would soon rise above their heads.

"She told me he'd be sleeping it off," she muttered to herself, chopping off an onion, "he'd be asleep for hours…woke up minutes later," she added, slicing a carrot with a bit of excessive zeal, leaving marks on the wood.

"Ayame," her father called, making the brown haired girl turn around, with a perplexed look, "You cut too much vegetables," he pointed out, gesturing to the small pile of chopped and minced greens that stood right next to her wooden tablet.

"Oh," was all the girl said, "More vegetable broth for the day then," she replied with a snap.

"I suppose," Teuchi replied with a small sigh, before turning his gaze to the flap of his stand that had opened, to reveal a well-known customer.

"Ohayo! Teuchi-san, Ayame-chan, how are you doing?" Naruto Senju moved to his usual seat with a small smile, as the man behind the counter gave back his patented grin.

"Everything's fine Naruto-kun, so you made it to chuunin now, huh? Only eleven years old and already a chuunin, congratulations are in order!"

"Naruto-kun! I watched you fight in the arena, you were really, really, like really a lot strong!" Ayame pointed out, sparkle in her eyes, her sour mood forgotten, "Can you sign me an autograph?" she added, with a hopeful gaze.

"Sure," Naruto replied with a smile, "You aren't even the first to actually ask one: Neji came over with, like, more than four-hundred white papers claiming he had friends," letting the last word hint to something else, "who wanted them too…"

"Did you really sign all of them?" Ayame asked, perplexed.

"Suiton affinity saved the day: I controlled the watered down ink on the papers, so all I needed was a single stack, and then I let it seep through the pages," Naruto said, as he then turned to Teuchi, "I'll have only one Pork ramen, and also a vegetable ramen to takeaway."

"Bringing food to Mitarashi-san?" Teuchi asked, in a soft voice.

"Yes, she's cheery alright with her job, but I'm sure she likes seeing me while I go for *the walk*," Naruto replied.

Ayame giggled softly, before adding just a pinch of extra pepper into Mitarashi's vegetable ramen order.

She knew that the purple-haired kunoichi didn't like spicy things, but the ramen stall girl was too good to do anything really wicked. She was just slightly jealous that the boy, her age, clearly seemed to be fawning over the older girl.

He said he liked her sea ramen, and yet he nearly never ordered it!

"So, tell me everything about your class: the first day started well?" Teuchi asked, curiously.

At those words, Naruto couldn't help but outright laugh.

*Flashback-Two Days prior*

Naruto looked at Iruka Umino, the chuunin-sensei he had learned under for no more than a year, and twitched slightly.

The chuunin with the scar-sign on the face couldn't help but try an awry smile.

"It was just a suggestion, Naruto-kun," he pointed out, "You know, it would help easing the students," he added.

"No. I will not transform into an adult, female," stressing the last part, as Iruka turned slightly red, he had just suggested that female teachers were easier to get used to, "version of myself only because you are worried the kids will revolt upon seeing me. They're kids: they'll learn…they are here to learn."

"Mizuki was meant to be the assistant sensei of this class, but he was assigned elsewhere, so I must warn you to be careful, there are many clan's heirs in this class: favoritism could be…" as Iruka tried to convince the boy, the grey-haired Naruto simply opened the door of the classroom and walked in without hesitation.

The class descended into silence. A corner of the class held a really bright red neon lamp, who was wearing a light white jacket and had dark blue hair, more crossing the black.

A lot of eyes settled themselves on him, on the boy that would have seemed more apt at being an upperclassman, than their sensei.

Yet he was wearing a flak jacket, blue dyed, with the Senju symbol on the front, and on the back also, sued with a light white silk thread. He had long dark blue trousers, and his leaf forehead protector stood tied to his right arm.

Naruto quickly scanned the room, looking at all the shocked faces of the Genins that were there, before smirking slightly.

"Those who watched the chuunin exams: raise your hand now," he asked, slowly, as the kids in the class, all in a range of six or seven years old, hesitantly did so, while Iruka, entering, moved to one of the two desks in front of the chalkboards, the bigger one of the two.

"Good, so you know who I am, and there's no need for presentations, but I'll do it never the less," Naruto took a small breath, before exclaiming out loud, "Listen up! My name is Naruto Senju, chuunin sensei assistant of Iruka Umino, your classroom teacher! Yes, I am eleven years old, Yes I am strong and Yes I can give you remarks, punishments and extra homework if I want to, so treat me like you treat any normal teacher, and you'll live!" as he said the last part, with a chuckle, he then moved to his desk, the smaller of the two, and sat down.

The boys and the girls in the class stood slightly shivering, in silence, as Naruto turned with a small smile to Iruka, who was looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

"See? Told you they wouldn't revolt," the grey haired boy replied with a small shrug, as the older Chuunin sighed, before standing up.

"I am Iruka Umino, your chuunin sensei. Together with Naruto Senju here we will help you become shinobis and kunoichis of the leaf, I hope that, by the end of the six years we will spend together, you will have grown up into mature and…" the next moment, a loud yell echoed in the classroom.

"That's Boring! Aniki! When do we get Taijutsu practice!?" obviously, Inuzuka Kiba *was* in the classroom. First day of school, small white dog on his head, ruffled and dirt brown jacket, sitting in the furthest away rows.

Naruto Senju looked to a slightly steaming Iruka Umino, before sighing, and standing up.

"Kiba-kun…" and then, after a brief second, his tone became extremely stern and strict, as a barrage of words soon ended up on the poor Inuzuka boy, "You will address Iruka-san as Umino-sensei or Iruka-sensei! I'm Senju-sensei or Naruto-sensei in this class and you damn well better remember it! So get your damn mouth shut, get your ass back on the chair, and if I see you snoring for more than a second or making pranks, I'll grab you by the ear and get your mother right here!" and with that, he crossed his arms, "And I'm baby-sitting you this Friday, so no keeping the whiney look on."

The effect was instantaneous. Kiba slowly sunk back into his chair, defeated. A probable troublemaker immediately rooted out.

"…" Iruka's mouth was opened in a slight *O* shape, as Naruto, raising a puzzled eyebrow, looked over his notes for a moment.

"What? Iruka-san, you said this was how to deal with the potential situation…" at that, Iruka's mouth snapped shut, as the elder chuunin nodded.

"Good…I wanted to show you how a lesson is done…but why don't you go ahead and do the first day?" The question was actually rhetoric, because Naruto simply nodded, and then, sitting down, looked at the classroom.

"First day of school: roll call to begin with, notice that, technically, if I haven't called your name thrice and you manage to get in here before I do, you will not be marked as late," he pointed out, and suddenly a hand raised up to ask a question.

"Yes?" Naruto queried, looking at the boy that seemed to have raven hair tied in a pine-apple sort of way.

"How much time do you estimate you will need to reach the Nara surname and call the name Shikamaru Nara three times?" the boy, probably Shikamaru Nara himself, asked.

Naruto, to his cue, looked at his registry with the names of the students, made a quick mental calculation, and the stated.

"For today, I'd say five minutes and thirty-seven seconds, but interruptions, people missing before you thus forcing me to repeat their names, and various different things may increase the variable of the circumstance time to about seven to eight minutes," as he pointed that out, Shikamaru sighed.

"Troublesome."

"You could come in an average of five minutes later, but that wouldn't do for tests and exams…and your mother is bound to notice," at that, Shikamaru flinched, slightly.

"Ani…Senju-sensei! Did you babysit him too!?" Kiba asked, curiously, as he could see the Nara boy straighten up.

"Once, he was pretty much well behaved: you just had to plop him on a chair near a window, and he'd stare at the clouds for hours, easiest D-rank mission *ever* done," Naruto replied with a chuckle, as he could see the Nara sport a slight embarrassment.

"Are you the Naruto Senju? The one of the fixer's team?" a girl with long blond hair asked, looking at him with dreamy blue eyes.

"Yamanaka Ino, right? I recall a weeding mission in your family's greenhouse, and…" he moved his gaze to the pink-haired girl next to Inoichi's daughter, "Haruno Sakura, yup, the two of you made Itachi mad, always running on his piles of leaves," he chuckled recalling just how the two *had* made Itachi think of turning on the sharingan only to subdue them.

The pink haired girl blushed slightly, fidgeting with her hair with one finger, as a boy, a raven haired boy on the other side of the classroom scoffed.

"Oniisan wouldn't get mad over that, and he's in Anbu now, not like you, Senju," Sasuke snorted, locking his gaze with that of Naruto, who, instead, smiled, with a kind smile, followed by a chuckle, and then a reply.

"They gave me the same deal, Sasuke-kun, I refused the offer," Naruto replied, shrugging, "No need getting paid to draw more blood than what a ninja already does," he added.

"Anbus are the elites among the elites! They protect the village from the shadows!" Sasuke replied, "It just means that Itachi is stronger than you!" he added, and before Iruka could intervene, Naruto had already replied.

"Yes, I know Itachi is stronger than me…and so?" Naruto asked, looking at the small boy, "In Taijutsu, he always wins during spars, in Jutsus, he has a wide repertoire, far more than mine, in Genjutsus, he'll probably pass me soon, in Kenjutsu, he's clearly ahead me, in Fuinjutsu I'm the leader, but only because he never picked it up, but then again…what does it prove? We are fellow shinobis of the leaf, his strength is my strength, and my strength is his. There is no such thing as a fellow leaf ninja stronger than another, their strength is added together to show the strength of the village," as he explained, he realized that the entire class was watching him speak, silent like no kid their age should be. He was just a good talker, he supposed.

"And, anyway," finishing it with a childish tone, "We ended up with a draw at the Chuunin tournament."

"Are you really my brother?" that question suddenly brought the atmosphere of the class, silent, but a kind of cheerful silence, to a drop-dead silence of minus twenty degrees.

The question had been asked by a girl, with bright blue eyes and long red hair, tied together into a single pony tail, and that sported an orange jacket, an orange shirt, and an orange skirt, all with red interlinings.

"No," Naruto replied, he had prepared for this moment, since having read the class register and who he'd be in class with, "I am not."

"But…" the girl tried to reply anything, but the grey-haired boy simply looked at her with a sort of small smile.

"My name is Naruto Senju, Katsumi-chan, I am in no way related to the Namikaze clan, thus there is no way I could be your brother," he added, as Iruka, receiving the small tapping motion on the desk from Naruto, the sign that he wanted him to butt in, as they had decided on that secret motion before, exclaimed.

"Well! Anyway let's start the roll call Naruto-san!" and with that, the names were all laid down, until, once more, Naruto reached the name of the girl.

"Namikaze Katsumi," and no reply came. Raising his eyes, to stare at the red-haired girl, who was looking straight back at him with a sort of angry pout, he sighed, ticking the presence never the less.

"Nara…"

"I didn't say I was present!" Katsumi snapped at Naruto, who looked back up at the red-haired girl.

"But you are present," Naruto replied.

"But the laws says I'm not!" the red-haired girl yelled back. Why did she have to yell? Couldn't she just talk?

"Laws?" Iruka raised a puzzled eyebrow.

"He said we need to call in present before he says our name three times, I didn't reply!" Katsumi exclaimed.

"But you are present, Katsumi-chan," Iruka pointed out.

"So? He's not my brother because of some law, so I'm not present because of some law too, right?" and with that, Naruto simply stood very still for a second, as silence entombed the classroom.

Then Naruto's shoulders began moving up and down, shaking, and then a howl of laughter escaped his lips.

"That was pure genius!" he laughed out hard, holding a hand in front of his mouth, "Oh Kami be damned that was pure genius," he chuckled, shaking his head.

"I think you broke him," Kiba muttered to Katsumi, looking at Naruto laughing like that.

"Well then, fine. By laws I am not your brother, by facts I am," Naruto replied, looking at the red-haired girl who nodded to herself.

"Now, on with the…"

"Present," Nara Shikamaru, sleeping as soundly as possible, had sleep-raised his hand after an allotted time had passed.

"Notify Yoshino Nara please," Naruto had barely said that, that Shikamaru himself stood right up, looking utterly shocked.

"Fine," and a set of *troublesome* later, Shikamaru remained awake for the entirety of the lesson.

*Present*

"Well, you handled it with class," Teuchi pointed out, before realizing the horrible pun he had just let out of his mouth, "I mean…well, yes."

Naruto chuckled slightly, "You should know what happened the next day."

*The next day of school*

Naruto looked at the classroom, and then at Iruka. Iruka looked at Naruto, and then at the classroom.

There were a bunch of girls, of six years old girls, wearing dark blue and light blue clothes, with the Senju symbol stitched on them.

"I should be flattered?" Naruto whispered to the Chuunin sensei, "I mean…you didn't cover what to do in case a teacher becomes the subject of a fan club's attention," as he pointed that out, Iruka's face darkened slightly.

"Because it was deemed an impossible feat: no student loves his teacher this openly," the man replied, "truly unpredictable huh? Well…no robbing cradles, I'd keep an eye out, you know, jealous fathers."

"I suppose so," Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head, "Anyway, if this is…" the door then opened once more, to reveal the Hokage, entering the room.

This was customary too, so Naruto knew to expect it. The first day of academy was to break the ice, speak with the teachers and speak with other students. The second day was the Hokage going from class to class to express his vivid interest in the new future *promises* of Konoha, of which at least a good two-third would be sent back to the academy in the *repeaters* course...but the kids didn't need to know that.

Still, it didn't mean the grey-haired boy couldn't slightly tense, as the Hokage removed his hat, to let his spiky blond hair become freely visible to the classroom.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka said, making a slight bow of the head, followed silently by Naruto, "we were just about to begin the roll call," he added.

"Good, then I suppose I could wait till you're done, before giving off the speech, right?" as Minato spoke with a joke like tone, Naruto's eyes didn't falter, as he picked up the register, beginning the tedious process of calling out names.

As soon as the roll call was out of the way, Naruto's eyes turned to Iruka, who nodded, before speaking to the Hokage.

"They're all yours, Hokage-sama," as Iruka said that, Minato nodded, before giving a wide smile to the class.

"The fire's shadow illuminates the village, _Hi no kage wa sato o terasu_: as ninjas, or as students who wish to become strong shinobis and kunoichis, know that many times, you will have to sacrifice something, in order to protect the village. Many times, a ninja's deeds go unnoticed, unknown, left to rot in silence, because the village demands it, because it is required, because if it is for the good of many, then few need to be sacrificed…but the most important thing for a shinobi is teamwork! The most important thing are the bonds that you will knit tightly together, one with another, the bonds of friendship and of being teammates, that will guide you through the most perilous journeys. You may be afraid of the future, you may be afraid of not being apt at the shinobi's way, but never falter on the belief that your friends, your bonds, are there for you." As he quieted down for a second, to let the words sink in, he slowly exhaled, before adding, with a small smile.

"The second Hokage of Konoha, Tobirama Senju, said once to his student, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, _Guide the people, and believe in them, for it's from among them that one will come who will carry on when your time is done_, this academy is his testament to the world of shinobis, that the young minds may grow up strong and loyal, and just like you are now sitting on your desks, looking at me, so once I was in your place, listening to the Third Hokage giving off a very similar speech, _To me, Konoha isn't just an organization. Every year there are a lot of ninja born and raised in Konoha… They live and fight to protect this village. To defend what is precious to them they would go to their death. Even if we are not related by blood, those of the village like these are, to me, my most precious, most important… family_" the fourth Hokage repeated word by word the speech of the third, just like he had heard it, years before.

"Bonds are what make people strong, friends are what make shinobi rise and teammates are what bring missions to success. Never forget the will of fire: love is the key to peace."

The classroom remained silent for a while, before the Yondaime Hokage suddenly looked uneasy.

"Did I lay it down too thickly?" he whispered, looking at the two senseis, as Naruto, with a sigh, muttered.

"What the Yondaime Hokage is trying to say is to value friendship, that's all," there was a sort of chorus of relief following that, as Naruto's gaze turned slightly cold, while Minato moved closer to him, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I should have gone with a less formal speech: they are six years old only," he muttered with a sigh.

"The speech was beautiful Hokage-sama, albeit maybe it would appeal better to the elder classes?" Iruka suggested, as Minato nodded.

"Yeah, I'll probably repeat it to the graduation class," and just as he was about to turn and leave, he gave a small hand-wave to Katsumi, who didn't return it however, instead choosing to…sulk? Naruto wasn't going to pry.

Just as the Hokage left, someone raised his hand.

"Yes, Shino-kun?" Iruka queried, as the boy, covered in a deep coat, queried.

"Are animal companions included?"

"Yes, they are," the elder chuunin replied.

"Kikaichu have a lifespan of only a few hours, should I feel sorry for all those who die in the span of a day?" Shino questioned once more.

"They're just insects!" Kiba exclaimed, "It's not like they're…"

"Kiba!" Naruto snapped, making the boy wince, "if dogs had a lifespan of a few hours, would you still think that way?" at the question, Kiba's eyes bulged, before his gaze lowered.

"Answering your question, Shino-kun," Naruto added, turning to look at the boy, who had a small pair of shades on, "You shouldn't feel either sorrow or contempt: Kikaichu, from what your father told me once, are offered the Aburame's newborn's bodies to use as nests, in exchange for their loyalty. It is a symbiotic relationship. Honor them by staying alive, but don't feel sorrow: they chose it." Shino merely nodded, as Naruto mentally sighed…obviously the mature philosophical questions wouldn't end there, he was sure of it.

*Present*

"The vegetable ramen is ready, Naruto-kun," Ayame pointed out, handing over the bowl, closed with a paper cover, to avoid the contents spilling, together with a pair of chopstick, all within a paper bag.

Just in time for Naruto to finish his own food, pay, and wave goodbye, as he headed off to deliver the morning breakfast.

Anko knew of the boy's actions, and seemingly didn't care. It was a recurring joke: since he now had a larger income, then he was meant to treat her to breakfast until she made it to Chuunin too, and then she would treat him to dangos for the same period afterwards.

The result was that every damn morning Anko woke up, brushed her teeth, and moved to go to her morning work at the T&I apprenticeship, she crossed roads with Naruto, holding a ramen takeout.

"Vegetable ramen," Naruto pointed out, as Anko grabbed the takeaway bag.

"Did Ayame prepare it?" the purple-haired kunoichi queried.

"That she did, are you two getting along?" to Naruto, it seemed the two girls had grown a nice friendship, which wouldn't be bad, considering that Anko needed friends to rely on, not many, but good ones. Ayame was a good friend, to the boy's mind.

"Oh, yes, did she understand not to put chili in my sea ramen?" as Anko asked the question with a small smile, Naruto nodded.

"She's still learning, cut her some slack, and it's not like *some* spicy would hurt you," pointing that out, the grey-haired boy looked at the sky, "And I've got to get going, C-rank solo, long-term, escorting mission, you know," and with a wink, he dashed off.

"Yeah, the pwetty white eyed girly," Anko muttered to herself, as she, instead, headed towards the torture and interrogation bureau, deep within the bowels of Konoha's intelligence department. She'd drop off the ramen to the guy at the reception: Naruto could be many things, but perceptive on females? Not a bit.

The grey-haired Senju, having dashed off, to be on time, arrived at the gates of the Hyuga's compound just to be greeted by the branch family guards that stood guard at the entrance.

"Senju-sama, I'm afraid Hinata-sama has yet to arrive," the guard, Ko, had been Hinata's caretaker, and still was, within the walls of the compound, but outside, it was Naruto's job to make sure the clan's heir reached destination safely.

"Ko-san…please, call me Naruto, I hate formalities," the boy replied, "and is Neji still here?"

"Neji-kun departed earlier this morning, Naruto-sama," Ko replied with a light sorrow visible in his face.

"Supposed so, he probably thinks I abandoned him," Naruto sighed, "Well, anyway, when you see him, could you tell him I'll be waiting for him tonight at training ground three? When he gets there he gets there, I'll wait, even if it means for poor old me to catch a cold," the boy joked, as the branch guard nodded.

"I will relay the message," and then he simply stiffened, standing silent, as after a couple of minutes Hiashi arrived, with Hinata walking right next to him, trying her best to keep her gaze steady and determined…as much as a scrawny six years old could be determined.

"I had heard of your desire to teach, but I would never have expected such coincidence," Hiashi spoke quietly, "should any problem arise with my eldest daughter, do come and speak with me in earnest, Naruto-san," as soon as he finished saying that, he crossed both his arms around his chest, giving the subtle signal to Hinata to actually move over, next to Naruto, and grab his offered hand.

"Do not worry, Hiashi-san, I'll heed your words," the boy replied, before courteously bowing his head slightly, and then turning to leave, walking at a slow pace, to let the young Hyuga keep her step.

Just as they finally disappeared from the Hyuga's compound sight, Naruto let out a loud sigh.

"Your father's scary," he said with a joking tone.

"H-He's only rea-really strict, sen-sensei," Hinata stuttered, her face completely red from holding the hand of her bodyguard, of her class sensei. Still, this had been better than the first time he had come over to guard her on the way to school.

He still chuckled recalling how the poor girl had fainted repeatedly, along the road, and once in the classroom, had turned to a sort of bright red neon lamp at him coming in from the door, as her sensei.

"He remains scary, Hinata-chan," Naruto replied, "Anyway, have you done this week's assignments already?"

"H-Hai sensei," Hinata replied, sheepishly turning a light red shade.

"Good, don't let Kiba copy them unless he begs you on his knees, got it?" as Naruto replied that, knowing all too well that, even in the first week, the Inuzuka wouldn't actually do his homework, Hinata nodded meekly once more.

"And if Ino-chan or Sakura-chan try racketing you into joining my fan club, please warn me," there was no need to warn her sensei: she already *was* in his fan club, since having heard of it, months before the start of the academy.

"H-Hai, sensei," she whispered, as the gates of the academy came into view. Once within, she let go of Naruto's hand, while the grey-haired boy himself waved at the girl, who would enter the classroom first, while he had to go to the chuunin lounge, to get the assignments for the morning and his morning coffee.

Kami bless the inventor of the coffee machine, because, while Shizune was a great cook and Tsunade a great mother, both refused flat-out to grant him the nectar of the gods, claiming it wasn't good for his growth.

Coffee was the principal source of Naruto's survival in the harsh world known as the schooling system, at least, the boy was sure of it, since after the first sip, he had been ready to challenge anything and anyone.

In the chuunin lounge, he was greeted by Mizuki, who was just finishing his own paper cup of warm coffee.

"Naruto-san," Mizuki greeted the boy using the *san* suffix, like anyone else around him. Since becoming a chuunin there was no longer a –kun, after all, he would probably lead, were the situation to arise, Genins to their death in battle: respect was to be given where respect was ought.

"Mizuki-san," Naruto replied, moving with the likes of a prowling cat to the coffee machine, "How's your class doing?" number one small-talk question among teachers, but for Naruto, it was personal.

"Well," Mizuki actually knew who the boy would be interested in, so there was no need to beat around the bush, "from the preliminary tests, I'd say your apprentice," with a small chuckle, making Naruto wince slightly, "is going to be at the top of the class, what about yours?"

"If I can manage to convince the girls that I'm not going to play marriage with any of them, then all is fine…the Yamanaka seems to be the principal culprit: I just hope it doesn't spread," just as he pointed that out, Mizuki winced slightly.

"You remember that move of throwing kunais straight out of scrolls, in the arena?" He asked, tentatively.

"Yes, why?" Naruto cringed momentarily within himself.

"One of my class, Tenten, hasn't stopped speaking about how cool that move was…and she's started dressing in blue," at that revelation, Naruto lifted his hands in the air.

"I give up! Let the fan club expand, there has to be someone who hates me somewhere!" he muttered.

"Well, I'm sure some of the villagers still hate you, but most are too impressed with your display of skills, your clan and your natural goodwill to say anything," Mizuki joked, "And you don't look like a towering nine tailed fox, so…"

"Thank Kami, or they'd make a plush version of it," it was at that moment, that Naruto realized something important.

He was joking about his status as a Jinchuuriki. He was a chuunin, he had the respect of the people who knew his skills, he had a fan club and he had a family…he felt…good? Cozy? Warm? Since when did he pass from running for his life from an angry mob to being the center of attention of the new generations? It was…nice.

Now, if only he could manage to convince his favorite and only pupil to stop avoiding him, everything would be even better.

True to his word, at the end of the lesson, and after escorting Hinata back to the mansion, he headed to the Chuunin training grounds.

The Chuunin training grounds were located in a different part of Konoha, and, since Chuunins were expected to know at least one elemental affinity, all had various utensils, and objects, to help training in the respective release jutsus. The Suiton users had a training camp with small ponds and lakes, the Doton users had a rocky slope, the Katon users had bonfires littering their allotted area, the Raiton users stayed near lighting rods on the top of high wooden towers and finally the Fuuton users had windy grasslands. All in all, they were wider, had fewer people in them, and usually more quiet, as the Chuunins were generally considered to be more serious working than the bunch of rag tag Genins.

Naruto carefully walked at the center of a puddle of water, letting chakra exit his feet to keep himself afloat, and then, crossing his legs, he sat down on the clear liquid.

He kept himself silent, and serious, letting the water's gentle gurgles and small waves, due to the wind, become one with his thoughts, as he took in, in silence, the position of those near him. This was the technique the second Hokage had mastered, and that granted him knowledge of enemies by simply touching the ground with his fingers. Truth be told, it was a water sensing technique, that Suiton users normally used to find water sources, deep underground. The key point was that the human body was covered in liquids too, and that thus could be pinpointed, should the adequate control, and senses, be used. The Ninja released a really thin and small thread of water from his palm, that with adequate expertise was molded into a thin water wire, which then expanded in a web-like pattern around the user, and sent back a pulse when water was found: water, or human bodies. The web could theoretically expand also in the air, like a sort of really thin bubble, but that was far beyond his capacities, both of control, and of chakra.

He slowly let his right hand glow a light green hue, the control needed for the chakra scalpel, and for staying on the water while seated was far higher than normal, thus making it a perfect training exercise. He should probably pick up some Genjutsus, but he never had the time, this type of training *was* the only relaxing moment he had, seeing how the morning had him in the academy till after lunch hours, the afternoons had him usually training, and the night was of him correcting homework or doing reports. His window of relaxation closed, as Naruto stood up on the water surface, disengaging the chakra scalpel that flickered repeatedly before being turned off. With small leaps, the grey-haired boy exited the Chuunin training grounds, just as Izumo and Kotetsu were entering them.

He nodded in recognition, but didn't stop there. He was going to training ground three because he knew there was a river, passing through the area that he could use for the practice of Taijutsu while on a tricky terrain...for him water was as solid as earth itself.

So that was where he trained, until the sun began slowly setting.

"I'll have dinner with Neji, I suppose…how to warn Kaa-san?" Naruto muttered to himself, as he moved off the river, towards the ground and the three wooden poles that seemed to have sprouted from the ground itself.

The truth was that Maito Gai destroyed them during his training, and replaced them every morning…while yelling things about youthfulness. It was the reason nobody sane in his mind went to the training ground three at four in the morning.

With a set of precise movements, he bit his thumb, summoning a small chameleon. The animal wasn't bigger than his hand, and was obviously invisible to sight, albeit this one *was* easier to see, probably just a youngling.

"Hey there, listen…" as Naruto grabbed a small piece of paper from one of his empty scrolls, writing a quick message of how he wouldn't be home for dinner, he then handed it over to the chameleon's mouth, "deliver this to Kaa-san, okay? Senju compound, lots of trees and water, big breasted lady with blond pig-tails, should have a raven haired girl near with a pet pig. She *should* give you something to eat, be careful not to get squashed, okay?"

The chameleon seemingly understood, as it trotted away: not the fastest mean of travel, but he was sure he'd reach destination. That was until he saw the chameleon extend his tongue on a far-away tree, attach itself to it, and then simply fling from his spot to the tree.

"I…That's awesome," he muttered, closing his own mouth at the sight of the slinging chameleon.

"I've got to ask Kozue if he can do that stuff too," he added again thoughtfully, before sitting, his back against the wooden pole at the center of the training ground, in wait.

The sun settled, and the moon began slowly climbing in the night sky. Slowly, the clouds above Konoha condensed, hiding the stars from view. Yet Naruto stood there, silently waiting.

He slowly opened his eyes when he heard footsteps, slow and hesitant ones. Looking in the dark of the night, like it was day, he smiled.

"Took you a while: I was thinking, three hours ago, of having dinner with you at Ichiraku's," Naruto said, slowly standing up and dusting the dirt off his trousers.

"I thought you'd have left already, don't you have to wake up in the morning to take that weakling to school?" Neji spat out, his eyes focused on the boy in front of him.

Why hadn't he refused the mission to escort Hinata? Why had he accepted the offer of the main house? He should have been on his own wavelength, he should have shared his own secret thoughts: that the main house had to be changed. Yet he had accepted, his sensei had smiled at the weak girl one year younger than him, and he had seen his sensei offer his hand, accepting everything the little girl said like truth, like any slave of the main family did.

He only hoped he was wrong, that his sensei had another reason.

"Neji…" Naruto sighed, "I understand your jealousy, but…"

"I am not jealous!" Neji replied, slightly fuming red: he was angry, and feeling betrayed, but not jealous!

"She belongs to the main family! You told me I should focus my anger on who killed my father, and not on innocent bystanders!" he added, "The main family killed my father! The main family holds my family, the branch family, hostage and slaves!"

"Neji…" Naruto whispered, while taking a step closer, as Neji moved his right hand to the side in a dismissing motion.

"Sensei, my four year old cousin threw just yesterday a ball in the pond: he pushed too hard, and it was a mistake, but it did hit one of the pretty azaleas that a fifteen year old girl from the main family liked so much to watch…" Neji's voice grew quieter by the minute, making Naruto cringe, "No four year old should suffer from such an agonizing pain, only because he was playing. So…how can you defend the main family?"

Two arms wrapped themselves around the Hyuga boy, as Naruto whispered something in the boy's ear, slowly, letting go of the hug.

"It is not right, Neji, but what did Hinata do to you? She wasn't the cause, no more than any other child of the Hyuga would be, by being kidnapped by a head shinobi from Kumogakure. The fifteen year old girl is wrong, and I would never side with her, but Hinata is five: she even calls you Nii-san, you can hate the caged seal, and you can hate the elders of the Hyuga…but don't hate the innocents," Naruto whispered, ruffling the boy's head, much to Neji's disappointment, as the white eyes of the Hyuga looked down on the ground.

"Sensei…I'm sorry," he muttered, earning himself a flick of Naruto's index finger on the nose.

"Don't be: I told you once, and I'll tell you again," the grey-haired boy's voice grew slightly colder, and lower, "I will remove that wretched seal from your forehead and from that of your family…_when people get hurt, they learn to hate… when people hurt others, they become hated and racked with guilt; but knowing that pain allows people to be kind. Pain allows people to grow... and how you grow is up to you._ Remember my words, Neji, because one day, they might be the only thing stopping you from doing something foolish."

The Hyuga boy merely nodded, and as Naruto accompanied him back to the Hyuga compound, holding his hand to make sure the boy wouldn't get lost in the pitch black darkness, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that no matter how much his sensei could be kind and forgiving, his utterly angry face would have made even the Hyuga elders cringe.

Naruto on the other hand was happy the words of Jiraiya had reached the boy, who seemed lost in thoughts.

"_Fuinjutsu lessons, here I come…"_

*Iwagakure – Undisclosed location*

"Crow, ready on the mark." The voice buzzed slightly into the small radio attached to his ear, and Crow stood ready. There was no need to reply, he was there to receive orders, not to give them.

Perched atop a building on one side of the hidden village in the rocks, the Anbu was silently merged with his surroundings through a set of Genjutsus, weaved to make him look nothing more than a speck of dirt on the façade of the building. Plus, he also held the old trick of the invisibility cloak from the academy on, to be extra sure.

"Mark." Within a moment, Crow descended silently from the façade, reaching the window right below him, and working with a pin and a screwdriver, he swiftly opened the glass panel.

Minutes later, he was within the room that was meant to hold the office of one of Iwagakure's weapon dealers, scurrying for hints on a recent influx of weapons within the fire country.

Somebody was arming thugs and brigands, spending a pretty amount of money too, for whatever reason it was, and Anbu had been sent to investigate.

"Crow, the window is closing," the voice buzzed into his ear, signaling that the owner of the office was coming back any second now.

It was with swift but precise movements that his hands reached for the safe, hidden underneath the carpet of the office, and then, without a hitch, his keen senses helped him unlock the safe, where the important documents were stashed.

There was a need for subtlety, but time was running short. His sharingan managed to memorize the documents, simply by having him flip the pages swiftly: he'd mentally look over the documents later on.

It was with silence, that he left the room, after closing the safe once more, and placing the carpet back where it was. In silence, he closed the window from outside, and in silence he reached back to the upper level of the building, waiting.

"Crow, the distraction will begin in five minutes, get to position," the voice hissed once more into his ear, as the Uchiha stood frozen for a moment.

He had quickly gone over the documents, mentally, and something had forced him to stop. He knew one of the bank account's numbers used for the transactions. He knew it, because he had seen it before. It was one of the Uchiha's clan private one in the land of the Moon.

There had to be a mistake, probably.

Seconds later, he was dashing through the buildings of Iwa, which wasn't an easy feat when their rooftops weren't flat, but conical shaped. Near the gates, a bunch of drunken Iwagakure civilians were having a party about a recently born boy, and with the confusion, he managed to slip through by simply posing as a staggering drunk who had to go take a leak. Never mind the fact that the civilians were all under Genjutsus, the saké was real, and that was enough for the guards. His rendezvous point was two kilometers away from the hidden village, in the general direction of the land of Rice.

He disappeared from sight, as his mind fluttered with the perspective of doing his job, or of keeping himself quiet. There were other bank accounts in the midst of the documents: he could give those out, instead of the one that would lead the Anbu to the Uchiha.

He could do that, he was sure…but then again, maybe he was just seeing too much in it and the documents were falsified: what reason would the Uchiha have to arm bandits and brigands all around the land of fire?

The clearing that was the rendezvous point already held two Anbus, carefully hidden from sight with a set of Genjutsus and mimetic armors: only to be on the extra safe side of paranoia.

One was Hare-masked, the other was Dog-masked, and there was meant to be a third one, a Cat-masked.

"You have the documents?" Dog queried, quietly.

Crow simply pointed at the side of his head, and nodded.

"Told you the sharingan was nifty," Hare commented, "How many leads do we have?"

"Seven," Itachi replied, "One for every elemental country, plus Grass and Rice," as he pointed that out, Cat suddenly appeared, with a ragged breathing.

"Cat, everything alright?" Dog queried, looking at the Anbu, a kunoichi, who seemed to be about to fall down from exhaustion.

"They're mad," was all that Cat said, as Crow simply turned to gaze at the other two Anbus.

"There was a second mission I wasn't involved in?" he queried, not actually expecting an answer.

So it came as a surprise when Hare replied to him, with a small nod.

"Yes: to evaluate the potential of switching sides of Iwagakure's Jinchuurikis; what happened, Cat?" the woman simply shook her head, before replying.

"I explained the things they could do away from Iwa…I think I might have convinced them too thickly: they outright decided to go rogue."

"Any clue on *where* they were headed to?" Dog replied.

"I think their direction was towards Takigakure," Cat answered back, "I was busy dodging lava bullets, you know, and steam geysers…this *is* going down as S-rank in the payment roll, right?"

"Yes, it is going down as S-rank for you, Cat," Hare muttered, turning sharply towards the Konoha's general direction.

"Let's make haste, once out of Iwagakure, Crow can take his time writing down all the financial movements of Iwa's weapon dealer," and with that, the Anbus departed.

*Konoha*

Naruto had barely finished the history part concerning the foundation of the village, making sure that everyone understood the key points, while at the same time keeping an eye out for possible trick questions. Like the color of Hashirama's armor. Somehow he recalled his tests having tricky questions like those: no need subjecting his class to those tortures, but he did need to have them prepared.

Hinata wasn't in the class, that day. Naruto was mentally planning to go visit her later on, realizing that she was still in shock over the death of her mother, a fact he had been warned of in the morning, when he had gone to take her for the usual escort mission.

"And the lesson is…" the ring of the bell, "Over."

In a moment, he was flocked by the blue dressed girls, all asking random questions on different subjects while Iruka, Kami damn him, was handling the male part of the class.

As he answered for the thirteenth time that no, Hashirama's hair wasn't grey like that of his younger brother Tobirama, the door of the classroom slid open, as Ibiki Morino looked straight at Naruto.

"Ibiki-san?" Naruto queried, excusing himself from the pouting mass of girls, as he neared the elder Jounin.

"You're summoned to the Hokage's office," he pointed out, moving swiftly away from the door's entrance, "Ghost lance," he added with a sort of smirk, something that made Naruto lift up a puzzled eyebrow, as he looked back at Iruka, who nodded.

Within moments, Naruto was moving out of the academy walking right next to Ibiki, who was chuckling.

"Fine, hit me with the innuendo, since I don't understand it," Naruto muttered, looking at the elder Jounin.

"Ghost Lance…Lance…Ghost…you know, grow up a bit, and then I'll explain it to you later on," Ibiki replied with a thoughtful gaze.

"Is Idate fine?" Naruto asked, "You really managed to convince the Hokage to let him be stuck as a Genin forever?"

"He doesn't have what it takes to be a ninja, like all the other trash of people that remained in that room," Ibiki replied, a sour look on his face, "I can't guarantee whining won't get through the Hokage, since he's a softie, but I won't have anything to do with Idate if he keeps his attitude up. Kid has to grow up and stop running from his faults," the man replied, as they neared the Hokage's office.

"You haven't answered my question," Naruto replied quietly.

"Aoi tells me he's fine: he's crashing at his sensei's place, since he doesn't want to speak with me," Ibiki replied bitterly, as Naruto merely nodded.

The doors of the Hokage's office swung open, as the two entered the room, taking in the sight of Kakashi and Anko already there, waiting.

The silver-haired Jounin waved with an eye-smile at Naruto, who waved back, while Anko simply decided to cheerfully ruffle Naruto's head, while giving a wink to Ibiki.

"Oh Naru-chan! Like good old times! Only we have a frown bald guy too," at that, Naruto raised a puzzled eyebrow, before turning to Ibiki, who had narrowed his eyes in a sort of slightly angered expression.

"You're bald?" Naruto asked, tentatively.

"No I'm not!" Ibiki replied hastily, "I just have slightly less hair than normal, that's all!"

"He's bald!" Anko replied cheerfully, as the Hokage, finally, coughed a bit to get the attention of the four ninjas, putting them all on attention.

"Well," Minato spoke quietly, "it seems the secret," stressing the word, "cypher division of Kirigakure has been seen in the land of fire's premises, since they are a secret division, their deaths, or any sort of interaction between them and us will be kept under rags."

Just a week before, Kirigakure's shinobis had been in the chuunin exams, and just now, there were Kirigakure's secret ninjas moving around the land of fire. Blood would be spilled, but the façade would remain.

The difference between a ninja, whose loyalty was known, and *secret* ninjas, those who did the riskiest jobs for the highest of pays, was basically the difference that went from a full-out war declaration, to a mere closing one's eyes and looking the other way. Anbus were secret ninjas, who were taught to destroy themselves upon risk of capture, and that, if actually captured, would be accounted as missing Nins who had left the village.

It was a common practice, to have an edge on other villages, distrust needed to be kept within the privacy's of one's own head, while openly, trust and smiles had to be given around.

"This is a B-rank mission, the cypher division should not be heavily protected, and from the reports given, it seems to only have one guard, armed with a long Katana, it should be an easy first B-rank," at that mention, Naruto winced.

"You should direct yourself towards the Land of Water border, precisely near the docks of Wave country, from there, you will have to track them down, but I have faith in Kakashi's ninken dogs. Capture at least one of them alive," Minato pointed out, as he handed over the mission scroll with the additional information.

"Dismissed," and with those words, the Hokage gestured for them to leave, a thing that the shinobis did without waiting a single second.

Alone, in his office, Minato Namikaze turned his gaze downwards, to the preoccupying news he had received: the Senju's blade, the second Hokage's sword of the thunder god had gone missing from Konoha's vaults.

Normally, nobody would have checked for its presence, since it wasn't a weapon that had left the safety of the village's walls, or vaults, since the death of the second Hokage. Yet, when Tsunade had returned, the process of looking for the blade had begun, since it was certain that the slug princess would reclaim the blade sooner or later. The problem wasn't that the blade hadn't been found, no, the problem was that it had then disappeared from the storage it had been kept in, when Tsunade, three days after Naruto becoming Chuunin, had come around to actually reclaim the blade: probably as a gift for the boy's promotion.

So there was a missing blade, but no ninja had left the premises, and no foreign shinobi had been detected. The blade of the thunder god, the Raijin no Ken, seemed to have disappeared from the village without trace.

Looking at those who could know where the blade was, he stumbled upon the Genin team that did report its retrieval from the vaults: Rokusho's. But the Jounin sensei was still in the village, so it had to be a leak? Maybe one of the Genins had spoken of the blade's location to someone else, but why?

"Hokage-sama," an Anbu appeared in the room, a mask on his face depicting a Monkey, "I have urgent news..."

The day was suddenly turning for the worse.

He knew it.

*Land of Waves*

"How do we track ninjas we have never smelled before?" Pakkun queried, his pug eyes looking at the silver-haired shinobi.

"Well…they're shinobis and they belong to the cypher squad, so…they're bound to smell of ink?" Kakashi suggested, as Anko rolled her hazel eyes.

"How long till that pup learns the drill, Kakashi-sensei?" Anko queried, as she slid a snake out of her forearm. Her snakes didn't need to be trained, much differently from the silver-haired litter of Ninken dogs.

Albeit Kakashi could bring out an already trained dog, he preferred to use the trainees, to teach them while working.

"Where's Naruto?" Ibiki queried, realizing that the grey-haired boy had pretty much disappeared from the makeshift camp.

"I sent him to investigate the nearby village: maybe someone saw a group of Kiri ninjas pass by," Kakashi replied, shrugging slightly.

"That doesn't seem plausible, what's the real reason, Hatake?" Ibiki queried once more, narrowing his eyes.

"It's not that I don't trust him, but…he's got quite the schedule. Some boring relaxing option every now and then won't kill him," Kakashi replied with a shrug, only to have Naruto land in the middle of the clearing.

Since he hadn't been heard arriving, for a moment Ibiki was sure he was seeing a perfect replica of the second Hokage, down to the very clothes.

Naruto's attire took the form of the standard shinobi dress of Tobirama's times, consisting of a blue traditional armor, similar to that of samurais, albeit featuring a distinctive white fur collar, worn over a simple black suit. The armor was constructed from numerous metal plates, formed into multiple protective guards along his body, in particular over his chest, waist, shoulders and upper arms. The clothing was accompanied by sandals and a happuri engraved with the Konoha emblem, in the place of his forehead protector.

So he resembled the second Hokage, in miniature version, since he wasn't more than eleven years old…kind of a chibi Nidaime.

"I had people fuss over me for half an hour, before deciding to call it quit," Naruto muttered, turning to gaze at Kakashi, with narrow eyes, "you could have warned me that I looked like the Nidaime Hokage."

"You didn't know?" Anko asked back, holding her laughter to bay in her throat.

"You'd think he'd connect the dots: there *is* a picture of the Nidaime Hokage in your house, right?" Kakashi queried, chuckling slightly.

"It was Kaa-san's idea: she resized one of Tobirama's old armors to fit me…she also said she was going to get the sword of the thunder god…for added protection, whatever it means," Naruto muttered back, sighing, "Why can't she just trust me to come back alive?"

"Because, Naru-chan," Ibiki snorted with an amused face, "All the missions you go on get a rank raise the moment shit hits the fan."

"That's not true!" Naruto replied, vehemently.

"Sure, D-rank missions of delivering messages become C-rank out of thin air, right?" Anko teased, with a chuckle.

"Oh shush it," Naruto muttered, "That Kangaroo was packing a punch."

"Yeah, I still can't believe an anteater and an ostrich teamed up on you," Kakashi grinned.

"We are *not* here to speak about my mission exploits: obviously the cypher division didn't pass by here, but since the border guard didn't check them, they're trespasser."

Naruto's words served as confirmation that, indeed, the cypher division could be engaged without problems.

The pug, Pakkun, suddenly sniffed in the air, before waggling his small tail and heading off, much to the surprise of the Konoha's shinobis.

Not because the dog had managed to leap on a tree branch, heading off towards some unknown direction; no, it was because he had actually found a trace on the ground, and Kakashi's grin was smug and wide, subtly spilling out his thoughts to the rest of the team: _"See that Ninkens are awesome!?"_

If there actually was a smell of ink in the forest the pug didn't give it away, as, when a wheeze of smell came to the group's nostrils, it wasn't certainly of the acre black liquid: no, it was of sausages being left to fry on pans and of burning wood.

It was a camp. For a split second Ibiki's gaze had gone murderous on Kakashi, who had simply pointed in silence at the men, and at one woman, it seemed, who were camping.

They held no forehead protectors on them, but one had blue skin, and seemed to be set a bit apart from the rest of the group, a long two-handed katana covered in bandages standing loosely on his shoulder. His back leaned against the tree, seeming to be lost in thoughts. He actually resembled a sort of shark, with a little feral grin sported by his shark-like teeth.

"You can't be serious…they're like…kids on a camping trip?" Anko whispered, looking at them with a mixture of perplexity and mistrust.

"Remember that we have to capture one of them alive," Kakashi whispered, as he made the necessary symbols for the Kage Bunshin, creating two more copies of himself, "Naruto, place a Genjutsu on shark-guy, so he thinks they're surrounded. Anko, use Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu to cut off their retreat, and take point behind my Kage Bunshins. Try to grab at least a cypher guy, and Ibiki…you go and scare them."

Ibiki simply smirked: obviously the shitty part of the job had to be his to take.

The plan was simple to the extreme: the shark guy, assuming a defensive position in front of the cypher squad, would have conceded out of numerous odds, and if not, the real Kakashi would have simply ran him through with a Raikiri, while his Kage bunshins and Anko took care of subduing the cyphers. Naruto would stay as support, and Ibiki would come out in a display of force, subtly implying there was no longer a need to hide, since the Kiri ninjas were surrounded.

With précised and fluid motions, Naruto's Genjutsu was weaved within the unsuspecting mind of the blue colored shinobi. Its purpose was simple: generate a belief that there were at least four chuunin level shinobis' chakra signals around them, plus sixteen Genins level ones. The same number of a border-patrol unit.

Then Ibiki descended swiftly, while fire erupted around the group, making the cypher squad stand up in fear and fright, with the swordsman unsheathing his sword quickly.

"You are surrounded," Ibiki said, keeping his coolest attitude, "follow us quietly and we might send you back to Kir…" what happened next wasn't something any of them could have been prepared for: the shark-man moved, quickly, and with that Kakashi left his position, Raikiri ready in an intercepting pattern to guard Ibiki.

Only for his Raikiri to fizzle to a stop in mid-air, as the swordsman hadn't aimed at Ibiki at all, or at one of the Genjutsu chakra flares. No, the shark-man had dashed straight ahead towards the cypher squad, and with a swing so swift that Kakashi's Kage bunshins had barely managed to dodge, pinning Anko to the ground with them, had executed a flawless maneuver...butchering his own teammates.

"No codes are to be given out," was all the man muttered, even as he went through a set of hand signs, faster than what any of them could have suspected.

They had thought him a Jounin, to be sure.

They had been wrong.

The possible explanation was that he was wearing some sort of suppressor, because not even Naruto, perched on his branch, could have fathomed the amount of water that the man had spawned out of his mouth. The veritable river of water had rushed forward, with him on top, riding it like a surfer would have, literally leaving them there, shocked and unable to completely register the information.

"What…What happened?" Anko muttered, standing shakily back up, as she looked at the bodies, the drenched corpses, of the cypher squad. All gutted, slashed and killed.

"He was fast," Kakashi barely whispered, "It didn't take him more than a minute to execute them," that hadn't been murder. No, it had been an outright execution.

"So this mission has failed, I suppose," Ibiki muttered, "Crap, well, the kid's bad luck is legendary…did he take it from his mother?"

"Cut the crap spouting Ibiki," Anko replied, "Naruto! Come on down!"

"Naruto?" Kakashi queried, looking up at the branch where the boy was supposed to be.

"Don't tell me he pursued," Ibiki groaned.

"We didn't say not to: he probably assumed we'd at least capture him," Kakashi pointed out, before starting to dash in the same direction as the shark-man, "Let's move! A second we waste is a second we lose them!"

"Damn gaki! Making me babysit him!" Anko snarled, as she picked up the pace. Still, the boy couldn't have hoped to reach the same speed as that shark-guy, right?

Naruto did, instead, reach the same speed as the shark-guy. He did even better: he actually surfed on the head of one of his chameleon summon, Tokage. The chameleon would have probably said something against the idea of him enjoying the ride, if he could speak. At present, in fact, Tokage was busy spewing from his mouth highly condensed water, to generate a literal Jetstream, that sent them forward on the small amount of water that Naruto, on the other hand, had generate as a cushion.

It was a Chameleon engine-driven hovercraft.

It was pure genius.

It was pure unpredictability.

The shark-man came into view minutes later, when the blue-colored ninja decided to stop his run, on the outskirts of the sea. It was a steep cliff fall towards the sea from there, something that the Kiri ninja probably didn't seem too keen in trying out.

"Tokage: disengage and wait," Naruto whispered, jumping down from the chameleon summon, who had stopped spewing water and was changing his scales to match the surroundings.

"Well, you managed to get till here," the shark-man spoke, grinning as he grabbed his sword with his two hands, "call me interested."

"Interested, is blue your natural skin color?" Naruto replied, adding a small smile to his lips moments later, seeing how the shark-man was wincing at the statement.

"Touché, but let us stop with all this cliché," the eyes of the shark-man narrowed, "I am Kisame Hoshikagi, apprentice to Fuguki Suikazan, and if I'm telling you this, it's because I'm going to kill you, and you'll be taking this information to the grave with you," he added.

"And I'm the Ghost Lance, or so I've been nicknamed, Naruto Senju," the grey-haired boy replied, grabbing his Tanto.

Yes, a Tanto against a Katana. Every idiotic brigand would have laughed, and would have, obviously, been skewered. Kisame wasn't an idiotic brigand: he was a powerful shinobi, on the way of becoming a swordsman himself. So he sidestepped with minimum effort, driving his sword in a forward cleaving motion that was so fast, and quick, that Naruto tensed instinctively.

A moment later Tokage disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a piece of his tongue. The *ghost* lance of Naruto wasn't actually the Kaze no Yaiba, no: it was the tongue movement of the chameleon's summon.

Without that…he gritted his teeth.

"I read of you in the bingo book, only because you did fight in the chuunin exams with such ease…but, anyway, your shinobi career will have to end short," and then Kisame was already on Naruto, the blade flickering briefly in the light of the day.

It all happened fast, to say the least.

The blade moved to slice down on Naruto's chest, his hand wielding the Tanto gifted from Kakashi rose up to receive the strike, and then the Tanto broke, shattering into pieces as the Katana continue the merciless movement downwards, hitting straight at the boy's left shoulder.

There, it met with the metallic armor plates that composed his armor, and dented them, giving the boy a harsh blunt shock that sent him tumbling on the ground, rolling to the side while holding his seemingly unresponsive shoulder.

Yet he was still alive, he wasn't bleeding, externally at least, and he still had his arm attached.

"Nice armor you got there," Kisame chuckled, before making a straight ahead dash, to pierce through the armor's weak spot: the armpit's area.

The boy rolled, and in said motion his back was what received the tip of the attack, sending him to literally fly against a nearby rock, tumble a bit in the air, and then, with blood gushing out of his mouth, falling down, off the cliff.

Kisame simply smiled at the ease of the kill…and then sighed.

"That's a bounty I ain't going to collect, a pity," he muttered, as he slowly went to sheathe his blade, only to quickly move it to the side, parrying a set of kunais that had been flung at him, all carrying explosive notes on them.

"Shit."

The explosion rocked the rocky cliff, sending small chunks of rock to fall in the sea beneath it, while Kisame's quick shedding of his armor, to lessen the blow, had granted him safety.

The wounds were superficial at worse, at best, he looked unscathed.

Naruto, in his fall down, hadn't fallen unconscious, meaning that with the blood out of his mouth, swiftly swiped, he had managed to conjure Kozue, and hold on to him as the chameleon had flung his tongue straight at the cliff's side, had swung on it, and had then used the momentum like on a swing to send them both back up.

To Kisame, Naruto appeared to be floating in mid-air, because Kozue's stealth was *that* good.

The grey-haired boy didn't move from the chameleon's head, keeping himself on tightly attached to the small bone and scale crown of the animal. The truth was that he couldn't feel his legs, and he couldn't thus trust them.

He had a hunch the attack had probably generated a bruise big enough to pressure his spine, since had he actually broken his spine he'd be dead, or at least in a really horrible position for the rest of his life. He kind of wondered when the rest of his team would get there: he was doing all he could, to hold the enemy shinobi there, but right now, he was pretty sure of one simple fact.

It was really simple, actually.

He was probably going to die.

He had kind of expected to be breathing hard, to be shocked, to be worried, to be afraid.

He wasn't.

He wasn't afraid, he wasn't feeling fear, there was no emotion in his eyes except determination.

The reason wasn't something about killing his own emotion in the midst of battle, it wasn't about having some bullshitting crap on mental conditioning, or resignation to one's own fate.

No…he simply looked straight into the eyes of Kisame, who charged at him with his katana in hand, and without a word, without a caring in the world, all his chakra, all his strength, went towards a simple, single, jutsu.

"Suiton: Teppodama!" the next moment, Naruto's chest bulged exponentially, as did his throat, before the sphere of water, laced with chakra, emerged from within the boy's mouth, swiftly followed by the same jutsu, only this time, thrown also by Kozue.

Kisame's katana intercepted the attack, and for a moment, time seemed to stop, as the shark-man tried to hold the twin balls of water at bay, before being seemingly pushed back, his katana cracking under the twin jutsu.

Kisame jumped to the side, letting go of the sword that broke, its pieces soaring into the sky at the same moment the water exploded, releasing a small drizzle of clear liquid upwards, before it began raining down for seconds. The chakra exhausted, Kozue itself had no choice but disappear, as Naruto fell on the ground, gasping for air.

"Nice desperate move…might as well ask you something, before killing you," Kisame chuckled, as he moved closer to the boy, taking out from within one of his pockets a prolonged kunai that seemed to end with a chain that had at its end a round weight.

"I didn't even go all out with you, kiddo. As you might have understood, I didn't use Suiton moves against you: so really, you were desperately over your head…what gave you the nice idea of catching up with me, huh?" at that question, Naruto gritted his teeth, just as the weight began spinning.

"You know: I can make this quick, and smash your head like a watermelon, or slow, and take my time rupturing your organs…your armor is good, but trust me, a nice strong hit and you will bleed from within."

"You're worse than scum," Naruto muttered, his gaze looking straight ahead, at the horizon, where the sea met the sky. It was a pretty last view, at least.

"What, just because I'm blue and from Kiri? I'm taking it on a personal level now," the hit reached Naruto's right side with a strong thrust, as the grey-haired boy gasped, blood emerging from his mouth as ribs had probably dislodged themselves.

Still, he kept fighting off the desire to close his eyes. He kept fighting to remain in the light, in the basking light of the sun.

"You…killed…your teammates…" Naruto whispered, blood trickling down from his mouth, "You're…worth…less…trash," at those words, Kisame smirked, giving the boy a sharp kick to throw him face upwards, to stare at the sky.

"Oh, yeah? Moralism from Konoha Nins was to be expected, I suppose. Well, let me tell you something: It's not the first time. The bloody mist was the name of the graduation exam, the Genins to be had to kill at least three other students of their own class to graduate," the shark-man spoke quietly, as he let his right feet on the boy's throat, looking at him with disgust.

"Pitted one against the other, truly disgusting, right? I'm sure there never was something like that in your pathetic excuse of an academy," he added.

Naruto merely smiled, chuckling slightly.

"I…pity…you, fear…is all…you have," at his words, Kisame's face deformed into a snarling one, as he flung the sharp part of his kunai straight into one of the joints on the chest area.

"I am not afraid! You should be! You're dying, aren't you!? So feel fear!"

Coughs, blood emerging from the boy's mouth, he wasn't more than eleven for Kami's sake and he was staring at him with the eyes of one much older than him.

"What…takes…another…to kill…you too?" was the cryptic reply of Naruto, who, in his small smile, as his eyes closed, had told Kisame all he needed to understand.

What took his sensei from giving the same order to someone else?

What took the Mizukage from giving the same order to someone he knew?

What took someone, anyone, from killing him under orders?

It was strange. The brat was dying from blood loss, chakra exhaustion and worse, yet he was the one who felt a tinge of fear in his soul, not the boy.

It didn't matter anymore, however. He moved to leave, standing at the edge of the cliff, when a snarl, a vicious snarl that seemed monstrous echoed straight behind him.

There, a furious Anko Mitarashi was transformed in what seemed a bizarre and horrible monstrosity: both arms were elongated, ape-like in size but covered with scales. Her teeth seemed to have prolonged into furious fangs, as horns had sprouted from her hair. The problem wasn't that, no. It was the fact that, even though that form was bulky, she disappeared from sight because of speed alone, and the next moment, Kisame was flung like a brick wall had decided to hit him in the face away from the cliff, to fly straight into the sea.

As he flew, his only thankful thought was that he had gills to breath underwater, because he'd be knocked out for a while...the bitch hit strongly.

Anko, meanwhile, was seemingly returning to her senses, her size lowering until it went back to the norm, her trench coat, coming straight from Anbu, was obviously still fine. Her fishnet shirt was seemingly a bit baggy, due to the pressure of the expansion in size, and her skirt was a bit torn up…just a bit.

She sank on her feet, the circle around her neck pulsing slightly, as the numbers resumed their normal pattern. Slowly, her hazel eyes settled on the boy's form, as she got her hands deftly working through the armor's lace knots, to loosen them and grab from within Naruto's chuunin vest the scroll with the first aid kit.

He didn't seem that bad, meaning whatever he had would simply be something outside of her scope of abilities.

She could try and heal him, right? It shouldn't be something *that* difficult.

She was a kunoichi, a female, thus she had better chakra control than males.

Really, how difficult could it be? He was breathing raggedly, his chest going up, down…up after a while, scared her for a moment.

Then it went down again.

And it stayed down.

To perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR for short, she settled his head to the side, and then, with a quick move, inhaled, before exhaling air within the boy's lungs, at the same time both of her hands, swiftly, should have begun the process of pushing against the boy's chest.

Instead the boy kissed her back.

At least, to Anko it seemed like a kiss, but as her eyes were open with shock, she realized that it wasn't the truth. Naruto wasn't kissing her: it was just like that time with Tsunade and her arm. The boy wasn't chewing her lips off her face for some reason, but she could feel the chakra being literally removed from her coils, weakness taking over her limbs as there seemed to be no restraint in the…leeching?

Moments later, she connected a punch straight to Naruto's jaw, breaking the contact, and giving her finally the moment to breathe, panting slightly from fatigue.

"Damn…" she coughed slightly, shaking her head, trying to recall just how she had managed to leave behind two Jounins and reach the boy first.

Oh yes, now she recalled, her mind wavered for a moment, before giving in to the need, to the thirst for knowledge: she had felt a new strength in her body, in her limbs, and suddenly she had jolted from her spot, her pace quickening so much she had passed by Kakashi, heading straight to where Naruto was.

Because she knew where the boy was, Pakkun, stupid pug, didn't. But she did. She had felt it, like a beacon calling to her.

*Mindscape*

"So…since when did I get a mirror in here?" Naruto questioned himself, more than anything else. There was no-one else, except the sleeping fox that he hadn't the guts to wake up again. There was, however, a new addition in his mindscape: a mirror.

A polished mirror that seemed to reflect not his face, but something else: his body asleep on the ground, where it was *supposed* to be.

It was like he was seeing through the eyes of someone else, but who? Kisame? Not possible. The mirror briefly showed some trench coat and fishnet shirt material, and it was enough for Naruto to guess it was Anko's eyes, he was seeing through. A moment later, the mirror turned a dull grey color, no longer reflecting what was happening through the purple haired kunoichi's eyes.

He felt himself being jolted out of his mindscape, thrust upwards, barely taking in the fact that the room…had a door? Since when did the room have a…

*Outside*

"Wake up damn brat!" Ibiki's snarl was more than enough for him to slowly open his eyes, shocked and perplexed at the sight of the Jounin looking straight ahead at him.

"Naru-chan got my first kiss! It's just not fair!" Anko whined, playfully, in the background, as Kakashi sighed.

"Naruto, could you give us a medical assessment of your conditions, before going over with the report?" at the silver-haired Jounin's words, Naruto groaned, slightly letting his chakra move carefully through his Tenketsu points, his chakra coils, and through his skin.

"Two broken ribs, a punctured lung…I think my spine got slightly dislodged, my shoulder is half pulverized and half not, but I'll live… I can't walk however…" he muttered, letting his mind race with the words he had just said. It was like his body had been in the process of repairing himself, as his lung *was* closed, his ribs stopped in a half-set position, his spine dislodged but with signs of having moved from a far worse position, and his shoulder had half of it in mere bone shards, while the other seemed to have been reconnecting themselves. Instead of months of hospital stay and complex surgical damage, he had already healed a good part of his body…by sleeping?

"You'll live? I'd be dead, you know," Ibiki muttered, "Must be the Kyuubi, well, tough luck boy, because we'll have to carry your sorry ass back to Konoha, and since we will be carrying you, you'd do us a favor and tell us just *who* did this to you."

"Fair deal," Naruto sighed, wincing at the pain he now began to feel, it was flaring through his entire body, a telltale sign that he wasn't going to like being moved at all.

"And for stealing my first kiss, I want a five year royal dango box every morning, got it?" as Anko grinned diabolically, Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes over in acknowledgement.

"And for going forward on your own, you'll have to call me Kakashi-Niisan!" the silver-haired Jounin finished the set of punishments with a soft chuckle, before extracting from a sealing scroll the medic-tray, landing it on the ground next to Naruto.

"I think I won't be able to speak much, after this," the boy whispered, "So, if I start trashing and screaming, do knock me out," he added.

"You are strangely calm for someone in your conditions, Naruto," Kakashi pointed out, grabbing a hold of the boy's legs, as Ibiki instead went for the shoulders.

"Trust me, it's because I learnt how to stay very still…but now I'm going to hurt like hell…please be quick," and just like that, the movement was done lightning fast.

The rib still in the lung moved slightly, blood came out, and the rest…the rest was pain before a merciless injection of anesthetic, strong enough to drop a horse dead.

"Let's move…You're warning his mother," Anko exclaimed, not managing to keep her fake cheerful tone on.

"Well…with him out cold, Anko…could you explain what happened?" Kakashi and Ibiki both brought up the medic-tray, and, as they dashed back toward Konoha, Anko found herself keeping pace with them, albeit slightly wobbling.

"I don't know…I just felt something…someone, calling me. I answered the call," the girl muttered, "I felt a sort of compulsion to go and…well, clash against someone…"

"Hmm…we'll have to ask Jiraiya-sama the next time he's in Konoha," Kakashi replied, "But the Hokage and his wife could have a look at it too," he pointed out.

"You think he's going to be fine?" Anko queried, not needing to ask who she was referring to.

"If it had been any normal shinobi, then I'd say that they'd better stop being ninja…but Naruto? And with Tsunade in Konoha? He'll be up and ready to train in a couple of days, I can guarantee it," Kakashi replied.

"Yeah, tough sport he is! But his mother is going to kill us," Ibiki pointed out, shivering slightly.

"I hope not, I still have to get my hands on an audio recorder…" with those words from the copy-cat ninja, Anko shook her head.

"I'm starting to think your friendship with Gai has some…subtle implications, you know?"

Ibiki began laughing out hard as he caught on the drift, while Kakashi simply scowled.

For a failed mission, it wasn't that bad.

*Konoha – Four Days later*

Naruto was once more in front of the Hokage, for another B-rank mission. On the floor, a giant-sized hole had been covered with planks, hastily put there to avoid someone falling on the lower level.

This time, Ibiki was there together with Itachi and another Anbu masked individual. Well, technically Itachi was also masked with a crow mask, meaning there were actually two Anbu masked individuals: a Crow and a Dog. Ibiki was ghastly pale, and seemed fidgety, to say the least.

"So, I understand your wounds have already healed, Senju-san?" Minato asked, looking at the grey-haired boy, who was now sporting slightly brighter blue eyes.

"Yes Hokage-sama," Naruto replied, his eyes dashing to the figures in front of him…he was going to need shades, soon, the world seemed in Technicolor to him at present, like someone had increased the resolution, "Kaa-san did an excellent job," he added.

Obviously all that his mother had done had been supplying the chakra: for some reason, he could leech chakra through his mouth, and that chakra actually became a powerful healing concoction for his body…it didn't just heal, no, it brought things back like they were before being damaged. One could even think that it merely re-created the destroyed tissue from nothingness…but that was impossible.

He was sporting the same attire he had used during the mission to the border of Kirigakure, meaning that, when he had actually entered the room, the first thing the Anbus had done was to look at the picture of the second Hokage, to compare the resemblances.

It was starting to get on his nerves.

Sure, he had Suiton Jutsus, sure, he had excellent chakra control, sure, he was apt at Genjutsus, sure, he liked the color blue…but that didn't mean they had to compare!

"Well then, the reason you are requested is because the nature of this mission is personal to the Senju clan: the retrieval of the sword of the thunder god," at that, Naruto's eyes shot in surprise, before a sudden chuckle escaped his lips.

"Oh this is precious…so that's why the office has a hole on the floor," the mischievous grin disappeared after a moment, with a light cough, "please keep talking, Hokage-sama."

"As I was saying," Minato pointed out, a small smile escaping his lips, _"Is he getting over his grudges?"_, "it seems Aoi Rokusho, departed yesterday, had been hiding the location of Idate Morino, who is seemingly the culprit in the disappearance of the Raijin no Ken."

"The boy is merely a Genin, and since he never displayed any ill will toward Konoha, it is safe to assume he is being played by Rokusho, who seems to also be tied with Iwagakure spies, and with the Iwagakure incident of eleven years ago," Minato continued speaking with a calm and controlled voice, as he let his eyes dart towards Ibiki, he silently nodded.

"We are to pursue and capture Rokusho, before he crosses the border with Amegakure: if he does, we won't be able to go beyond the border…it is also safe to assume he has some sort of deal with Ame: meaning that if we don't catch him swiftly, we might never do it," the Dog masked Anbu spoke, "Idate Morino is to be brought in for interrogation and questioning, but that is of secondary importance."

The fact that Ibiki was pale and slightly shaking was the principal reason for Naruto's perplexity.

"I understand *me* being here…I'm going for a sword, but why Ibiki? He's emotionally involved," the grey-haired boy knew he was probably burning bridges with the elder Jounin…but he was right, and eventually Ibiki too would realize it, at least, he hoped.

"Because it's in the deal, Nidaime no Sairai," Ibiki muttered, a low growl escaping his throat.

"Second coming of the Nidaime? Really?" Naruto eyed Ibiki with a sigh, shaking his head, "Well then, fine! Let's go get the sword so I'll make everyone happy."

And within a twirling of leaves, they were all gone once more.

But while they went towards Konoha's gates, to leave once more, on the other side of the village, in the ninja academy, a red-haired girl was starting to get bored.

Katsumi knew that it wasn't Iruka-sensei's fault that Naruto-sensei had missions, nor did she blame the fact that Mizuki had been chosen to replace Naruto as the assistant of her class, but she knew it was her father's fault. She was pretty sure that the Hokage enjoyed keeping her and her brother separated. It just wasn't fair.

Kiba could go back home to his elder sister, and she would teach him cool tricks. Many others in the class had siblings, or elder cousins, and they too would teach them cool tricks.

So why, why was she the only one who had no cousins, or siblings, waiting for her at home? Her mother was a Jounin-sensei, for Kami's sakes, yet she was busy, always busy, with her Genin team. Her father was the Hokage, and obviously couldn't take time teaching her anything new…so she was stuck with the boring stuff of the academy: history, especially.

"And this is the year that the battle of the valley of the end took place, where Madara was defeated, and killed, by Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage," Iruka finished writing down a number, before turning his gaze to his class.

They all looked…bored.

Was it because he wasn't that good with illusions? Naruto always seemed to know what buttons to push, to make the kids interested in a lesson: like using illusions to recreate battles, acting like a sort of television screen. He also was the only one that actually managed to convince Shikamaru *not* to sleep in class, the Nara had finally perfected his sleeping-with-eyes-open Jutsu, and it was starting to unnerve the chuunin.

Katsumi turned her gaze backwards, feeling someone tap on her shoulders, and revealing that someone being Kiba.

"Katsumi-chan, me, Choji and Shikamaru are planning on…going on a trip, yeah, out of school when the bell rings," Kiba smiled at her, "Want to come too?"

"How are we going to leave?" Katsumi whispered back, perplexed.

"Just you wait, Shikamaru's got it covered," and within moments, when both Chuunin's backs were turned, the Nara silently dropped out of the class, leaving a bunshin in his place, in the same position.

"He knows bunshin?" Katsumi whispered.

"Anything as long as it gets him out," Kiba chuckled, "Now follow my play…" and then the Inuzuka grabbed Chouji by the arm, yelling out loud.

"Oh Kami! Chouji! You're sick! Don't die on me buddy! We'll get through this together! I'm bringing him to the infirmary!" and with that exclamation he began dragging a feigning sickness Akimichi through the classroom, with Katsumi suddenly sprouting up.

"Oh no Chouji-kun! Don't worry, I'll help you out, Kiba-kun!" and with the most horrible performance ever to be created, the three left the room.

For a split second, nothing happened.

Iruka was actually trying to understand if they had done this as a sort of twisted prank, or if they actually thought Chuunins were stupid.

"We'll take them back in after recess," Mizuki pointed out, just as, obviously, the bell for the recess time rang.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage's office, Kushina had just finished handing in the successfully completed D-rank mission, and had ushered outside her Genins, eyeing, really badly, Minato.

"Minato," she whispered, angrily, as the Hokage quickly activated the privacy seals, closing the windows.

"Kushina-hime?" the Hokage asked back, curiously.

"Shouldn't shinobis who have been hospitalized get a one week leave?" the red-haired woman asked, with a small smile on her lips.

"Well, the matter *was* important, and…"

"Minato…" the woman's ire was a bit strange, until something clicked in the Hokage's mind.

"Oh! This is about the teacher-parents event at school!"

The ninja academy held this type of meetings monthly, to make sure every parent was well acquainted with their son's and daughter's teachers. Kushina had probably been looking forward to meeting with Naruto, to engage in conversation, especially after being told by Minato, out of all persons that their son seemed to have forgiven them: at least, theoretically.

"Yes dear…" the woman stressed the *dear* part, "But not only: why did you send him after a Jounin!?"

"He's not alone Kushina-hime, there are two Anbus and…" Minato replied, his hands slowly moving in the motion of *calm down*.

"There is a Tokubetsu Jounin, who still let him get wounded from his previous mission, Itachi, who's the same age as him and his cousin Shishui…don't give me the *Two Anbus* crap," Kushina spat right back at her husband, "and he was wounded, a lot…and still you're sending him back? Not even a week later? I mean it: it took them at least a week to come back from the border, a week I was told he spent with dislodged bones and internal bleedings! And four days later he is magically out of the hospital? Come on Minato! That's not even passable as Uzumaki resiliency!"

"Kushina…you know that…we had to re-valuate our…previous assessment of the situation," Minato began speaking, his eyes slowly moving around the room.

"Oh right, you mean we were wrong not once, but twice! Minato…I can live without ever hearing my son calling me Kaa-san, I can live with him hating me, ignoring me, being cold to me…but if he dies, because of one of us…I won't ever forgive you."

Minato's eyes bulged in shock, as he gritted his teeth.

"Kushina! You had your very own part in this! Who was the one who threw him out of the house!?"

"Katsumi was a newborn! And I thought she was in danger! You were the one who brought him to the apartments for orphans!" Kushina accused straight back.

"How could I have known there were Iwagakure shinobis ready to kidnap him!?" Minato's fist impacted on the desk, "How could I have ever thought that I'd end up having to disown my very own son just to save him from being hunted down!? How could I have known he'd snap like that!? I removed those memories for a reason, Kushina!"

"Because we both screwed up, huh?" Kushina's voice was sad, as her eyes moved sideways, to the carpet, "We are both wrong…and he'll hate us, he'll keep on hating us, he'll never forgive us, no matter how you put it...and when he will learn the truth, he'll fight us."

"Not if I can avoid it," Minato muttered, his eyes narrowing, "Not if I can make my plan a success."  
"Your plan?" Kushina chuckled, shaking her head, "What plan, huh? What's your plan going to do when he realizes you toyed with him?"

In that instant, the small radio on Minato's desk buzzed, as the voice of his secretary spoke through the speaker.

"Hokage-sama, Mitarashi-san is here," and with those words, something clicked into Kushina, as she slowly shook her head in disbelief, seeing the discomfort on Minato's face.

"You are not…" she whispered.

"I will," was his simple reply, "For his future, for Konoha's future, for Katsumi's future, for everyone's future."

"Minato…" there were no words that escaped Kushina's lips, and thus she simply turned to leave from the window, shaking her head.

"Kushina-hime…this is a secret, you know…" Minato barely muttered, as the red-haired woman simply turned around, looking at her husband with nearly emotionless and dead eyes, before slowly nodding.

As she left, and the privacy seals were disengaged, Minato pressed the button to reply to his secretary.

"Let Mitarashi-san in," and with those words, he sealed his very own deal…with the devil or with god, he'd probably never know.

**Author's notes.**

**Du-dun!**

**The more he smiles, the more fake it gets!**

**The more things are happy, the more hell is ready to break down!**

**And with that said, next chapter will contain:**

**Angst!**

**More family angst!**

**More traumatic angst!**

**And something I will not describe.**

**Yeah, sorry, but I have a policy of not describing lemons. So prepare yourself, for next chapter (and with this line I simply gave you a really big hint on what is going to happen) hell breaks loose!**

**Oh, one thing: Naruto has *no* Doujutsu, he's just got his Nightvision starting to give him slight troubles with the sun.**


	11. PC:Deceptions

Chapter eleventh

The rain seemed to be following them over their heads since their arrival, near the border of Amegakure's land. The land of rain wasn't called that because of nothing, after all.

Yet, out of all of them, only one seemed unfazed by the events that were currently unfolding.

Naruto Senju stood as dry as he could possibly be, in the middle of the downpour. The camp that had been hastily made for a much needed short break was now the center of a strange tension, one that Naruto had no need to be in.

Shishui Uchiha, the other Anbu, hadn't been one for much talk, until Itachi had mentioned to Ibiki if he was fine with the death of his younger brother. Itachi wanted to warn Ibiki of the risks of the missions, to tell him that it might as well end badly, and, in the case of Idate actually being a traitor, of the consequences. Ibiki, on the other hand, had clearly stated he'd do the right thing. Meaning that Shishui, on his own righteous belief, had claimed that if Morino was going to be a liability, then he should outright be killed right there.

Itachi had refuted that option.

Shishui had insisted on the risks.

Ibiki had said his own piece.

Naruto, on his own, a bit away from camp, was looking to the horizon, letting the rain fall on him would be stupid, and probably cold-inducing, but he enjoyed looking it fall.

It felt familiar.

The rain, the thunder looming on the horizon, the flashes of light of the storms, all of them were there, familiar yet distant.

Something was slipping his grasp, but he couldn't understand what it was.

After a while, Itachi stood up, Naruto felt the movement of the water as the Uchiha moved closer to him, and then stood silently next to him.

"Are you going to let me get wet?" Itachi queried, with a small chuckle.

A hand sign later, and Itachi too now knew how to keep the water away from his body.

"It's a chakra control exercise, right?" The Uchiha queried, standing right next to the grey-haired boy, "The more control you have, the wider the area around you that you can keep dry," he added.

"Small chakra threads burst from skin pores to deflect water drops, that's the ultimate form of the control," Naruto muttered, "the basic form is to simply let the chakra deflect the raindrops on one's own person, letting them fall to the side."

"How have you been? Sasuke giving you trouble?" Itachi queried, with a small smirk on his face.

"He told you of the first day?" Naruto replied, a chuckle coming out of his throat.

"That he did…" Itachi sighed, shaking his head slightly, "I'm torn between being prideful that Sasuke holds me in such high esteems, and saddened, that he actually thinks I'm stronger than you."

"You are stronger than me, Itachi," Naruto replied, looking with a puzzled expression at the Uchiha heir.

"Tell me, Naruto…had Tsunade-san actually been in favor of you entering Anbu…would you have donned the mask?" at the question, a silence followed for a while, for a moment that seemed an eternity, as the downpour kept releasing its torrent of water on the earth.

"No," Naruto replied, as a thunder bolt struck in the distance, "I wouldn't have," he whispered, "I suppose you didn't have a choice?"

"I had…I was just…too weak to refuse," Itachi muttered, his gaze diverting to the ground, "I suppose all children want their father's pride to be their own," as soon as he added that, he suddenly jolted upwards, hastily saying, "I didn't mean to…"  
"No offense taken, Itachi," Naruto replied, dismissing the issue with a hand wave, "I have no father, only a mother…maybe I should find Kaa-san a husband?" he pondered on it for a moment, "Maybe Uncle Jiraiya? If I ever see him again, that is…" the grey haired boy sighed.

"That's why you're strong, Naruto…never let anyone else say the opposite," Itachi whispered.

"Fine, come out with what's eating you," Naruto sighed, looking at Itachi's crow mask, that the boy was holding in his hands, "You're fidgeting. You never fidget."

Itachi couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head.

"Let's say that… You had to choose between your family and your friends: who would you choose?" at the question, the grey-haired boy simply shrugged.

"I'd choose both."

"You can't," Itachi replied, "You have to make a choice."

"No, Itachi, there is no white and black, no right or left. If there's a wall there is always the chance to tear it down. If there's a crossroad you can always go on the grass, if there's a canyon you can always dig under it, instead of crossing it. If there's a bridge you can learn to fly instead of walking through it, or go around the world to get to the other side. There is nothing more stupid than yes or no, black or white, right or left," at those words, Itachi couldn't help but chuckle.

"Naruto…you always surprise me."

"I try my best, but the audience is picky sometimes," and with those words, he nodded, before turning to stare at Shishui and Ibiki, who both had their kunais out, and were staring at each other with murderous intent.

"Shishui," Itachi muttered, "We do not have a mission to kill Morino-san, unless he attacks first."

"That's why I'm taunting him, Itachi," the other Anbu replied, "But his royal baldness has yet to understand that plucking his…"

"Hey Naruto, you mind whipping this sore Dog with some water? I think I smell wet fur," Ibiki snarled back at Naruto, who looked at Itachi.

Itachi looked at Naruto for a moment, understanding reaching his eyes, as a small twinkle of amusement crossed those raven orbs, and then both boys smirked.

"We're leaving the two kids here, I am not babysitting," Naruto pointed out, turning to leave.

"Me neither, I'm fed up with D-ranks," Itachi replied, turning to follow Naruto.

"We get to move early? Good," Ibiki was already on his feet, as Shishui, still holding his kunai for a second, ended up putting it back in its holster, before turning to follow the rest of the group. The rain didn't stop the group from advancing to the location of the deal, a small rundown inn that had seen better days.

"So, let me get this straight," Naruto whispered, "We know he's in there, we know he's waiting for us, but we don't know why? Right?"

"Yes," Shishui replied, "The rest is classified information."

"I'm thinking there's something you aren't telling me," Naruto pointed out with a shrug, "But who am I to question Anbu?"

"Naruto-kun," Itachi whispered, "Stay outside…technically you should just be a spectator, but if you see Rokusho running, intercept him."

"Same with Idate…please," Ibiki whispered, "If you can stop him, then do so."

"If he isn't already dead," Shishui replied, "once his utility has made its course, Rokusho would probably kill him nevertheless," at those words, Ibiki snarled grabbing the coat of the Anbu, who, however, already held a kunai at the throat of the man.

"You are emotionally compromised, refrain from acting on your own," Shishui pointed out, holding the Kunai straight near Ibiki's neck.

"Ibiki, let him go," Naruto ordered, his eyes narrowing, "we are wasting time: you have my word, Ibiki, if I see Idate I'll grab him, but till then, we have to go."

"Fine," Ibiki spat on the side, as he let go of the Anbu, who made his own kunai disappear, probably back in its holster.

Naruto stood outside the inn, his body perched on a nearby tree. Normally standing under a tree during a storm would be stupid, but being so close to the land of rain simply meant that, if a tree had actually managed to grow to that height without being taken down by a thunder bolt, then it was safe to stay beneath, or on top, of it.

It was just the law of *if it rains every day and the bolt doesn't strike, then it's clear the bolt won't strike*.

Five minutes later, the rundown inn burst in flames and explosions, as wooden splinters flew all around in the moist air.

Naruto's gaze didn't leave the smoldering pile of burning wood until he saw three figures, curled on one side, and concentrated on them, a pity because, otherwise, he'd have seen another one, dashing off in the distance. He held his breath and didn't dash immediately, however, because Aoi Rokusho emerged unscathed from the falling debris, even though an entire inn had fallen on him. He was untouched, electricity surrounding his body as he held the Raijin in his hand.

"Ahahah!" The traitorous Jounin simply laughed, as he pointed his sword to the three figures.

"Activate! The command word was merely Activate! Thanks for reading it out loud, Morino-san…seems like your love for your village was a bit overrated, right!? Well, I'm sure you can join Idate in his death, just like those two Anbus!" Rokusho stared, from the pile of smoldering debris he stood atop, like a king perched from his throne, at the three forms of the wounded shinobis in front of him.

They had entered the inn, and had been met with a nice set of explosive notes, barring them leave. Especially considering that Idate was in another room, and, having believed his words, completely covered in explosive tags too. He chuckled, the boy was useful just to get Ibiki to actually sit down and start reading the damn scroll. One of the two Anbu had tried to kill the man, only to find the other one blocking him.

It was just so noble, and so stupid, it made Aoi want to puke.

Now, not only did he have the deciphered scroll to train in the Raijin, but he also had the Raijin itself in his hand and with its powers, he had managed to save himself from the falling inn. The electricity had literally pulverized the falling ceiling, leaving him in a protective cocoon from which he had emerged unscathed…to finish off his Konoha pursuer.

Naruto carefully bit his finger. He was a Suiton user…didn't electricity run across water? He'd need wind…that was when he mentally scowled for not having taken leave time to search for Shiromari, she could have been very useful in this moment.

Without her, he needed to resort to Kozue.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kozue," Naruto barely whispered, as he slowly henged into a small patch of grass, letting Aoi go on with his mad rambling of power and invincibility.

"Guy with sparkles, I'll open a hole in his defenses, kill him," the grey-haired boy whispered barely, without a need for a reply. There was no need to have Kozue speak when he was in business mode: he wouldn't reply. No matter his goofy attitude when visible, when he actually had to work he became extremely serious…and silent.

Not even Naruto's keen ears could catch his movement, a more than apt showcase of his excellent skills in stealth. Kozue was a ghost in its righteous way…and Naruto was always taking pointers.

"And now…now you die first, Anbu-kun," Aoi's right hand lifted the Raijin, ready for the kill…and then the static electrical field surrounding him suddenly was torn on his back. The silent air blade had dashed through the grass, cutting the green blades through its passage, and just like that, it had impacted against the cocoon protecting Aoi.

A hole, the form cylindrical and the size big enough to warrant the doubt that it had been a Kaze no Yaiba, literally appeared on the back of the traitorous Jounin…after all Wind won over Lightning affinity. Didn't it?

It was the opening Kozue's tongue needed, and the reason Naruto was dubbed the Ghost Lance.

Normally, chameleon's scales were the only part of the body that could shift their colors, and brilliance, to reflect light and thus making them invisible, and stealth specialists. Now, chameleons summons were far better than that, being able to, obviously, channel chakra and use techniques. Meaning that Kozue's tongue was actually invisible, as it sped through the motions of the chameleon muscles, thrown with a speed that was nearly equal that of a thunder bolt, and struck straight through the man's back.

Chameleon's tongues had, actually, two differentiations.

The first was the sticky tongue: the type of chameleon that hit the target, and then carried it straight into its maws. The second was the bone tongue: the one that pierced through a target before moving over to feast on him.

Kozue was the first type, with the sole difference that he could decide wherever his tongue actually stuck…or if it just hurt.

The tongue javelin literally flung Aoi on the ground, crashing against the dirt as his spine was neatly rearranged into a jigsaw puzzle of horrid formation. Naruto was in front of Aoi before the Jounin could exhale the last breath, but in that last breath, in that last sight, the man couldn't help but look.

Look at the boy clad in that blue armor, with that thick fur around the neck. The boy that was carefully unwrapping from his unresponsive hands the Raijin no Ken, and was wielding it with his right hand, the sword now in an off-state.

With the booming noise of thunder and the flash that followed, Aoi Rokusho's last thoughts, before departing the living world, was of how the second Hokage had reclaimed his sword.

Naruto held the grip on the sword's handle, and kind of wondered, for a brief second…how did one holster it? The sword didn't have a sheath! There was no way it could simply…attach itself to his armor? The moment of epiphany was soon washed away, as a little clunk indicated the truth behind his thoughts.

Indeed, the metallic plating served as the holder of the sword that clung without troubles to his side, as he moved near the three knocked out and wounded forms.

"This seems a complete reversal of last time. Three in good state and a wounded, now I have three wounded to take care of…" Naruto sighed, letting both his hands glow a pale green light, as the rain that had been incessant till then didn't relent at all his objective: healing his teammates.

Itachi and Shishui were both better off than Ibiki, the Jounin of T&I was the first one Naruto concentrated on. While all three were unconscious, Itachi and Shishui's Anbu-rank equipment had lessened the concussive force of the explosion and the shrapnel of wood and scrap metal well. The masks they had worn while being in business had done great in protecting their faces, but Ibiki didn't have an Anbu level face mask, reinforced with steel and chakra imbued metals.

The man had probably been right in front of the explosion, he'd live, but those scars…they wouldn't heal that easily. Removing with the chakra scalpel the chunks of wood and some pieces of metal, maybe the hinges of a door? He began working on mending the important arteries and the delicate skull.

Naruto mentally cursed, as he reduced a swelling from the brain area of Ibiki: he had never dealt with brain injuries or concussions. He just hoped the man would wake up.

"Three incoming from Ame," Kozue whispered, not having de-summoned, remaining by his side.

Chameleons were extremely loyal, to the point that only their summoner's orders could actually have them budge from their sides…and there were idiots who preferred salamanders? Those arrogant pricks wouldn't deserve a moment of Naruto's time.

"Assist from here…they must be the extraction team for Aoi," with those words, Naruto stood up, turning his gaze to the three blurring figures in the far off distance, nearing but at the same time hiding.

Only three? Must have been a chuunin cell. At least, he hoped it was a chuunin cell.

However the mission was done and completed.

Technically, Naruto could take the sword, kill and burn the three knocked out corpses, and head towards Konoha, losing his pursuers along the way.

The Raijin hummed at his side, the rain fizzling near its handle, the thunderbolts in the far off distance wracking the ground where they struck, the noise filling the air, covered only slightly by the downpour's intensity.

"With the Raijin at his side, Tobirama was said to be invincible," Naruto muttered, "Well…time to scare them senseless…" as his hand went to the sword, the sword nearly cried in joy, the hum intensifying. Did it realize who was wielding her? Did it think it was Tobirama himself, returned from the grave? Was it instead reacting to the armor, to the blood of the Uzumaki line that was connected with that of the Senju? Did it react to the water affinity? Did it react to the Kyuubi?

"Well…the one and only Nidaime no Sairai will entertain the Amegakure shinobis, it seemed," Naruto chuckled, what a stupid way to die, wasn't it?

The three chuunins from Amegakure had been assigned a simple mission from Hanzo: get the Raijin no Ken from Aoi Rokusho, bringing the man to Ame to be inserted among the shinobi population. They hadn't expected the inn to fall down and be destroyed, which was the reason they had hurried over. They hadn't expected to see the water suddenly still down, and then disappear.

No, actually, they were surprised when they realized that it was still raining, but all the water was instead simply vaporizing.

Like somebody was destroying it with chakra.

"Hey guys!" the shinobi of Konoha in front of them was wearing a blue colored armor, and what seemed like the handle of a sword, without a blade, was held tightly with his right hand. His left hand, instead, was curled around the edge of the handle, held horizontally.

"Sorry but your plan failed!" Naruto cheerfully said, "I, Naruto Senju, Ghost Blade of Konoha, Nidaime no Sairai, have reclaimed my rightful blade…so why don't you all turn around and leave, before I damn kill you and butcher you like the frothing bastards you are?"

"_Kozue…are you sure this is what Ryuu says when he's angry? Because if you're whispering me wrong they're going to kill us...I'm not saying that!"_ Naruto mentally thought, as Kozue, behind him, was suggesting catchy phrases to be said.

The three shinobis from Amegakure sported re-breathers, light grey suits, and their hidden village's forehead protector, yet none moved back.

They did however stop on their tracks.

Whoever wielded the Raijin no Ken was said to be invincible, and undefeatable: the three behind him, however, seemed knocked out. They didn't need to speak, to have the plan relayed to one another: they needed to get one of them hostage.

A pity one of them suddenly found himself pulled against the Senju, like some sort of invisible force had touched him on the stomach.

"Activate," was the soft whispered of Naruto to the handle, who kind of seemed joyous to answer the call.

The next moment, the blade of searing electricity, condensed into form, sliced through the body of the Amegakure shinobi like it was butter, the head of the man rolling off nicely, both sides charred and burned to the point that no blood spilled out.

It was enough. The two Amegakure shinobi ran away, not even daring to turn back. Who cared about a stupid sword or about Hanzo's fury, when you had someone who could stop the rain of Amegakure without breaking a sweat? When that someone could force your own body to move close to you, and kill you?

They had heard him say his name, but, as they put more distance from the grey-haired boy, they promised themselves that they would look into the bingo book, to try and understand just who they had managed to escape from.

"Hey Kozue," Naruto whispered, "Can you stick around until Itachi wakes up?" It wasn't that Naruto didn't trust Ibiki, or Shishui…but he needed Itachi up and about to stop Shishui from killing Morino and viceversa.

Though he doubted Ibiki would go anywhere soon, one never knew.

"I can stay more if you like," Kozue replied politely. Whoever said chameleons sucked must have been on an acid trip. Chameleon's summons were as good as ramen, albeit on a different scale, obviously.

Only slug summons were more polite and loyal…but those were slugs. Chameleons were cooler.

"Thanks," Naruto whispered, before sliding down on a sitting position, sort of meditative one, "you're a friend," and with those words, he let his head fall down, the sword Raijin closing its blade and attaching itself to the plates of the boy's armor, as he drifted off to sleep.

*Mindscape*

"So I was right," Naruto mumbled, looking around the room, the mirror, the sleeping fox and the door, "I access this mindscape when my chakra is low or bordering the exhaustion." He carefully stepped toward the door, this time he probably had time to look through it.

His hand reached for the handle, and the next moment, he retracted it.

A bright flash, a quick glimpse of something, three pronged kunai flying, blood spilling, words that marked failure and death. Naruto looked at his hand like it was the principal culprit of the pain that was washing through his body in that moment.

The handle of the door briefly lit with a set of small symbols.

"That's a…memory seal?"

There was only one reason why Naruto knew what those symbols represented. Looking for a mean to remove the caged bird seal had him look on seals that affected the eyes. Seals that affected the eyes were actually the seals that hit the brain, thus, the first thing he had looked up had been ways to counter them.

This was a mind seal to block memories out.

Naruto carefully looked at the sleeping fox, and then at the door.

Slowly, he pushed chakra through his right hand, what little he still had, against the seal on the door's handle.

The seal shone brightly for a couple of seconds, before sparkling and finally dying out. With that, the door opened, and in the darkness of the other side, Naruto suddenly felt the desire to turn around and escape.

Hands grabbed him, however, and he was brought directly within the memory that had been removed.

"_Kaa-san? Otou-san?" the boy's question was left unanswered. The house seemed so empty without them. There was just the clicking of the clock, and nothing else. Jiji had been his babysitter till five minutes before, but then he had suddenly left, asking him to stay there and wait._

_He had been holding the sleeping form of his baby sister, but after a moment of puzzlement, had left her there, saying he'd be back in a second._

_Naruto was in his baby sister's room, looking at her from his spot, in a corner, an image book on his lap. The little girl was just there, sleeping peacefully, in her crib._

_Then she began to cry. She had probably woken up for some reason, maybe the pacifier had slipped, and she had moved, or maybe she had heard something...the moving of his colored crayon on the image? Naruto stood in silence, hoping the wail would soon die down, but instead it kept going._

_So, standing up, he moved closer to the crib. There, the girl had stared at him with red slit eyes, filled with anger. The next moment, he had been flung against the wall as the crib had ended up destroyed in wooden splinters. The toddler, not even a week's old, was literally held thanks to a red bubbling chakra of incredible malice and evil._

_He had winced for the pain, panicked, and tried to leave from the door. That's when he had been clawed, grabbed by the right leg, and once more flung, this time closer, to the toddler. It hurt. The red chakra boiled his skin like it was a strong acid, and yet at the same time his skin regenerated. The red chakra seemed to feel this, this sort of suction and parasitism, because it stopped touching him. Just as it retreated, his mother entered the room, scared, afraid, in shock. She hadn't seen the red chakra. She had just felt it. She had felt it, and she had seen the splinters of the crib around, as she hurried over to the toddler, not even a week old and already on the floor, albeit looking healthy, she hadn't asked, she didn't need to, since Naruto was babbling._

"_She was crying and I moved closer and…"_

"_Get out of here right now!" she had misunderstood? Maybe he hadn't explained properly, but it had been scary, and he too was crying, but the pitched squealing of the toddler came first, obviously._

"_But Kaa-san she…"_

"_OUT."_

Being thrown out by one's own mother was traumatic enough, as Naruto recoiled from the thought, looking around. The dark room seemed to hold fragmented and scattered memories. One, however, caught his attention more. There was Uncle Jiraiya's face in it.

"_Minato! Hold on Madara!" Jiraiya was holding him by the hand, quickly tracing an iron seal on his shoulder, while a shadow clone of his was holding Katsumi. Probably Kushina had been brought to a hospital, maybe she wasn't there to help out. His father, Minato, was holding off a masked stranger with a hole on one side of the mask._

"_Tobi is a good boy! I don't know any Madara Uchiha!" the masked man sing-sung, as he however managed to pass straight through the fourth Hokage, who Hiraishin'd out of harm's ways._

_The Kyuubi, up above with its red fur, was roaring its anger to the world, as his tail twirled in the air, crushing down on the village, and the nearby forest._

"_Now Naruto, listen to me," Jiraiya spoke quietly, looking at the boy, "I'm going to seal the Kyuubi in you, I know it's not a nice prospect, but with Gamabunta and Sensei's Giant Ape summon we can hold it down long enough for the sealing to take place…the iron seal works on an off and on prospect, my boy, so be careful...got it?"_

"_H-Hai uncle," Naruto whispered, shivering and tears running down his eyes, he didn't like this one bit, but did he have a choice? No, he didn't._

"_Don't worry, when this is over, we'll have to get some celebratory ramen and hail you as a hero for what you're doing…never forget it: you're the Hero who jailed the Kyuubi…" and with those words, Jiraiya carried him straight on top of Gamabunta._

"_Let's just hope the iron seal is enough…" Jiraiya's whisper dreaded within Naruto's soul, and as pain washed into him from his shoulder, the Kyuubi, held down, roared, clawing to find a way out._

"_Sensei! Keep him pinned! We're nearly there!" at the Toad's Hermit words, a reply came from atop Kong, the ape summon's boss of Hiruzen._

"_Where's Orochimaru!?" a snake, in that moment, appeared from the side, twirling itself around the Kyuubi._

"_Sorry I'm late sensei! I got here fast enough to help you though…not like toad boy could do anything about it."_

"_Oro-chan, why don't you say that to my face tomorrow!? Huh!?"_

"_Stop your bickering you…" and that was all Naruto heard, before the pain and the darkness clawed him to oblivion. _

Naruto's eyes were jolted wide open when a hand touched his left shoulder. Faster than he could stop himself, the hand was grabbed by his left, while his right moved in a sweeping motion on the attacker. Seconds later he had a kunai at Itachi's throat, who had decided to go with the flow and not stop Naruto from his move.

"Naruto-kun," Itachi barely whispered.

"I…Itachi…so…sorry," Naruto's face was covered in sweat, his eyes looked such a pale blue that it seemed, more than cerulean, ice blue. The grey-haired boy sat down once more, letting his kunai back in his holster, before letting his hands go over his hair, and his face, his breath ragged.

"You found Idate's body?" Itachi queried worriedly, because he couldn't understand why Naruto seemed so puzzled, so shocked, and so…out of the world, in that moment.

"No…I…I need time, sorry…Kozue…you can de-summon," Naruto whispered back as a reply, as a cloud of smoke suddenly erupted from near them, the sign that the chameleon *had* dispersed.

Naruto tried to concentrate back on those memories, but they were now fuzzy, at best. He tried to prod his brain for the seal, only to be forced to stop, for the nearly complete lack of chakra in his system.

"How is Ibiki?" Itachi asked once more, there was no need to ask where Aoi was: his mangled body stood not too far from them, down on the ground, and the Raijin no Ken was at Naruto's side, meaning he had killed the traitor and taken back the sword.

"He'll survive, but we'll need a stretcher. Shishui is fine too, you both got covered by Ibiki's body probably," Naruto sighed, "I don't think he's going to like it…he's bald now."

Itachi shook his head slowly, before querying.

"Shouldn't we put some clothes on them? The rain…" and that's when he realized there was no rain falling anymore. It had stopped.

"It stopped raining two minutes ago, Itachi," Naruto whispered, "even the sky knows not to push his luck with me," he added with a small chuckle, "damn…I'm going to kill him."

"Kill…who?" Itachi's question stung in the air for a brief moment, before the grey-haired boy turned to the raven-haired Uchiha to answer.

"Uchiha Madara," at those words, Itachi's eyes bulged slightly in shock. It wasn't because of the name.

No, the heir of the Uchiha clan was shocked…because Naruto had lied to him, but he had been dead serious on killing someone.

*Konoha Days later*

"And then I scared off the three Amegakure shinobis who had come over to finish us off, probably the extraction group for Aoi," Naruto spoke quietly, finishing his report. His gaze, cold and calculative, was something eerily uneasy to see. The temperature in the room was nearly below freezing, albeit no words of hate or anger seemed to have been spoken. Itachi, right next to Shishui, the two lightly wounded and thus able to still make the report to the Hokage, flinched at Naruto's words. There was something angry in it, but it still appeared polite. The group had returned to Konoha in dreaded silence, as fast as they could possibly go in order to deliver Ibiki to the hospital's treatment, Naruto having done his best to keep him stable. Now, delivering their reports on what had happened on the mission, the Senju heir had just finished giving his own.

"I see…" Minato took a small breath, he never felt this tense before, and he had no idea why, "Well, the Raijin no Ken is an heirloom of the Senju clan. At the presence of witnesses, I hereby grant it back to its rightful owners…you are thus dismissed," and then, just as Itachi and Shishui turned to leave, not willing to risk to Shunshin out of there, Naruto was already at the door, pulling it open and getting out of there, like he couldn't wait.

The grey haired boy was already out of their sights, by the time the two got to the hallway just outside the office. Shishui's perplexed gaze, turned to Itachi, made the Uchiha heir wince slightly, before replying.

"I think he has something on his mind," Itachi spoke quietly, "He'll explain, eventually."

The Anbu Uchiha clearly hoped that was the case. He knew that, if something was actually bothering the grey-haired boy, it would need to be something extremely important…and potentially dangerous.

Naruto, on the other hand, was in a buzzing cacophony of thoughts, that finally forced him to reach the Nidaime's library in the Senju compound, to sit down on a green grass colored carpet, and, in the silence of the wide hall, surrounded by books of various types and nature, with the giant windows closed, he let out a single, strong and enormous scream.

Thank Kami that area was sound proof.

Calming himself down, he finally opened his eyes again, grabbing a pencil and a piece of paper, to write down on it.

"So…" Naruto mumbled, "Katsumi is the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. I am too. But the Kyuubi was red, mine is blue. I have less chakra than normal, higher control…If I remove the seal I lose chakra, it saps it away from me…I'm stronger without using the Kyuubi…Uncle Jiraiya knew…why didn't he tell me?"

Of all the scribbled notes on the piece of paper, a couple of them were immediately circled.

"Weak, blue. Strong is thus the red one? The strong one is in Katsumi, who was kept hidden…I got the weak one…They discarded me because I was the weaker one of the two?" The question moved quietly through the air in the library.

"So I was the second choice," he muttered, "The second best, the second weapon, the second…" as his right fist impacted on the ground, he couldn't help but yell at the top of his lungs, "I will show them who's the second one! I will prove them that I am second to no one! I…" and that was when something, underneath the green carpet that held Naruto on top, clicked.

A seal, a space-time manipulation seal, activated.

Then, within two seconds, the blue armor that he still donned hummed in reply, the Raijin no ken activated, letting the flow of electricity power up the complex and defensive matrix, and, within that mere couple of seconds, Naruto was hurled away from the library.

It was to be said, Naruto's luck was second to none.

The key was the words, the armor and the sword.

Without any of them, a puddle of grey goo would have been all that was left of the grey-haired boy.

Instead, be it luck, fate or circumstance, Naruto Senju found himself brought into a dimly lit cavern, which however seemed to have been professionally dug out as a laboratory of sorts.

"_I am second to no-one._" The words, inscribed on the stone pedestal in front of the seal that had spawned Naruto, stood etched. Shadows eerily danced around the flickering of the candles that gave off a pale blue hue.

The circular area in which he was in seemed to expand through a long tunnel, neatly dug and smoothed, like a river had passed through it to remove all edginess from it.

The tunnel ended into a wider area, surrounded by cobwebs, dust, fuinjutsu seals written on mossy scrolls, utensils, inks and brushes, but also…corpses.

Old corpses, already nothing more than skeletons, and, most importantly, a book with a black cover, placed at the center of the room.

Naruto carefully moved closer to it, while seemingly at a loss of words.

Was this a secret area beneath the Senju compound? Did it belong to the second Hokage? Well, it did, didn't it? He had been in the private library of the second, when it had happened. He had no other explanation for it…but still, he questioned the second.

The second was known for his Fuinjutsu, since he was a master in space and time manipulation, meaning he used seals. He was a master in Suiton and he was a master in Genjutsu, meaning he held a terrific amount of chakra control.

Considering the phrase etched on the stone pedestal, it also appeared he had had issues with Hashirama.

"He too didn't want to come in second, did he?" Naruto whispered, as his hand gently touched the cover of the black book, before slowly opening it up, letting the dust settle once more, before starting to read.

_Entry number one._

_Hashirama, for all his good being, is a simple minded fool._

_It's not that I hate him, mind you, but I really can't envision how he can manage to run a village without using something of a private guard, or enforcing one's own will. He made peace with the Uchiha, and that was fine, he founded the village, and that was fine. Still, he could have put some more thought on it! Thank kami I've got some brains. Sure, he has that Mokuton technique of his, good lord he can control the bijuus too, but still, he needs brains! Brains win more things than anything else!_

_That is why, while he is busy handing over bijuus to the right and to the left for peace, I'm here, in the darkness, preparing for war._

_Entry number two_

_To defeat an enemy, one must first think of what the enemy fears. My skill in Genjutsus taught me that if the enemy fears something, then it can be used to kill him far more easily. Take for example Izuna Madara: good boy, loyal, but goes all mushy when someone mentions how his brother's sight is failing. I swear, he'd be on the point of gouging his own eyes out and give them over to his brother one day. Were it to happen to Hashirama, I'd kick him in the balls for being so damn stupid in using a Doujutsu for said weakness, and then I'd find a way to heal his bad eyesight…but I certainly wouldn't gouge my eyes out. There is a limit to idiotic behavior!_

_Getting back on track, I know Madara's sight is deteriorating because he keeps abusing the Mangekyou sharingan, but the blasted fool won't tell how he got it. Obviously he just wants to keep it as a secret of the clan, but the fact that his oh-so precious childhood friend has gone missing tells me a lot more…but I won't tell this to Hashirama, not a chance in hell._

_Damn, I always get sidetracked: what I want to say is this, you need to know how to scare the wits out of your enemy, and for eye-users…it's when they no longer can use their eyes. This is the technique to destroy and annihilate Doujutsu users, the technique I came up with to battle and destroy, to fight. The Bringer of Darkness technique:_ _Kokuangyo no Jutsu_.

Naruto looked around, before sighing. He'd have to clean up the mess to find that scroll, so, in the meantime, he kept reading.

_Entry number three_

_Ninjas are beings of the shadows. They are beings that can use chakra to enhance their skills, but that doesn't matter. One needs Mind first, then Technique, and finally Body._

_You can be as strong as a pack mule or as an ogre, but if you're not smart, you will fall. _

_You can be smart and witty, and possess great strength, but if you lack the finesse, you will fall._

_You can be smart, and know everything, but if you won't be fast enough, you will fall._

_Quick thinking, strong brains, fast and tough body, with these three under control, you cannot fall._

_None can be acquired without hard work, I'm not that arrogant or foolish. That is why I have prepared in this laboratory everything I need to carry on my grand scheme: acquire knowledge from the dead._

Another moment to blink, and look around, did the second Hokage really think he could talk with the dead? The dead were dead! You couldn't talk with them, or speak to them…or anything else!

Naruto skipped through the entries, until another one caught his attention.

_Entry number four-hundred and fifty-five._

_Except me becoming Hokage, (Hurray! I can now legally grab corpses from the cemetery for study reasons) I also got myself a nice breakthrough. I have been trying it wrong all this time: jutsus won't cut it. I can't go around doing hand-signs till the day after tomorrow, it just isn't practical. I need sealing, seals and summoning. Mostly, however, I need ink and Fuinjutsu. I could ask Mito-san, when she gets out of her widow clothes, to teach me some more keen points. But first, let me write down how good it feels to be Hokage. The people look at you, and say *He's the Hokage!* he's number one in the village!  
And then they compare you._

_They will compare you, always, to those who came before. Guess who came before me? Yeah, my brother. But I'm not his sloppy second, and Konoha will not descend into stagnation. I will guide it to greatness: I will have the people acknowledge me as the greatest one, the best, and the number one. For I am Tobirama Senju, not "The young brother of Hashirama"! Take that in your face, Hashirama! Damn you and your damn stupid idea of dying of a stroke! Damn you…_

"Well…" Naruto kind of felt bad, in that moment. He had, in his ire, thought to payback every single villager that had wronged him, passing them through with the Raijin no Ken, the sword that made the wielder invincible…yet here was Tobirama, who was the brother of Hashirama, who had lived in the shadow of the first Hokage since birth, and who was writing and claiming how he'd do great things to become better.

Constructive things, not destructive ones...Naruto felt ashamed, that anger had clouded his judgment, Tobirama thought about making the village better, even as he was clearly hiding both his ire at being compared, and his grief at losing his brother…at least, he hoped that was the case.

_Entry number four-hundred and fifty-six_

_The advisors are thinking I'm a monster already. What? I just so casually had five-hundred twenty-six laws prepared, two-hundred ninety nine changes to the already existing ones and a set of protocols to become common all already set and ready to be approved…by me. They thought I did everything in a single day. Most certainly not…but who am I to tell them that? On a second note, when paperwork will start to become a problem, I'll probably use a Kage Bunshin or something. Can't always stay in the office, I prefer my library for quiet work, or the hidden waterfall._

_On another note, just yesterday I make a breakthrough, and today I'm stuck again. There's just no way to sign a contract with the dead. How do you do one? You whistle to the Shinigami? You go all "Hey boy, come here! Come on, I've got a bone for you!?"_

Naruto chuckled, shaking his head, the second Hokage had a sense of humor…if a bit dark.

There were far more entries, in the journal, but now that he had calmed down, a great deal, he decided to look around, and leave the reading for later on.

"He was a great man, wasn't he?" Naruto muttered, to no-one in particular, as he moved through the room, so perfectly smooth were the walls that he truly was starting to think someone had worked on them tirelessly.

He didn't expect for his questions to receive an answer, and thus wasn't surprised when he didn't. What he did find however stopped him on his tracks, for beyond a hole, neatly carved in the wall of the cavern, stood another area, this one with a waterfall, and what looked like a set of stone weights to the side.

"I knew he was old…but really, stone weights?" Naruto chuckled as he moved closer. Well, stone didn't age that much, right?

He carefully took another step, letting the rumble of the water finally come into his hearing. It was nearly deafening, forcing him to wince and take a step backwards.

"Sound proof seals? That would explain…" Naruto whispered, before turning back on his tracks, and reaching the decomposed bodies on the laboratory's tables. Moving closer, indeed, the stench was overpowering to the point of forcing him backwards, holding his nose.

However the rest of the room was odorless.

"Odor proof seals! These are pure genius! Let me tell you, you were a genius Tobirama-san!" especially because he now had two unknown corpses to dispose of, in some way.

Within seconds, Naruto came to the second most important problem of the day: how to get out of there.

"Where there's an entry there's an exit, right?" Naruto mumbled, as he moved straight back to the entrance. Where the stone pedestal was, just to find that, on the other side of it, another sentence had been etched.

_Shin-Gi-Tai_

"Mind, Technique, Body?" true to the words, Naruto felt himself being hurled once more through the world, ending up straight on his feet, on top of the green colored carpet, that briefly shone to reveal the ink traces beneath it, before returning to its normal light.

As the boy's gaze went to the library, and to the picture of Tobirama, that adorned the wall, clad in his blue armor with the Raijin at his side, Naruto couldn't help but feel that the painted eyes of the second Hokage were looking at him, with pride.

"You did great things in the light, but kept terrible secrets in the darkness…" Naruto whispered, "Neither Kami or Yami…but walking straight through them both…" he added, "Fine, you got yourself a deal, Nidaime: I'm helping Konoha…but the Yondaime is going down."

Minato didn't know why he shivered, but he had the thought that something, something bad, was looming at the horizon.

*Two days later*

Leave was finally over, and Naruto was back in class.

Naruto, with his smiling, goofy grin, entered the classroom and frowned.

Never mind the twenty-three dodged paintballs, the three chalk erasers deflected or the water bucket redirected away from him…just what had happened to the class during his absence?

"Why are the desks pink?" he asked, hesitantly, as the students all scampered back to their seats.

"Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei's lessons were boring!" a voice rang in the classroom, coming from the red-haired girl known as Katsumi.

"Yeah Aniki! We had to do something exciting, you know!?" Kiba backed her up.

"So…" Naruto massaged his temples, looking behind him, at the nervous smiling Iruka, "You had me enter first because of this?"

"Well…Chuunin sensei's assistants go first, to disengage all traps," Iruka replied, with a small nod.

Naruto sighed, shaking his head slightly, before turning to face the class in front of him.

"Are there any other traps, around here?" As the students fidgeted, the grey-haired Chuunin couldn't help but sigh, before moving his hand towards the inner fold of his jacket. He was wearing, since he was in school, and not on a mission, his casual wear, consisting of the Chuunin uniform, dyed blue, and a pair of dark blue trousers. He did, however, also wear shades on his face, to cover his eyes.

From within his jacket's folds, he extracted a bottle of water.

Five seconds later, the pink paint had been removed by a mini tsunami that had gently swiped the area, avoiding the six years old like it had sentience, and then, the now bright pink mass of water had reentered the bottle, which Naruto had closed.

"Now, let's start the lesson," with that, Naruto moved to his seat, only to stop, sigh, and look straight ahead, his eyes accusing.

"Shikamaru…" he growled slightly, forcing the Nara to actually wake up with a slight perplexity.

"Hai…sensei? You're back? Oh damn," Shikamaru groaned, "Well…here's the location of the traps," handing over a piece of paper, Kiba couldn't help but scowl.

"Shikamaru! You traitor!"

"Mutt-boy shut up!" Ino replied, "Shikamaru-kun did the right thing: sensei can easily disarm all the traps there are in class."

"Yes…but it would take me the entire day…really, Shikamaru, stop being an evil mastermind, would you?" Naruto sighed, turning to Iruka who had an apologetic look on his face.

"Well, how about doing Taijutsu practice outside, while I clean the classroom?" Naruto suggested, as his elder chuunin-sensei shook his head.

"No need, if you can calm them down this much, I'll be the one doing the cleaning: bring them out and have them train to their heart's content," with a nod, the Senju handed over to Iruka the map with the trap's location, and then gestured for the kids to follow him outside.

Out in the training grounds of the academy, nothing more than a fenced area with a couple of trees and a white round ring, Naruto crossed his arms, standing in wait.

"Well…Taijutsu practice for the first years is basically running around and playing…"

"Aw…come on Aniki!" Kiba whined, pitifully trying to hang from Naruto's right arm, "Teach us some strong one hit killing technique!"

"No! Some flashy jutsu!" At that moment, Naruto realized the voice that had spoken didn't belong to Katsumi, who still had the same glint and the same enthusiasm like she had been the one to speak, but from an equally eye sparkling six year old girl with bright pink hair and green eyes, who was eying him.

"Flashy jutsus?" he queried, as everyone suddenly surrounded him, ears out and eyes fixed.

"Not a chance," with that, the kids face-planted themselves on the ground, as Naruto crossed his arms in an X shaped form.

"Aww why not!?" the chorus ran through the kids, until the smirking Sasuke replied.

"I don't need them anyway: I'm going to learn the Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu from my Oniisan soon enough!" as the raven haired Uchiha exclaimed that, Naruto sighed, before letting his right hand pass through his hair, and replying to the mass of sad and grieving children.

"You do not possess the necessary chakra reserves, or control, to actually use a jutsu. The first years are a concentration of Taijutsu, History and theoretical aspects. The final years have more control on Ninjutsu and basic Genjutsu dispelling," as Naruto pointed that out, the kid's pouts became more evident.

"But sensei, you graduated at seven! You had to use jutsus right?" Ino asked, her blue eyes looking with…adoration, at the grey-haired boy.

"Kawarimi, Bunshin and Henge are basic jutsus, and while my reserves were pitiful, my control was excellent…consider this a lesson on chakra usage," Naruto replied, as he gestured for the kids to sit down, a thing they actually did, "The requirement to cast a jutsu are three: Chakra reserve adequate, Chakra control Adequate and finally Correct usage of Hand Signs," with every requirement, Naruto raised a single finger.

"Each of them is, however, unnecessary: you may use more chakra and require more chakra control to supplement the lack of a specific hand sign, thus shortening the jutsu's time of usage, or if you cut down on chakra control, you may be required to use more hand signs and expend more chakra...basically cutting down on one will require you to increase the difficulty on the other two." As he explained, he then pointed at the water bottle with the pink liquid within.

"As you may have notice earlier, the water in this bottle wouldn't have, normally, been able to swipe out an entire classroom of pink paint. I however laced it with chakra, increasing its density, its mass and its quantity, and I directed it with enough chakra control to do the job. Since my chakra control is extremely good, the toll on my chakra reserves was minimum," as soon as he finished speaking, there were nods and murmurs.

Until a hand was raised from the crowd, and as Naruto waited for the question, the hand slowly got down, and the girl spoke.

"Sensei, my chakra reserves are on a chuunin-level rank, can I learn jutsus then?" Katsumi's question, and statement, caught many by surprise.

"Even if you could, Katsumi-chan, there remains the problem of control and hand signs. Though nothing prohibits you from trying, you should concentrate on Taijutsu and history…there's a test coming up in a week, after all," at those words, to change subject of the argument, the class began pouting and exclaiming loudly the unfairness of such a thing.

"Naru-chan!" a voice, a female one, from outside the fence that marked the village's road from the academy's ground, called to the grey-haired boy, who turned around, obviously followed by his students' curious gazes, to stare at Anko.

Anko was sporting a wide grin, and held a box of royal size dangos in her hand.

"Let me guess…time to pay the bill?" Naruto groaned: he'd have to pass by the sweat shop later on.

"Yup!" From outside the fence, Anko couldn't help but chuckle, it was funny seeing how Naruto seemed a sort of mother duckling, with the kids behind him looking at his every move.

"I'll go this afternoon then, you didn't go over the border right?" the boy moved closer to the trench coat wearing woman, who held a dango stick skewer in her mouth.

"Nah, I was a really good girl…and…" Anko's voice turned a bit more somber, as her hazel eyes settled on the boy, "I suppose…I should say thanks for saving old baldy."

"He's just three years older than you Anko-chan, you should cut it down with the *old* stuff," Naruto replied, "How is he?" he asked then, a bit worried in his tone.

"Oh he's fine: you know him, he doesn't know wherever to be angry at himself or not, wherever to be angry at Itachi or not, and so on…he really cared for his brother, you know?" Anko replied, her gaze softening.

"Well, good thing he has a girlfriend like you to cheer him up," the Senju chuckled back, thinking about what Ibiki's first words had been, when he had woken up.

"Yeah…anyway, pity I missed on that mission: it would have been nice to see you scaring off the Amegakure's shinobis," she replied, before turning around, ready to leave, "Well, anyway, see ya around!"

"Bye Anko-chan," as Naruto turned around, he was suddenly confronted by a nice group of stares, especially from the females of his fan club.

"No, we are not in a relationship: she is my teammate, and she is already an item with Ibiki Morino, Jounin, you know the scary guy with scars that came to take me to the Hokage's office that day…" he didn't even know why he was explaining, but he suddenly was glad the tension in the air dispersed.

Six years old were scary when in group.

Letting his back rest against one of the trees of the academy, he gave permission to play to the kids, letting them run amok the training ground, but keeping an eye out to avoid them harming themselves.

Would peaceful days like these one last? He just hoped it would.

*Two years later*

The sun was hidden behind a wall of thick white clouds that day, above Konoha. The light dulled out by the meek presence of the sun every now and then, when it found a hole in the mat of clouds that kept it hidden, but except for that, it was a normal autumn day.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, his murderous intentions clear, as he once more grabbed Kiba's leg, preventing it from attacking him in the spot no male wishes to be hit.

"Kiba, while I understand the play dirty, if you don't stop I'm going to douse you in water like a dog to make you learn your lesson," the now thirteen years old Chuunin-sensei, with his grey hair, was looking at the eight year old Inuzuka with a bit of exasperation.

Since his usage of the kick between the legs to become a Genin at age seven, with a broken leg, many wished to imitate him. It wasn't funny when, for once, you were the one who had to protect your own masculinity from someone else's foot.

"But Aniki! This is how you defeat a chuunin right!?" the knuckle-hit on the boy's head silenced the Inuzuka, as the white dog in his jacket barked in amusement.

"Akamaru is smarter than you: at least he doesn't spout nonsense," Naruto replied, ruffling the boy's head, "Now off you go, next one in the ring now!"

The class was outside, doing Taijutsu training. The children would spar in pairs until one would get called to fight either Iruka or Naruto, while the other would fight the remaining chuunin-sensei. Needless to say that, in two years' time, the number of masculinity casualty rates had increased exponentially.

Katsumi, wearing a pair of orange colored gym trousers and an orange blouse, due to the cold autumn period, was already entering the ring.

"I'm taking you down one day sensei 'ttebayo!" she exclaimed, charging at him amateurishly, her right fist ready behind her head, to punch Naruto.

Five seconds later, Naruto had sidestepped, grabbing her by the right wrist, and had brought her on the ground in a submission hold, by keeping her right arm behind her back.

"Never, ever, let your intentions be known by the enemy. Especially attacking in that sloppy way," the boy muttered, letting the girl go, who stood back up with a deep frown.

"Did I hurt you?" even though he asked carefully, and politely, Katsumi couldn't help but snap back at him.

"No, you didn't!" yet she was hurt, and she wanted to ask him. Ask him why in the following two years not once he had taken up an offer to come over to speak with her parents, to try and mend the situation. She knew something was wrong, something that was consuming both her parents and her brother…but she couldn't do a thing, if they didn't say it out loud.

It had happened somewhere after recovering the Raijin no Ken that much Katsumi was sure about. The boy had closed up, deftly and quickly putting up a fake front of smiles while in truth keeping his distances from her. Every time she had a question, Iruka usually answered first. Every time she wanted to spar with him, she had to be the one to initiate the spar, and even then it ended in seconds, while it took minutes with the other students.

When her parents came to hear of how well she had been going in school, Naruto wasn't there. When he was, he didn't give more than a small bow to her father, the Hokage, before leaving.

Even when taking missions, and leaving the academy, he always did so during the periods the Hokage wasn't present in the office, since he knew Iruka had part-time job in helping assigning the missions. By now his Bingo book had been filled with assassination missions successfully completed, and, while refusing every offer of entering Anbu, he was on his way for Jounin rank.

Only three more years, and by the time he was sixteen, Naruto would be a Jounin, probably.

"Ohy, Gaki!" Anko's exclamation from beyond the fence made Naruto turn around, while his right hand blocked Sasuke's left jab. The Uchiha didn't even wait for him to give the starting signal, and Naruto certainly wasn't going to fault him for attacking when he could.

"Yes Anko-chan?" Naruto asked back, grabbing Itachi's brother by the waist, and flinging him in the air, above him.

"Stop tossing Gakis around and come over here, I need to speak to you about something," she muttered in a conspiring tone.

"Just a minute, Sasuke-chan here doesn't like to lose," Naruto replied, as the Uchiha's scowl intensified, throwing himself at his chuunin-sensei, only to receive a light kick in the stomach.

Enough to stop him, and have Naruto disappear in a twirling of leaves, to reappear behind the raven-haired boy, ruffling his hair.

"Once you let anger cloud your judgment, Sasuke-kun, you lose the battle," with those final words he tapped once on the boy's head, before moving closer to the fence, while ignoring the squeals of "He's so cool!" coming from the girls in his class…and from those looking at him from the school's windows.

"Stop babying me!" the younger Uchiha exclaimed, trying to attack him from the back, only for Naruto to turn around and chuckle.

"Hey Itachi! Come on down!" that stopped Sasuke on his tracks, frantically looking around.

"Got you," Naruto laughed once more, before disappearing from the training ground to appear outside the fence.

"Well Anko-chan, what's the big news? Ibiki gathered the courage to give you a ring?" at that question, the elder Kunoichi narrowed her eyes, before shaking her head.

"I'm starting to think he's hiding something, you know…" she replied, "anyway, that's not the reason I'm here: birthday party, we have to do one."

"Birthday party?" Naruto replied, perplexed, "Why *we have*?"

"Because you remember what happened when I turned eighteen?" at that notion, the Senju couldn't help but whistle innocently.

"I knew you knew," the Kunoichi hissed, narrowing her gaze on the boy, "So you were a part of it, huh? Itachi claiming he knew nothing was a sham right?"

"Well…we all just so casually had missions except Ibiki-san, why are you seeing something else in it?" Naruto's reply came with angelic ease, his eyes, hidden behind the shades, would have probably blinked in fake innocence.

"You know what…I'm too nice to pull a T&I standard procedure on your sorry person," Anko replied, an evil smirk on her face, albeit clearly faked, "Anyway, what says you grab that sorry excuse of a teammate we both shared and convince him to be punctual, on the seventeen of October?"

"Why the seventeen?" Naruto asked back, perplexed.

"It's the average between your birthday and mine: I won't be here the twenty-fourth, so I thought *Why not?*" as she pointed that out, the grey-haired boy nodded.

"I understand, I'll speak with Kaa-san then, we could use the Senju's compound garden…there's a nice area with flowers and benches…" a thought crossed Naruto's mind, "I could convince Iruka-sensei to have a class excursion into the Senju compound, maybe fix up something of historical or stuff…"

"Damn, leave it to the Nidaime no Sairai to be pro-minors…no alcohol then?" she replied with a chuckle.

"Alcohol is bad, Anko-chan…I thought Ibiki had convinced you to stop it," Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Well…what can I say…what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?" at the rhetoric reply, the grey-haired boy couldn't help but sigh, shaking his head.

"Naruto-san!" Iruka called from behind the fence, "Taijutsu spar is about to end and…" the loud ouch was enough to warrant Naruto's gaze to turn…well, another casualty.

"I spawned monsters," was all that the boy muttered, as he waved goodbye to Anko before returning to his class, "We'll speak later Anko-chan!"

With that, the purple haired kunoichi turned and left, dashing through the roofs to reach her destination: the Hokage's office.

She knocked slightly, before entering after receiving permission. At her entrance, the Hokage dismissed his guards, putting on the privacy seals.

"So, is he involved?" the question received with a shake of the Kunoichi's head, "Good then…we can proceed with the plan."

"Hokage-sama, is Itachi sure of it? I mean, it's his own father and I know he wouldn't be…" as Anko pointed that out, Minato's teeth gritted.

"I trusted Fugaku to return to his sanity…but instead he chose to keep going: there is no other choice, Mitarashi-san. When the Uchiha conspirators will meet on the seventeen of October, the Anbu will arrest them for treason…execution will most likely be the council's answer," the Hokage sighed, dropping his hat on the desk.

"Won't those who remain actually hate Konoha for it?" Anko queried, perplexed. It wasn't every day that one ended up hearing about how a clan would end up being attacked, captured and brought to be executed for treason...accused by the clan's heir.

"Mitarashi Anko," Minato's voice turned darker and grimmer, "on the seventeen of October you are to keep a close proximity to your seduction target…should any problem arise with him, you are to follow the plan…understood?" at that, the Kunoichi's knuckles clenched, till they became slightly white.

"Hokage-sama…please, just tell me what Itachi has in mind…" she whispered.

The Hokage looked at the woman for a brief moment, before muttering back, in a sort of soothing tone that sounded so wrong for that moment.

"The Uchiha's conspirators will be executed if found guilty, but not a word of it will escape to the public…you are sworn to silence, like Morino-san and the Anbus who will partake in the operation…Itachi Uchiha will undergo a deep cover SS-rank mission following the massacre of the Uchiha clan, entering a S-rank missing nin organization known as *Akatsuki* whose objectives are unknown...but seem tied to the disappearance of Bijuus all around the elemental countries," Minato replied, "Naruto is *not* to be given leave from the village. Do anything in your power to stop him from leaving to follow Itachi Uchiha, if it means following the original plan, then do so. You are first and foremost a Kunoichi of the leave…just as Itachi will sacrifice his own for the village, so you too are expected the same thing."

"Yeah," Anko chuckled grimly, "I should be the lucky one right? He doesn't get to toy with someone's feelings and he doesn't even actually dirty his hands…he just plays make-believe…if he ever finds out…" the last sentence was murmured.

"He will, obviously," Minato replied, slightly nodding, "I have no doubts he will…but just like you and Itachi will sacrifice yourself for the leaf and the village, so too I will become the sole focus of his anger, his rage, his hatred…the moment he becomes Hokage will probably be the moment I die…but for the good of the village, these things must be done." His tone returned harsh and stern, as Anko nodded slightly.

"I take it Morino-san has been…taken care of?" at the question from the Hokage, Anko couldn't help but nod, a sad smirk on her face.

"It seems I can play match maker pretty well… he's going to admit he's been cheating on me eventually…or I can call him out in the open when I want…and he has the same cards, albeit mine are lies…so we'll leave it at that, probably," the voice was trembling, but quickly recomposed itself.

"Is there anything else you need, Hokage-sama?"

"No Mitarashi-san…you are free to leave," and with those words, Anko nodded and left, leaving the Hokage alone in his office.

"Danzo…are you prepared?" those words came down like bricks on the Hokage's conscience, as the bandaged Yami of shinobis appeared from the side of the room.

"Root is ready and fully deployable on a moment's notice, Hokage-sama…" at those words, Minato slightly nodded.

"Are…are the eyes going to be ready?" he asked again, hesitantly.

"There will be no problems: an Uchiha is one month pregnant…obviously we must prepare for the worst case scenario…" Danzo replied, his only visible eye moving slightly to the side, while his hand clenched his walking stick.

"I'm feeling sick at what my mind came up with…did it ever happen to you too?" Minato asked once more, his gaze, blue, never faltering from looking at the elder man that stood in front of him.

"Emotions are a weakness…we needed insurances, we will have insurances…Itachi's crush will play a good factor in it…and I have taken into account possible resistances too," at that reply, Minato simply nodded.

"In this game where everyone uses everyone…I just hope we keep being above everyone else for a long while…are we sure He is going to be involved?" Minato asked.

"Itachi has successfully contacted him, as we suspected he actually preferred the destruction of the Uchiha clan rather than the destruction of Konoha, by the time Itachi will move with Madara, the Anbu will have cleaned up the traitors still in the compound…but we are working on the clock: Itachi must be the first, then he must leave to get Madara, while the Anbu must strike the remaining ones and leave before the Root begins, and the Root must leave before Itachi and Madara arrives…this is a high-level gamble…"

"Yes…but if it succeeds, Jiraiya-sensei will be able to go near Itachi and blame you for the un-appropriate use of Root personnel…and with that, Itachi will remain loyal, all to protect Sasuke, his mother…and his so called secret girlfriend," the Hokage's words lingered in the air, before he added, carefully choosing the correct words, "We need that extra safety net…but how can I be sure of your loyalty?" at the question asked by the fourth Hokage, Danzo simply smiled, before replying.

"That's the risk of the job, Hokage-sama…but as long as the village comes first, you will have nothing to fear from me," and with those words, Danzo disappeared, leaving the Yondaime Hokage alone in his office, the knuckles of the blond Minato blanking from the clenching…he couldn't help but feel that, deep down, this wasn't going to end well…but he was ready. For the village, for his family, for their future…he would gladly take the mantle of the monster.

*Seventeen of October*

The Senju garden, in the cool afternoon shade, was a perfect spot. The heat was guaranteed by a bonfire that had been lit with the help of Itachi's Katon use, and on which Teuchi was busy with a giant pot of ramen, which also served as the main buffet...followed by a dango stall nearby. Ibiki was present, albeit in a more somber way, and even though he had arrived together with Anko, both had gone their separate ways moment later.

Naruto was happily pointing to various historical achievements done by Tobirama Senju, while Iruka was involved in an embarrassing conversation with Tsunade, who was already a bit drunk. Obviously the sannin wasn't drunk, but she was pressing, just so casually, on how her Naru-chan was doing…albeit she had spiked her own drink with sake, but that was another story.

For the occasion, instead of dressing elegant, everyone opted to come dressed in shinobi gears, since the academy students were on a *learning trip*. Being the afternoon, however, soon Neji arrived too, relieved from his academy hours, and for once, he actually brought two other persons with him.

"Sensei!" Neji, now nine years old, strolled forward with confidence, being followed by a girl wearing a Chinese blue dress, with two buns on her head, and a guy with a brown shirt and dark brown trousers, a pair of thick eyebrows being the characteristic trademark of his face.

"Neji-kun, I'm glad you could make it," Naruto replied, "I'd hug you but then I'd have to be careful not to crush you," he added with a chuckle, seeing how his armor was made of metal plates.

"Sensei, these are my friends: Tenten-chan and Lee-kun," as Neji pointed at both of them, Naruto extended his hand to both of them.

"It's a pleasure to meet Neji's friends, please, help yourself to anything you like…" as he pointed to the buffet, he received a light squeal from the girl, Tenten.

"Is that the Raijin no Ken? Can I hold it? Pretty please? I'm a huge weapon fan! I want to become a great weapon expert! I really, really, really loved how you used weapons to keep that Kumo ninja away from you, it was…" as Tenten went on a motor-mouthed explanation of why he was so cool, Naruto sighed, turning to Lee…who was sparkling at the sight of the stone-weights. Naruto had brought them outside of the cavern without saying a word. Claiming he had found them in a storage, somewhere in the compound.

"You can try them," those four words were all Lee needed to dash off to try and lift them.

"I'm sorry sensei…" Neji lip-spoke, as Naruto simply shrugged, ruffling the boy's hair.

"I'm sorry Tenten-chan, but I can't let you touch the sword…she has a nasty bite," at the reply, Tenten's face fell into a bit of brooding, "But," Naruto said, "If you stick around, I'll activate it later on, help yourself to the buffet…" and the girl was gone with a squeal.

"Sensei: Stop it," Neji pointed out, looking dead-on to his sensei's face.

"Stop what, my dear pupil?" Naruto replied with a chuckle.

"You know what I'm speaking about!" Neji pouted, crossing his arms and looking to the side.

"Aw…go and follow your girlfriend to the buffet my pupil," the grey-haired Senju chuckled as he moved to speak with another late arrival.

"Kakashi-Oniisan," Naruto waved at the silver-haired Jounin, who arrived with a calm walk, obviously late, "Thank Kami I gave you a two hour and a half earlier hour," the boy added, as Kakashi sweat-dropped.

"I'm getting too predictable, right?" The Jounin couldn't help but smile, before tossing a bundle of clothes toward the grey-haired boy, who opened it, to reveal a blade with the Konoha's symbol on the hilt.

"A chakra blade! You shouldn't have Oniisan," as Naruto's hair was ruffled by the elder Jounin, Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Don't break it: it's standard issued to all Jounin-level shinobis," as he pointed that out, he quickly added, "This doesn't mean you've become a Jounin yet, there's a five year period before becoming one. Just two or three years, and then you'll probably wear the Jounin's flak-jacket," as Naruto nodded, Kakashi moved to the buffet.

Itachi carefully slipped into the shadows, since Kakashi's arrival was his cue to leave. The Uchiha didn't know, however, that Naruto had attached a small chameleon to his shoulder. He wanted, later on, to ask his help for a demonstration of ninja skills, and knew full well how the Anbu enjoyed disappearing.

Once the party reached for the night, the kids left, albeit Ayame did her best to whine, before being sent home by Teuchi's stern gaze, and finally the alcohol was brought out for everyone of age to enjoy, Sasuke's mother, Mikoto, had arrived to take her youngest, but had stopped to make small talk with Kakashi over an eye belonging to a cousin, or things like that.

It was then that Naruto noticed an uncomfortable distance between Ibiki and Anko, and, puzzled, turned to ask Itachi about it.

Only to find that Itachi wasn't at all nearby, forcing the boy to slowly slid in the back of the party, to touch the grass blades. The pulse was sent through the grass, the earth and the dirt. It touched till the borders of the compound, and when it did, two things happened. The first was that Kakashi picked it up and pointed at Anko, who nodded and began casually walking to where Ibiki was…and the second was that Naruto realized that Kakashi was a shadow clone, and that Itachi wasn't there at all.

As Naruto tried to increase the area of search, a loud yell interrupted him, forcing him to stop in his quest for the loner and return to the guests at the party.

"I want the truth now!" A clearly drunk Anko yelled, pointing her accusing finger at Ibiki, "Are you and Shiho fucking right behind my back!?" Thankfully the kids were no longer there, as what followed was a loud set of swearing and near brawling that was stopped only by Tsunade knocking some sense in both skulls, and Naruto moving closer to help Anko go back home safely, as the party was obviously over.

"You know…" Anko chuckled, half tipsy, as she wobbled along the street, being carried by the fourteen years old, "I kind of wonder why you still don't have a girlfriend," she pointed out.

"Anko-chan…you know I'm still young," Naruto replied, with a sigh. Sure he acted mature, while instead his friend, Anko, acted like a child, but still, he was fourteen! There was no need to rush things.

"You're fourteen, and I say you should pop that cherry," Anko teased, looking at him with a small smirk.

"Hey, Anko-chan…what was that all about, before?" As Naruto asked that, the purple-haired Kunoichi frowned for a moment, before muttering.

"Nothing much…Ibiki believed I was a snake whore or bitch or something like that…you know, the old stuff…and he cheated on me, thinking I wouldn't catch him up," she had to stop her wobbling when Naruto stopped too, turning to stare into Anko's hazel eyes.

"I'm going to kill him," Naruto simply whispered, nodding to himself.

"Ehi!" Anko exclaimed, "No killing comrades of the leaf! I was angry because he didn't have the balls to come out with it in the open, only that!" she replied hastily, "And I'm the one who gets revenge, not you!" she added.

"But…" as Naruto tried to reply, Anko cut him off with a light kiss on the lips, a fact that made the Senju freeze on the spot.

"Anko?" he whispered, when he caught his breath back.

"Thanks for being such a nice knight in shining armor, Naru-kun…but I'm a big girl, okay?" as she whispered that, her cheek slightly red, Naruto simply nodded, as he kept helping her walk to her apartment.

Was she actually holding her breasts pressed against his side? He had to keep calm. He knew Itachi had a crush on Anko, there was no way he'd do anything…Itachi would probably never forgive him if he did anything like that.

Sure, there were four years of difference between them, but it was nothing of extremely traumatic. Old enough to kill, old enough to drink and the rest…but some things were wrong, no matter what.

Especially when Itachi would have probably tried and make his own moves on Anko. He'd simply drop her off at her apartment, and be done with it, without problems.

As they neared her apartment, Naruto looked for a brief moment to his side…he felt some kind of presence there a moment ago, but now it was gone.

The presence gone, he began thinking that, maybe, if Anko was willing, what was the big deal? They were both ninjas, both grown up and killers, what was the problem if the two brought it to the physical level as a fling? She was drunk, she appeared willing…what was the problem?

Danzo Shimura, the Yami of shinobi, silently watched the two teenagers enter the purple-haired kunoichi's apartment and couldn't help but frown in disgust.

Him, forced to use Kotoamatsukami the eye technique he had stolen from Shishui's right eye, to convince a kid to go and have some night fun…but it was for the village, and because of that, he had obeyed…turning to leave, he couldn't help but look at the direction of the Uchiha compound, where a feast of blood and death, a symphony of deceit and arrogance was taking place.

If someone saw, he'd be dealt with…and with that, another tango of lies would sprout, all for the single purpose of bringing the village to higher heights, to brighter shores, to greater strengths.

"The tall tree of Konoha has many leaves in the sun, many roots in the ground…but the tree itself was grown from the blood that drenched its soil," Danzo whispered, as he disappeared from that roof. He'd probably have brown rice tea, at home, and maybe read a book. It helped him understand the ghosts of his past, and at least, stop them from haunting him.

No matter what he might spew, killing one's own emotions didn't make a shinobi perfect…it made him a tool, and tools would never be able to give orders. What little remained of his conscience would probably keep on pestering him for a good chunk of the night…but that was always a small price to pay.

On another side of town, Minato Namikaze looked with a mixture of guilt and fear at his wife, who, ignorant of all, was in the process of having Katsumi tell her what she had learned about the Senju clan, and asking about Naruto too.

"And sensei then showed off the sword and all, and the sword went *bzzt* and it activated, and it was really cool, and…" as Katsumi kept on explaining, Minato's thoughtful gaze went to the bingo book Katsumi was currently holding within her hands.

"And he showed us these really cool tricks with water, and made rainbows appear out of thin air! 'ttebayo!" as Katsumi said that, she then turned her gaze, her beautiful blue gaze, to her father, "Why can't he come home?"

"Katsumi…we already spoke about this: even though he changed, he wants nothing to do with us now, you can't keep on insisting, it's not proper," Minato pointed out, as the red-haired girl nodded.

"It's just…why can't I have a cool Oniisan like Sasuke has? Or an Oneesan like Kiba? They both are top in class because they get taught by them and you two are always busy and…"

"Katsumi-chan, my Genin team is going to make chuunin soon, and when that is out of the way I'll take my time in teaching you, okay?" As Kushina said that, with a small smile, Katsumi nodded slightly once more.

"Hai Okaa-san…when will that be?" at the question, the red-haired woman took on a thinking pose, before replying.

"Probably in the next six months, if we can get them to Takigakure for their Chuunin exams," at that, Katsumi suddenly nodded.

"Then I'll come and cheer them up, so they'll all become chuunin, and then you'll have time to teach me!"

"Fine Katsumi-hime, but you should now go to bed, you know?" as Minato arrived, taking from Katsumi's hands the Bingo book, obviously opened at the page of Naruto, the Hokage couldn't help but read…

_Naruto Senju, Chuunin of Konohagakure, adopted son of Tsunade Senju, Disowned son of the Yellow Flash, Yondaime of Konoha and of Kushina Uzumaki, of Uzushiogakure, Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, is an A-rank shinobi of incredible potential, even at his young age of thirteen._

_His chakra affinity is Water, in which he has achieve nigh complete mastery, his secondary element is Wind._

_He possesses no particular Kekkei Genkai, though he might yet have to unlock it. Voices relate his ability to pull enemies close to him and then hit them with invisible force as a sign of a magnetism Kekkei Genkai._

_Worthy of notice are his summoning contract with Chameleons, his mastery of Henges and his use of the Raijin no Ken, the Sword of the Thunder God._

_The Jutsus seen by him are: Kirigakure No Jutsu, Kaze no Yaiba, Kuchiyose No Jutsu, Henge, Suiton: Daitoppa._

_Mission completed: 435 D-ranks, 43 C-rank, 13 B-rank, 0 A-rank, 1 S-rank._

_Enemies defeated worthy of notice: Yugito Nii, Kumogakure's Jinchuuriki, Aoi Rokusho, Traitorous Jounin of Konohagakure._

_He is known as the Ghost Lance and the Nidaime no Sairai._

_The Bounty on his head is of 750000 Ryos._

_He is to be approached with caution._

Minato slowly waved goodnight to Katsumi, and looked out, at the night sky…he just hoped everything would go off without a hitch.

*The Next Day*

Naruto groaned, waking up somewhere soft. His head seemed to have gone through a massive headache, the result of alcohol, maybe? He moved a bit, earning himself a slight snore in reply: the snore coming from a naked and asleep Anko, who was in the bed, right next to him.

The fact he had no recollection of the previous night was more than enough to warrant a selective investigation of his mind that however brought up nothing. He slowly crept out of the kunoichi's bed, trying to recollect his thoughts, only to be greeted by a pair of snakes that slowly slithered around his body, dragging him back under the sheets.

"Anko-chan…" Naruto whispered. He didn't want to wake the kunoichi up, but he did need to at least go to the bathroom.

"Hum…" Anko simply encircled with her arms Naruto's head, before tightening her hold on him, in an half asleep state, "Sleep Koibito..." she muttered.

That was enough to send Naruto wide awake.

He looked around the room, careful not to move too much, until he finally turned around, in order to have the back of his head pressed against the two soft flesh mounds of Anko's chest, but also granting him visual for his escape route.

In a moment, he Kawarimi'd himself with a green cushion that was sitting on a green scaled couch.

As Naruto sighed in relief, trying to stand up, the couch slithered to uncoil itself, revealing a snake with bright golden eyes, that looked at him for a moment in amusement, before flinging the boy back in bed, where an Anko with a smug grin was already there with her arms wide open, hugging him like a plush toy the moment he was deposited there.

"You don't know that the best moment is the afterglow?" she teased the grey-haired boy, gently caressing his hair.

"Itachi is going to kill me…" Naruto whispered, and at that, Anko flinched for a second.

"Why would he? He already confessed to me once, but I refused…" as she whispered that, the Senju's eyes slowly opened in wonder.

"He did?" as he asked that, Anko bit her lower lip, before nodding slightly.

"Even when I was with Ibiki…I knew he was cheating on me…in truth I wanted to make you feel jealous…but you're a knucklehead, you know? You never realized it, did you?" she asked, hesitantly, and Naruto found himself reviewing everything that had happened in the previous years.

"Is that why you always stopped by to watch the kids practice? Or why you teased Ayame-chan that insistently?" as Anko found herself nodding, Naruto couldn't help but sigh.

"I…You…We…I mean… How are we going to tell Itachi? Or Kakashi? Or Ibiki? Or Kaa-san…she's going to kill me."

"I think she's going to kill me first…but…then you…this I mean…you're fine with…me?" as she spoke quietly, Naruto replied, eying her with his bright blue eyes, not covered by his shades.

"You've been my teammate for a long time, Anko-chan, I know your quirks, your vices, your virtues, I know what you like to eat and what you dislike, I know that you snore and I know that in truth you hide a set of teacups for tea ceremonies in your inventory scroll every time there's a mission…It doesn't feel wrong to be with you but…" as his words came to a halt, Anko replied softly.

"It doesn't even feel right…"

"Yes…but I will take responsibility, Anko-chan…I swear I will," as he replied that, giving her a small peck on the cheek, the purple-haired kunoichi, who had her hair loose, couldn't help but move to give the boy another kiss, on the forehead this time.

"Big words Koibito, big words: let's stick to the normal boyfriend and girlfriend stuff, understood?"

"Hai Anko-chan," as soon as he spoke that, he got himself a flick of Anko's finger on the nose.

"Kanojo, call me that, understood?" with a slight blush spreading on Naruto's cheeks, the boy couldn't help but mutter, embarrassed.

"H-Hai Kanojo," Anko nodded with a smile on her lips, before replying.

"Good, then we can finally stand up and have breakfast: Dangos!"

"Wouldn't tea be better?" Naruto queried back to the purple haired kunoichi, who had already stood up, naked, and was heading off to the kitchen. Her apartment was a four rooms one, one that she had moved into since a couple of years before, following her beginning of the work at T&I after attaining the rank of Chuunin in the exams in Suna. There was her bedroom which held a couch, a desk and a chair, her kitchen with a table and four chairs, a guest room and a living room, with another couch, a television, a radio and an armchair. There wasn't much else, since Anko basically lived in T&I, doing her work...she'd probably become a Tokubetsu Jounin, since she had no intention of upping her Kenjutsu or Genjutsu.

"If your mother is going to kill me, I want to die with a treat in my stomach," Anko replied from the kitchen, as Naruto wobbly stood up, looking for his clothes, and his armor, which he found scattered through the house, in the direction of the hallway towards Anko's room.

"She's going to understand…I hope," Naruto replied, as he entered the kitchen, stopping dead on his tracks.

Anko was there, wearing an apron.

Obviously, the apron was the only thing the purple-haired kunoichi was wearing at the moment.

"Seeing something you like?" Anko teased, as Naruto turned around with a sigh.

"I think I'm going to regret asking…don't you want to get dressed?"

"Aw…no second morning round?" she replied, with a small chuckle.

"No," Naruto was decisive in his denial, "I better head back to the compound and speak with my mother…if I give her time to prepare, she might calm down and not kill me, and you, later on."

"So chivalric, taking the full force assault first… You're truly a keeper, aren't you?" Anko teased, and just as Naruto sat to eat, somebody knocked at the door, forcing Anko to actually go and dress up, to answer the door.

Naruto sat in the kitchen, in silence, as he eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Murdered! The entire clan! Itachi's brother and mother were the only one spared because they were out! The rest were killed, the men, the women and the kids…he gouged their eyes out! Itachi slaughtered his entire clan and he's gone missing since then!"

"Kurenai, calm down! I'm coming along in a moment, okay?"

Had Anko actually thought about moving out of the entrance, to close the door behind her, then maybe she would have avoided the disappearance of Naruto, who had dashed off upon hearing those words.

Not having done that, when the purple-haired kunoichi reached for the kitchen, she mentally began to cuss and swear: Naruto was already gone, and the window of the kitchen was open.

*Valley of End*

Itachi Uchiha stood perched on the head of Madara Uchiha's statue, holding in his right hand the chameleon that he had carefully kept there. In his eyes, the Mangekyou sharingan showed for just a split second, unlocking it after the intense grief of the night that had claimed Shishui's life, his blood relative. Now…now he was waiting. Uchiha Madara had told him that, in order to unlock the higher level of the sharingan…his best friend had to die. And that was why Madara had simply told him to reach Amegakure, by passing, instead of the direct route, through Otogakure: it would send the trackers off.

He had, however, a person to fight.

"Come on Naruto-kun…We need to have a rematch," as he whispered that, he saw the chameleon in his hand disappear in a small flash of smoke, as, on the head of Hashirama Senju's statue, Naruto Senju appeared.

"ITACHI!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto," the Uchiha replied.

"Why? Why did you do it!? Why betray the leaf!?" the question, that question, hanged in the air for a while, as Itachi breathed in slowly…this mission marked him as a traitor, and here was the first time he'd be called such, but certainly not the last one.

So, with after a moment of silence, he finally replied.

"To test my strength! TO awaken my blood! TO Prove that Hatred is stronger than Love! Come on Senju! Fight me and I will prove you that Uchiha Madara's strength has passed on to a worthy vessel!"

And with those words, a battle began.

**Author's notes**

**Cliffhanger no Jutsu extreme Edition *The type that makes the writer hide***

**So, was it dark enough? Angst enough?**

**I still have a couple of levels to add to it, yup.**

**The massacre happened, only for completely different reasons.**

**Now, addressing some issues:**

**The pairing is now AnkoXNaruto? No. Unless you haven't understood it, Anko was tasked with keeping Naruto loyal to the village, seduction was the last resort. And it's not a pairing if one side doesn't actually love the other.**

**How did Naruto track down Itachi before, let's say, an Inuzuka? Because the Hokage and Danzo sent the tracker teams elsewhere, and Naruto was the only one who thus had a real chance in looking for him, especially with the small chameleon summon.**

**What is Danzo going to do with an Uchiha woman who's one month pregnant? Next chapter, I promise.**

**The *Truth* is Katsumi's proof of being a Jinchuuriki? No, albeit it has been heavily hinted before (A really heavy hint sometimes) the knowledge that Naruto recalled wasn't complete, as it was still missing some parts. **

**IN two years of time skip, he didn't unlock all of his memory? Maybe he did, and I'm simply not writing it in this chapter.**

**And for all of you who hate cliff hangers…more cliff hangers! Yeahy!**

**Did Anko and Naruto *do* something? Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, maybe the Kotoamatsukami was overkill, maybe it was countered by something. **

**I am not a Lemon writer, take it to heart. Thus, since I am however an extremely *stick to the character* guy, Anko's own…excessiveness might cause a series of fade to black. **

**Will Naruto get the Edo Tensei? He actually might. But, as you can see, I haven't hinted at it. Nor at the Bringer of Darkness Genjutsu. **

**I hope you liked my portrayal of Tobirama's personality, through diary form!**

***Proceeds to hide from cliffhangers haters***


	12. PC:Revelations

Chapter Twelfth

The river in between the two statues moved slowly, with practiced ease. It had gone through the very same course throughout the years, and wasn't going to stop following the river bed's destination till it would dwindle down and evaporate. The statues of Madara and Hashirama stood facing one another, both locked in an endless gaze fight, both eying each other, both ready to move, yet transfixed to stay halted, frozen in the rock that was both their matter and their shackle.

The sun had barely settled itself on midday, the time required by Naruto to actually reach Itachi, albeit everything was in a blurry of thoughts. He had just wanted to reach him, to speak with him, to try and understand if it was wrong, if he had been used…and at his thirst for knowledge, at his request for a reason, Itachi had replied.

"_To test my strength! To awaken my blood! To prove that Hatred is stronger than Love! Come on Senju! Fight me and I will prove you that Uchiha Madara's strength has passed on to a worthy vessel!" _

"_He didn't say that, did he? No, it's a lie!" _That wasNaruto's only thought on the matter. As he stared in Tobirama's armor at Itachi's presence, he couldn't help but feel his guts twisting. Itachi had really decided to enact a remake of the battle of the valley of the end, wearing the same outfit that Madara himself had worn, probably sized down…maybe it was an Uchiha custom? Or else someone had to have resized it for him, but why? Only for this?

"You're lying!" Naruto spat right back at the raven haired Uchiha, who didn't bother to answer, instead unsheathing his Anbu chakra blade. A thin Ninjato, used for stabbing, piercing, and that could double as a slashing in dire circumstances, with the core reinforced by a steel cylinder to resist the concussive force of another sword's clash.

"You want to know something funny, Naruto?" Itachi whispered, his sharingan activating, "I once thought that our friendship would be something eternal…a pity two years was all it took for me to forget about you, and have Shishui become my new best friend…who I killed," at those words, Naruto's faced showed shock, as he gritted his teeth, muttering something under his breath.

The mutter was picked up by Itachi, who could read his lips, and who could see the faint wavering of the air next to the grey-haired Senju. He had a chameleon with him, obviously to track him down. Which one would it be? If he could see it, then it couldn't be Kozue, unless he hadn't thought of hiding better.

"Itachi, why are you telling me this? You promised me we'd reach the top together!" Naruto's reply was met with laughter, from the raven haired Uchiha.

"Promises, promises, promises…such worthless things. All that matter is strength, Naruto, to achieve it I killed my best friend, and took his eyes…and soon you will face its powers! But we have spoken enough, Senju," Itachi spat that word out like it was an insult, "Now it's time for you to entertain me."

Naruto's chakra blade barely managed to be unsheathed in time, as Itachi disappeared in a twirling of leaves from Madara's statue's head, to reappear behind him, to the right. The chakra blade of Konoha was a prolonged Kunai with a hilt, and a two sided blade that circled around a black metal center. Naruto could have used the Raijin no Ken, but he couldn't. That sword could only kill, he wanted to save Itachi, not kill him. He wanted to bring him back, but as the blades flew in the air, the grey haired boy's eyes fixed themselves on the blade, and on the body of Itachi, but not on his eyes: never on his eyes during a battle.

The two swords entered contact, and sparks flew in the air, as Naruto, gritting his teeth, jumped backward, letting gravity do its job of bringing him down, towards the river-bed.

Itachi sidestepped to the right on Hashirama's head, seemingly without cause, but in truth avoiding a tongue-projectile from Ryuu, who had been the summoned chameleon of Naruto to track Itachi down. As the Uchiha turned around, ready to pounce at the rock-spitting chameleon, he was forced to side jump, and dash alongside Hashirama's statue's body, to reach the riverbed too.

The reason was Naruto's completion of a water jutsu and its unrelenting attacks on the Uchiha, who was dodging them while nearing his target.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" Naruto's water dragon was roaring a deafening scream as the water that gave it form brought him upwards, and then down, charging at the back of the Uchiha heir. Finally, the dragon crashed against the base of the Senju's statue, nicking away at the rock base and exploding in a mass of water and dust.

Naruto lowered his head just in time, his hand touching the water of the riverbed on which he was now standing, and avoiding the slash of Itachi's own blade.

"Itachi please, come to your senses!" Naruto yelled back, before spinning, using his hand as a hold to send a kick to the traitor's legs, to throw him off balance, to send him beneath the water.

Itachi didn't jump, because that would have been a rookie mistake. Instead, his left fist darted forward just as Naruto's leg went into contact with his own ones, and the hit came from both sides. Naruto's body was pushed against the water's surface, while Itachi was thrown off balance, but both stood up not even a second later, their blades clashing with their right hands, their left gone to do one-handed signs.

"You always had less chakra than me, Senju: you won't win with attrition," as Itachi said that, Naruto's eyes, hidden behind his shades, narrowed slightly on the Uchiha's chest. He could feel his ribs being cracked: Itachi wasn't holding back. This was going to end badly, but he couldn't bring himself to attack him, how could he? Itachi was his friend, they had been together for as long as he could remember, from his stupid early days of knowledge, through assorted explosions, pranks, missions, through everything they had faced together. How could he throw everything away like that, in just one night? He had come to the party, he had come without showing anything like this, no hatred or anger, only…Itachi. Now he was facing him off, wanting to kill him? He couldn't believe it, he wouldn't believe it!

"Stop this Senju crap Itachi!" Only one hand sign later and…

"Suiton: Teppodama!" both side's water bullets spewed forward, at such a short range one from the other they impacted and exploded, the concussive force of the water blast sending both Itachi and Naruto backwards, but still on their feet. The hit of the blast was enough to make Naruto wince, blood coming out from his mouth. Itachi instead seemed unfazed, obviously the Uchiha just had to use his sharingan to perfectly jump backwards and avoid perfectly the blast…just damn perfect.

"Just give me the truth, Itachi! Why are you doing this!?" Naruto exclaimed, moving his hand to his back, to retrieve a summoning scroll. The Uchiha's eyes narrowed with murderous intent, as he began running to avoid the barrage of explosive kunais that came from the grey-haired boy's scroll. Naruto's left hand glowed a light green, as the Senju began an improvised patching up…it wouldn't do much, but at least it would avoid his ribs definitively cracking.

"Keeping distances won't work, Senju! I can hit you just fine! Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni!" from within Itachi's sleeves shuriken spewed forward, swiftly moved to twirl in the air, imbued with fire chakra, and attack the incoming barrage. The explosions rocked the area between the two, but Itachi's shurikens were faster than kunais, and with the use of the fire chakra, many passed undeterred from the concussive force of the blasts, hitting against Naruto's armor's plates and being deflected. Burnt scars adorned the spots hit by the flaming shurikens, but the Senju gave no remark to the damage his armor had suffered, instead nodding slightly to himself…or to Ryuu. As long as it wasn't blunt force, or a strong chakra enhanced attack, he knew his armor could deflect it.

"Doryūdan!" earth bullets spewed forward from a vantage point, as the chameleon, perched to the side of Madara's statue, began his barrage of rocks that he had been previously grabbing from the statue's surface.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" at Itachi's words, Naruto narrowed his eyes, Ryuu certainly had seen what Itachi had summoned, but he couldn't, because the light water mist of the previous attack had yet to disappear, maybe…

"You're using Kirigakure no Jutsu!" On one side, Naruto wasn't surprised that Itachi knew the technique, they had trained, and sparred, a lot together, and it was obvious he'd eventually come to know it. On the other side that was his signature technique… Well, not exactly his, but still.

"So what?" Itachi's reply came cold, "You betrayed my trust and slept with Mitarashi, didn't you?" Naruto's shocked silence and freezing limbs was all that Itachi needed to fly, yes, fly, forward riding atop a giant eagle, straight towards Ryuu's location. How could he have known? It had just happened last night, and it was still recently new to this thing and…did he suspect it since a while? Maybe he confessed to Anko months ago, and thought that the reason for her refusal was him?

Naruto unfroze moments later, but Itachi had already thrown a set of explosive kunais all around Ryuu's location, forcing the chameleon to de-summon, or end up as a bloody smear on the wall.

"Is this what your friendship talk was all about, Senju? Trying to get forgiveness for having betrayed me!?" Itachi's reply was filled with anger, as his eyes, looking at Naruto from up to down, were carving holes in his skull, because, obviously, Naruto wasn't looking back at his own gaze.

"Itachi…I…She told me you already confessed to her and she…" Naruto's word died in his mouth, as Itachi's laughter, once more, assumed the same tonality of a madman.

"Oh joy! She refused me for you. You…You always got everything, didn't you? The Raijin, the second Hokage's armor, the girl, the family, the Kyuubi's power…what did I get!? Years in Anbu at killing people from the shadow, while you stayed in the sun! You played with children and I toyed with corpses! You laughed and I gutted, you spoke and I silenced! You got everything you wished for, and I got nothing! I was the prodigy, the genius! You were just supposed to be the cheater…" Itachi's words came out as he poured all his hate, his anger, his hatred in them, "Well…from a backstabber what else can I expect? You cannot defeat me…"

"Shut up," Naruto whispered.

"You cannot even match me! Look at you, so pathetically frail and so unable to…"

"SHUT UP ITACHI!" Naruto's yell reverberated through the walls of the valley, as blood gushed once more from the boy's lips, pressed against the Senju's thumb.

"I will show you, Itachi! I might have cheated in the past but I kept my end of the deal! Always!" and as he pressed his palm on the water, he roared to the sky.

"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU: SHIROMARI!"

Moments later, Naruto's eyes gazed down at Itachi's presence, as his own eagle was forced to fly backwards, pushed back by a pair of giant red eyes, surrounded by a thick white fog. Its size rivaled that of a castle, and its form was similar to that of a chameleon, because, after all, this was the tallest of chameleon, barring Kamereon, the boss summons.

"The master calls, the servant answers," the whisper came barely heard to Naruto's ears, as the boy nodded, pointing his finger at Itachi, looking at his face barred with shock.

"Let's capture him Shiromari!" there was no need for subtlety, as Shiromari's jaws extended, before roaring.

"Suiton: Teppodama! Fūton: Renkūdan!" the water bullet came out of the chameleon's mouth, only to be increased in size and strength by the following air bullet, literally generating a massive bullet of incredible concussive force, that crashed against both Itachi and its summon, forcing the Hawk to disperse, while the attack kept going, crashing and literally tearing a chunk out of Madara's statue, leaving his chest hollow.

"Susanoo!" the yell suddenly brought Naruto's full attention back to Itachi, who stood, surrounded by what seemed like a giant skeleton, that held the Uchiha within his own body, once more on the water's surface. The skeleton's size rivaled that of Shiromari herself, and before both could take in what had happened, a clawed hand clashed down on the chameleon, forcing it against the wall, where it was pinned down.

"Not De-summoning, huh!? Good! Let me show you the true pinnacle of an Uchiha's power! The powers of the Mangekyo sharingan!" Itachi roared, as Naruto clenched its teeth, holding on to Shiromari's head.

"Shiromari! Get out of here!" Naruto exclaimed, as the chameleon's red eyes stood narrowing against the Uchiha.

"I won't fail another master!" Shiromari's shriek was followed by the literal rise of the riverbed, that clashed with the strength of a train against the side of Susanoo, forcing Itachi to let go, and to protect himself with both of the skeletal hands: only to be thrown on the other side of the valley.

Naruto bit his tongue…It had been what? A year? Yet Shiromari had never forgotten him, nor his words…did she?

The reconnaissance mission of Kubi No Kuni had been a C-rank mission. Naruto, being a Chuunin, had taken it on as solo. The mission's requisite was to find out who was killing travelers along the route and, if possible, put an end to it.

The first dibs had been on brigands, but, after more than a week of search, Naruto had found nothing. Obviously looking for a chameleon would be difficult, but still, he had thought he could at least find the problem with the travellers!

In the end, during a particularly bad storm, he had decided to spend the night in an abandoned castle: no need getting wet or uncomfortable outside. Little did he know that it was in truth Shiromari herself, who confronted him after realizing she couldn't *eat* him, because of the summoning scroll's laws.

That was how he had freed her from her servitude of more than fifty years to a dead lord, and how he had earned the trust of the chameleon's clan's boss.

The problem remained that Shiromari was extremely loyal to the point of refuting de-summoning, probably the death of the previous lord, which she secretly admired, maybe, had brought her on the path of self-destruction, or maybe she had always been that zealous…in any case, Naruto hoped Itachi hadn't any other dirty tricks up his sleeve.

"Itachi, give it up!" Naruto yelled, "You're coming back to Konoha! You'll explain your reasons, whatever they are, and I'll be right there with you!"

"You…You think you've won?" Itachi chuckled, "The fire that burns everything, and cannot be quenched…Amaterasu!" as dark flames suddenly appeared on the column of water, burning it like it meant nothing, the intensity of the heat and the strength of a thousand's suns burning through, reaching them both, Naruto forcefully dropped his right palm on Shiromari's head.

"Forced De-summoning!" probably Shiromari would be angry with him, later on, but right now, he didn't want to test Itachi's words on her scales.

As the boy fell down, he realized the fire was following Itachi's sight, tracing a line to where he actually was going to fall. Bracing for impact, he used the blood gushing out from his broken lip to touch one of the scrolls on his back and activate it.

Water gushed out in a jet-like form, enabling him to avoid the black fire thanks to said propulsion, and hit straight into the water's surface of the riverbed, disappearing from sight.

"This fire will burn until I say so! Come out or I'll boil you alive! Come on Senju scum! Give me the rematch! Give me the victory that should have been mine in the chuunin exams! Come OUT!" as the fire traced itself above the riverbed, the water boiling to the point of releasing thick steam rising above, Itachi, standing in the hole created by Susanoo impacting against the side of the valley, looked with feverish intensity around. Blood oozed out from both his eyes, but that didn't stop him. He had trained in those techniques with Uchiha Madara himself, so he knew how to use them with proficiency.

"Itachi! You slaughtered your clan! Who cares about a rematch when you've fallen so low!? Where did your will of fire go!?" Itachi's quick reflexes was what made the Uchiha jump out of his hole, avoiding the falling logs filled with explosive tags, all written in blood, that detonated, bringing down a good chunk of the side of the valley. How did the boy manage to get above him? Was there another chameleon around, or did the boy emerge from the water unseen? The mist that shrouded the lower level of the valley could have helped him hide, after all.

The rock debris crashed against the half dried up riverbed, as Itachi slowed his fall down with Susanoo's skeletal arm, that clawed against the rocky side of the valley, leaving behind long gashes on the stone surface, as he stopped the fires of Amaterasu. The riverbed's level was now ghastly in appearance. Small spontaneous fires of normal intensity lit the landscape covered in thick steam that turned to fog. The sun was barely visible above his head, and yet the Uchiha's heir didn't flinch, wielding his sword, ready to strike.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu…" Itachi's smirk couldn't have been wider as he whispered that. For a normal sharingan, indeed, the chakra laced mist would have prevented visual…but for his Mangekyo…there was nothing that stopped him: except the natural hiding skill of the grey-haired boy.

"Eight choices," the voice spoke quietly, but grimly, "Liver, Kidneys, Lungs, Heart, Spine, Clavical vein, Neck Vein, Brain…" and then there was the clash. Itachi's sword dashed to protect his neck as Naruto's own aimed to slash it. A neck wound would make him bleed to death in less than two minutes: he'd have time to stop it.

"So you're finally coming with the intent to kill me?" Itachi didn't waste time in punching the grey-haired boy and resuming his defensive position. The Bunshin made of water disappeared in a puddle seconds after receiving the hit.

"You're near…but where are you?" Itachi queried, before smiling slightly.

As Naruto jolted upwards, propelled by the chakra escaping from his feet to reach the water's surface and aim at Itachi with an uppercut slash, the Uchiha sidestepped, and then quickly pinned his sword straight through Naruto's ribs, puncturing one of his lungs and forcing him, finally, since the beginning of the fight, to watch into his sharingan's eyes.

"Tsukuyomi," that word was all Itachi needed, as his Mangekyo brought him and Naruto into his mind world.

Naruto found himself in a red and white world, where he was pinned to a cross, with Itachi smiling, while wielding a sword, a long, thin, sword, the type used to pierce…and looking at him, pointing the sword at him.

"In Tsukuyomi, I govern time and matter…This is my strength now, and yours? Yours is pathetical," Itachi whispered, "You're too weak to pose a challenge to me…maybe I should return to Konoha? Huh? With these eyes…Even your Kaa-san," he spat that out with disgust, but also amusement, at seeing Naruto's face turn to shock and later fury, "Might fall…and what about the source of all our problems, huh? Maybe I should kill Anko too…" as Naruto began to trash, Itachi simply pierced straight through Naruto's heart.

The pain felt real: the blade cut through his flesh, his chest making another hole inside of him, straight through his heart. Then another blade came, and another, and another still, until blades cut through him, through every possible place, through every inch and speckle of skin, until, in the end, Itachi whispered.

"We still have seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds to go," and the screaming began anew.

*Konoha*

Obviously she had to fuck things up. Only she could have been that stupid not to make sure Naruto was out like a light for all the following day. Sure, she hadn't hated what she had done, the boy too had suddenly complied, but she didn't like it either.

She had been asked a simple thing: get him away from the Uchiha's compound and from the news of Itachi's escape for a few days. If there was a need to stash him away for a three days sexual marathon, then so be it, but keep him away. She was a Kunoichi, and that had been an S-rank mission. No matter how much the thing disgusted her, no matter how much she didn't like betraying her teammate like that, she had to do it or, as it had been heavily hinted, die.

Obviously Kurenai had, in all her ignorance of matters, heard the news and dashed straight ahead to her apartment, to tell her, comfort her, and maybe later on go and see Naruto.

The boy had overheard, clearly, how can one not overhear when it's been practically yelled from the hallway? Not even taking the time to check the sources, obviously, Naruto had simply ran out of the window, without stopping, not even at the gates, yet Kotetsu and Izumo too should have known to stop him!

Now, instead, she was being forced to watch as the Hokage's face showed a various display of emotions, ranging from anger to disappointment, but also passing through anxiety and ill-hidden worry.

"If Naruto finds him, Mitarashi," Minato replied, "if Itachi actually manages to convince him to follow him, you know everything will be for nothing?"

"Hokage-sama," Anko gulped down her fear, as she was in the Hokage's office, with the privacy's seals activated. The man could kill her on the spot, and hide her body somewhere, even at the other side of the elemental countries, and then be back within seconds, with the perfect alibi.

"I…I did what I had to, and…well…he heard because of Yuhi-san…but he's going to be back, I'm sure…I'm sure he won't betray Konoha!" she exclaimed, and just as she said that, Minato's face turned grimmer.

"In this moment, Itachi should be travelling together with Uchiha Madara, if Naruto actually engaged him, then he is going to die, unless Itachi breaks his cover. Doing so, however, will just worsen everything…" as Minato muttered that, his eyes turned to stare straight at the purple-haired kunoichi.

"Did you increase the chances for *that* to happen?" he asked, and noticing the disgusted face that Anko held, coupled with the emotion of disappointment, he didn't need to know more.

"Good. Do not feel disgusted at yourself, Mitarashi-san: the situation can still be salvaged…go together with Kakashi Hatake and bring back Naruto Senju…I have been warned you can easily *sense* him, so go, and bring him back," with those words, the Hokage dismissed her, and with that dismissal, Anko was already out of there, heading to grab Kakashi. She knew where he'd be when things troubled him: she hadn't been in his team for a couple of years for nothing, after all.

The Konoha's cemetery held the stone with the names of the fallen, and that was where Anko found Kakashi, seemingly absorbed in his Icha-Icha book, but in truth deeply lost in thoughts.

"Kakashi-san," Anko said, carefully, not wanting to use a cheery tone in such a broody place, "We have to go, Hokage's orders: get Naruto back in the village."

Kakashi's book snapped close, as the silver haired Jounin nodded. The subtle implication was clear after all…Itachi wasn't going to be brought back.

*The Valley of the End*

"We still have a couple of minutes…" Itachi whispered, as Naruto's form was now simply devoid of yelling and screaming, "It's a surprise your mind didn't already break, but after all, you always had a strong will, right?"

"Mind-Technique-Body," Naruto whispered back, his throat coarse, "Mind-Technique-Body," this chant had been the only thing the boy had been speaking in the past three hours, even among the wounds and the tortures that was all he had said.

"You think this is going to help you avoid the pain?" Itachi replied, "None leave Tsukuyomi sane, you know?"

"Mind-Technique-Body," the boy replied, his eyes not stopping once from looking straight at Itachi's face.

"Nothing is going to work, not even the Kyuubi can help you," Itachi said once more, "You should just surrender, Senju…"

_The hidden waterfall training: that was the name for the final form of chakra control that Tobirama himself had come up with. Mind-Technique-Body was all that was required for it to work. It was the basis, the principle and the pinnacle of everything. It had eluded him for so long, and yet, no matter how hard he trained himself, deep within the secret laboratory of Tobirama, he felt it had to be something simple. Tobirama never made things difficult: Sure, he made them extremely complicated to understand, but not difficult. _

"_Weave in your mind the threads of chakra like they were a net, then push it," that was the first order: the one Naruto did with his right hand, with his eyes closed, the easy one. It was just like when he had to keep himself dry from the rain, filaments of chakra extending from his hand, knitting into a web of their own, pushing it far from him._

"_Apply the Technique to move the flow, but not to break it," the second part was far more difficult, as his left hand moved to outwardly give the chakra to the web, it splintered where it touched, no matter how soft the contact had been. This forced him to stop, and retry, always softer, but it never seemed to work, and thus, he couldn't reach the third step._

"_Apply the Body to disrupt and merge, and all will be understood."_

_It had taken him time. Days had turned to weeks, and weeks to months, as he had trained in the night, silently, trying to find the solution…and finally, he had found it._

The world of Tsukuyomi finally crumbled, and there, there Itachi had no choice but to stare at his own reflection, as his body felt encased in ice: ice that had spawned from Naruto's spot, Ice that had surrounded the Uchiha and had blocked him on place.

Naruto fell on the cold surface, panting and gasping raggedly for breath, before slowing standing up on the thin Ice surface.

"Ah…Take that…" it always left him winded to do it. The waterfall training served a simple purpose: the capacity to meld two chakra affinities in one.

The control required for such a feat easily reached the Kage level, which was why it was the last, and most important step for absolute control, and the prerequisite for the second Hokage's signature Genjutsu.

The Mind was needed to keep the chakra web intertwined, and the flow constant, but it then resolved around a misunderstanding that the rest of the shinobi's population at large thought true: to use two elements together, one had to separate them in different hands. The truth was that instead one had to picture the lines of the two chakra's element as intertwined from the very moment they left their hands…and it had to be a conjoined effort of both hands to work. Both hands had to work on the web, the interlacing, the strengthening and the pushing together. Then, the body had to hold on the strain of the twin chakra usage, and thus the need to strengthen it…and the end result for Naruto had been that, as of then, he could use both Wind and Water together.

This didn't mean he had unlocked a bloodline. For example, trying this with water and earth wouldn't give him the mokuton ability…but it would enable him to spew mud. At the same time Wind and Water didn't give him the Ice bloodline…but it enabled him to use below freezing point air that had thus frozen Itachi on spot, thanks to it being channeled in the precise moment of the Tsukuyomi taking place.

Obviously, to an external observer, Naruto had just encased in ice Itachi Uchiha through the use of the Ice Release bloodline.

The next moment, a fist rocked itself to the side of Naruto's jaw, just as Itachi free himself through Amaterasu, the black flames obeying his commands, and not burning the raven haired Uchiha.

"Unpredictable, really!" the man that spoke wore a twirling orange mask, and, turning to face Itachi, snorted, "Well, maybe I shouldn't have interrupted, seeing how you got out of there alive! Well, poor Tobi, but we have to go Itachi-kun, you played long enough! It's been more than an hour and a half!"

"Madara! I still have…to kill him," Itachi whispered, looking murderously close to fainting because of chakra exhaustion.

"Killing is postponed then! And call me Tobi, Madara is such an old name!" just as Tobi knocked out Itachi and grabbed the raven haired Uchiha, Naruto's right hand threw forward a kunai from his fallen position, that was easily deflected by the masked man's movement of the hand.

"Now, now, Kyuubi-kun: stay a good boy, okay? We'll be back for you in four years, maybe five, till then be a good boy! See ya!" and just like that, in a second, before Naruto could throw anything else, or cast a jutsu, Itachi and *Tobi* were gone.

The valley of the end stood silent, as the Senju fell backwards, the thin sheet of ice was soon going to melt, and he would slip in the water. He didn't have the strength to do anything, the mind haunting him with recollections of what he had suffered through, now that he no longer had an imminent risk to face. He shivered, not from the cold, but from the lack of chakra in his coils. Hazily, in his last half-asleep state, he took a pill from within the small bottle in his left sleeve. Chakra enhancing pills, to increase his coils capacity…he would have preferred the Yin release, but his mother had refused. Losing years of life was worse than losing one's own life in the battlefield, at least in her opinion. The truth was that she was just afraid that, with the use of the Yin release, he'd threw himself in far more hazardous situations, some of which the self-repairing mechanism of the seal wouldn't have been able to fix.

So Naruto stood there, his mind fading, as he realized that, for once, he had probably won a battle against Itachi.

"So much for your…Anbu crap…" he muttered, chuckling lightly as darkness engulfed him.

*Mindscape*

Naruto's eyes opened to the familiar sight of the bed, with the giant fox sleeping in it, to the mirror, that he now knew how it worked, to the door. The door he had promised himself not to open again. He knew now what was behind it: all the secret details of his past, all the tiny reasons he had to actually hate the Hokage. He hadn't gone back because it hurt, it always hurt. He hadn't wanted to look again because he didn't think he'd need to, because he didn't need to know anything else. He was fine with what he had, what need was there to insist and relive pieces of his past he actually didn't want to live? What need was there? None, except the masochist need to clean his mind from one of the Hokage's seals. As Naruto neared the door, looking at the mirror he couldn't help but smile. Seeing from Anko's eyes was a boon, because it showed just how far they actually were from his position…and it also meant the seal had activated, probably realizing he was in danger.

It had taken him a lot of thought to finally come up with answers as to what that seal was: it was a parasite seal, plain and simple. It fed on the chakra of Anko to keep the cursed seal in check, but it also used the cursed seal's nature through the use of Anko's chakra to enhance the kunoichi. All for the purpose of protecting its mother: namely, the blue Kyuubi. It was a parasite, if a seal could be called that, and, in hindsight, it should have been more aptly called a symbiotic entity, were it not for its policy of *Doing things without asking permission*. He had no idea how deeply the seal could influence the actions and thoughts of Anko, but he knew that it served its purpose of keeping the cursed seal of Orochimaru at bay…and he wasn't going to let Anko suffer those wicked thoughts. Last time, he had nearly lost a shoulder.

"Well…here goes nothing," and with those words, Naruto set himself to the door of his mindscape, and with a strong and sharp kick broke straight through the door, gritting his teeth.

"I already lost a brother! I will not lose to my past!"

"_You're to come with us," the voice boomed through the small one room apartment. The shinobis seemed those of the leaf, but something was off. Still, Naruto, in his five years old ignorance, didn't know what and didn't care: maybe his father had finally convinced his mother to let him back home? It had been just a couple of hours since he had been left in the one room apartment. _

"_Otou-san sent you?" he asked, carefully. It was dark, it was still raining, thunder shone brightly for a second before one of the group spoke._

"_Yes, Hokage-sama sent us," the scowl and the shivers of the other shinobis didn't appear strange to Naruto: it was cold outside, and he felt it all. He had been thrown out with his shirt, and the only thing warming him up was his father's mantle, that he had been given while in wait._

_Naruto followed, blindly trusting that they were going to bring him to his father, but the next moment, he was out like a light._

"_What use would I have for a nuisance like that, huh?" the voice was rasp, filled with hate and disgust._

"_You're bluffing just because we hold your brat at kunai point!" a man spoke jerking Naruto's body to look straight into his father's figure, who was holding a three pronged kunai in his right hand. Did he come to save him? He was scared! Why were the shinobis of his father holding him hostage? He was the hero that jailed the Kyuubi: he wouldn't cry and he would be strong!_

"_Otou-san!" Naruto's cry, however, was muffled by the hand of the shinobi that held him. What followed next, were the harshest words he could have ever heard._

"_Don't call me that, pathetical excuse of a weapon!" Minato's snarl and angry face was more than enough, "I don't care what happens to you! You are just a defective product! You will never be able to harness the powers of the Kyuubi, your seal is weak, so why should I give a damn about you!? Just take it, you Iwa scum, I just hope the seal breaks when it reaches Iwa, bring it to Oonoki and tell him he can keep that thing!" every word hurt, and stung. Every use of *it* instead of Him._

_Was he no longer a person, just because of the Kyuubi? Was he no longer worthy of being his son? But he could change! He could learn to be strong! But he couldn't speak, as Minato turned around, giving his back to the Iwagakure's shinobis, he just so casually added._

"_Oh…and he's no longer my son, so it's not like you'll get anything worthy out of him as far as a ransom goes," and with that he disappeared. He disappeared leaving Naruto alone. _

_It was more than enough. The Iwagakure shinobis dropped Naruto on the ground, not even caring about him any longer, and backed away, actually running far from him._

_Under the downpour, and the thunders that cracked around, Naruto waited, emotionless. Nobody actually came for five hours. For five hours he stood under the rain, drenched and silent. For five hours he didn't move from his spot, with mud now covering his lower side, and the water actually seeming to have entered his very core. He just stood there, until he blacked out again._

"The…The bastard…He…" Naruto's mind was now conflicted, fighting against two sets of memories, both trying to claim prominence over the other. One had him spending time enraged in his apartment, cracking his goggles and promising to become the best Hokage ever to prove that he wasn't disrespectful. The other…the other had him awash with those feelings of utter despair that made him wobble on his knees, in his mindscape, and fall to the side. Carefully, he crawled towards the Kyuubi's bed, and grabbed a hold of its blue fur. Then, with calm and precise motions, he cuddled under the beast's paws.

She was soft, and warm and calming. It didn't matter to him anything else. He was just so tired…so he'd just go to sleep.

The fox's blue eye opened just a bit, as the beast stirred, to take a more comfortable position.

"Yawn…you've grown…good…maybe later…" she mumbled, before resuming her sleep, tugging her tails near her body, to act as bed sheets for Naruto's sleeping form.

*Outside*

Obviously Kakashi had expected some degree of destruction. It would have been inevitable when a Jinchuuriki was clashing, and probably going all out. What he hadn't expected had been the widening of the Valley of the End area. Truthfully, he didn't think both had the actual strength to do more damage to the valley then their ancestors, but he had been proven wrong, and now he was looking, with a bit of worry, at the damage caused.

The Madara's statue face was probably the only thing left, considering it held a deep gash to the side, a circular pattern suggesting the usage of explosive tags and had its entire chest area torn apart by some sort of giant half-circle thing. The Senju's statue had its base nicked and broken, like a strong concussive force had hit it, along with gashes all over its body, probably caused by the same jutsu. The lower level of the valley had been neatly charred by fire, later put out, and the water level had actually lowered itself of a good dose, and was only just then raising itself back to normality. The sides of the valley had been literally covered in craters of various sizes and gashes that seemed the result of claws.

Anko had actually reached a higher speed than him, and that had been more than enough to warrant Kakashi's full dedication to follow the purple-haired Kunoichi. There had been no need for the Ninken dogs, Anko knew where to go, and he had followed. Truthfully, moments later, Anko was down in the riverbed, grabbing a bleeding Naruto, whose blood seemed to have a slight layer of frosting on the wound, and was extremely pale and shivering: probably the result of blood loss and chakra exhaustion.

But he was still alive.

"We should have brought a medic-nin," Kakashi whispered, "I'm not…" but his words died in his mouth as Anko, this time, was the one to initiate the kiss with Naruto.

The chakra nearly disappeared from her very own coils, as it darted through Naruto's body to close the wounds he had suffered. For a second, the Nine Nines seal around Anko's neck pulsed, and then it was done.

"Well…I have two to carry back now," Kakashi muttered, looking around carefully for signs of Itachi, before grabbing both shinobis, and starting the long trek back to Konoha.

*Konoha*

The beeping sound of the machine wasn't what woke him up. No, truthfully, it was even helping him sleep, the regular beep sound that came to his ears softly. He slowly opened an eye, and closed it the next moment: too much light for him to see. He was in a white room, or maybe was the light so shining he thought it was white?

He was under a thin bed sheet, a hospital one, maybe. His arms were at his sides, and someone was holding his right one. He would have looked, hadn't he already been blinded by the light once.

He'd try again later, maybe at night. Slowly, he squeezed the hand. It had callouses on the tip of the index and the thumb finger, meaning it was someone used to throwing kunais, but it was feminine, thus a Kunoichi. As his fingers slowly moved in circular motions, to try and get more information out of said limb, the figure probably had awoken, as he could feel the heart pulse increase.

"You awake?" the voice came groggily, even a bit pissed off, at least, that much was what Naruto was hearing. Naruto didn't need to open his eyes to understand who it was.

"Y-Yes," the voice came out as a whisper, had his throat always been that parched? Why was he always in the hospital after a big mission? Couldn't it be someone else taking hospital? Like Itachi. Itachi? Itachi! Naruto's eyes would have bolted open, hadn't he already received a nasty daze last time he had done it.

"Good, we…we have to talk," Anko's voice was serious, deeply so, "really talk."

"Itachi…He…" Naruto's whisper was barely audible, but Anko caught it nevertheless, and thus sighed.

"He became an S-rank missing Nin, but that's not important…" at those words, Naruto flinched, anger slowly taking the better of him.

"How…How is that not important!? He killed his clan! He gouged their eyes out! HE…" his rant was stopped by Anko placing a hand over his mouth, keeping him quiet.

"Look: that is not important. What's important is that you left the village without as much as an excuse, at least in the Hokage's eyes and…" the air grew colder, and for once, Anko was glad Naruto's eyes were closed. Had they been open, she had no doubt she would have shivered. There was just…so much anger, and hatred in the air that it felt…suffocating.

"Listen to me, Naruto. Itachi was also my teammate, I know it hurts, but after three months you get the hang of it and…"

"Three months?!" Naruto's breathing was ragged: he'd had to resort to all of his self-control not to open his eyes.

"Yeah, and…well, you were in a pretty bad shape, mentally that was, we didn't know what to do or what to think, and you even had hypothermia, a broken jaw, and stuff like that," Anko's voice trailed off, before slightly chuckling, "Oh, and your mother didn't kill me when she found out," she added.

"Can you close the curtains, please?" Naruto whispered. He had a feeling something about Anko wasn't completely right. He had half expected her to yell at him, or to cheer him up. He hadn't expected a serious conversation. Anko was serious only in dire situations, and he just had to look her in the eyes to understand. He heard the shuffling of her feet, for once she wasn't wearing kunoichi heels, which meant something really bad was going on…or she had sore feet. The curtains were draped across the window, and slowly, slowly Naruto opened his eyes to a welcoming darkness.

"Hey, you know your eyes glow in the dark?" Anko teased him, from her spot still near the window. But the tease came hesitantly, as his gaze, his icy blue gaze, was standing on Anko's choice of clothing. A one piece dress, something the Kunoichi with purple hair would have never worn, was there now. It also had a light blue tonality, as he could make out, and, most importantly, it seemed to have the Senju clan symbol on it too. Did his mother adopt Anko? It had been obviously proposed, but the kunoichi had refused: she couldn't come to terms to call Tsunade mother, and preferred to remember her parents.

"Did you put up weight?" Naruto's question, for the first time, made Anko grit her teeth, as her forehead sported a tick mark.

"You could say so, and guess whose fault it is?" as she replied that, moving closer to the bed, she sat back down on the chair to his side, and spoke quietly once more.

"You know… the pill of the next day works only if you take it…the next day. Not if you have to run for half a day to reach a stupid grey-haired idiot, and another half a day to bring him back, nor does it work if you forget about taking it, when you're worried said grey-haired idiot is going to die because he patched himself up wrongly while in the heat of battle," Naruto silently listened, before finally it clicked him, that's why he took a sharp intake of breath and waited for Anko's words.

"Well, you're the smart one, the unpredictable one…so guess what? I'm not fat…" as she hesitantly spoke, she finally finished, after a minute of silence that seemed an eternity, "I'm pregnant."

Naruto's mind had never been empty, before. Truthfully it's not like he had a psychotic second voice, or felt the need to be schizophrenic. No, he simply always thought about something. Right in that precise instant, he had forgotten about thinking. He was too busy trying to connect everything that those what, three words? Was *I'm* counted as two or one? Meant. It didn't take a genius to connect her dress, the fact that his mother knew, and the rest, to understand just who was the lucky, or not, depending on the circumstances, person. He had also been knocked out for three months straight, so he probably had missed…hell on earth.

"If your next words are *Oh*, *What do we do* or anything of the sort, I'm neutering you," Anko replied, slowly displaying a small smirk, "I'll make it easy: your mother suggest that, upon waking up, you'd ask me a question made of four words...understood?"

Naruto nodded slowly, before whispering.

"Will you…marry me?"

"Yes," there, it was done. Naruto didn't know that he had metaphorically been shackled to Konoha, or that he had become a chained entity, a prisoner of his own bonds. The grey-haired boy was simply realizing that marriage at age fourteen was a bit unorthodox, but not that much far-fetched, considering the child brides that sometimes hopped on because of political reasons…and do to him being of the Senju clan, marriage proposals hadn't been unknown to him.

"Good, at least the assassination attempts were worth it," Anko replied with a chuckle, but still the old Anko wasn't there at all, there was something else worrying her.

"Anko-chan," at the appellative, Anko growled slightly, forcing Naruto to retry again, "Kanojo…" this time she didn't flinch, nodding slightly at the term used, "What are you speaking about?" he was, truthfully, perplexed.

"What? You know you're the heir of the Senju clan, right?" Anko pointed out, earning herself a nod from Naruto, "So I'm going to be your wife, when we marry," she added, as the boy nodded again, "Well, guess who would want me dead?"

"My…fan club?" as he pointed that out Anko chuckled.

"Yeah, you kind of lost a good lot of fans, but I wouldn't call *assassination* attempts a bunch of screaming girls barely made Genins," she replied, "I was referring to some people who had planned to give their daughters to you, once you grew up…seems I beat them on the time…" she muttered the last sentence with a sort of saddened tone.

"You didn't plan this, An…Kanojo, it's not your fault," those words actually made Anko stand up, and turn around.

"Yeah, but still you'd better get better soon: you are a sucky boyfriend you know? Three months without even a date and I'm heading towards whaledom, I'm sure of it," as she replied that, slightly…sniffing?

"Are you crying?" Naruto queried, trying to stand up only to grit his teeth from the light prickling he felt over all of his muscles.

"Damn hormones, that's what it is: you stay there, I'll go get your mother…so maybe she'll stop fawning over me and start worrying about you," as she exited the room, Naruto found himself looking around the dark room, before biting his thumb and summoning a small chameleon to his side.

"Warn Shiromari and the others that I'm alive…I'm sure she's going to skin me alive, eventually, but that's beside the point...oh, and I'm going to become a father…Do I get off the hook for that?" the chameleon simply shook his head, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto groaned: he was sure Shiromari wouldn't like that. In the end she was the sort of stiff aunt that never, ever, let anything slid by…three month of silence? She would probably kill him, oh yes she would. Then she'd commit seppuku over it…sheesh.

How a chameleon could commit seppuku eluded him, but that was probably the painkiller's fault.

A high pitched exclamation soon followed the opening of his hospital room, as Tsunade entered, swiftly followed by Shizune.

"Naru-chan! Thank Kami you're alright!" Tsunade was already to his side, scanning with her green glowing hands for any troubles. Shizune, next to her, was smiling too.

"Kaa-san…" he muttered that single word that was also filled with anxiety and embarrassment. Really, he was in for…

"You did two really stupid things," Naruto flinched at the slug sannin's words, and waited for her to continue.

"Firstly, you dashed off without even warning me or anyone else…do you know how worried I and Shizune were? Huh?"

"I'm…" as Naruto tried to apologize, Tsunade shushed him.

"Don't want to hear it young man, and then explain just how you ended up knocking up your other teammate? I swear this seems more and more like a trashy novel out of one of Jiraiya's books…" as soon as Tsunade had said that, Naruto's gaze had surprisingly taken a turn for closed window.

"Three…Two…One…" Naruto's eyes closed just as he finished his countdown and, true enough, the window bolted open to reveal Jiraiya himself, who entered with a sort of sheepish face.

"I'm…Sorry I'm late?" he pointed out, looking at both Tsunade and Shizune, and finally at Naruto.

Tsunade looked at Naruto perplexed, how could he actually feel Jiraiya, coming up here?

"It's been two years, you toad pervert!" Tsunade's exclamation only worsened the knot in Naruto's stomach, as slowly, he muttered, his voice on the verge of cringing.

"Close the windows, Shizune-Oneesan," albeit something definitively felt off, Shizune moved to obey, as Jiraiya did kind of squirm on his position.

"You can leave it open, you know? I'm on a sort of rush…I just passed by to see how he was doing, once I heard he was awake and all…" at that mention, Naruto let out a bitter laughter.

"Come to see your failure of a weapon?" the question stopped everyone.

There was silence, dreaded silence, in the hospital room.

"Really…how longer did you think it would take me? The time to become Jounin? Would you kill yourself off eventually? Were you valuing if I was smart enough to look through a Bingo book? No, really, Hokage-sama, since when did you decide you'd parade as your sensei?" The words fell down like bricks, but they weren't over, "I suppose you just wanted to keep a closer look on me, right? Obviously offering me up to Iwagakure's shinobis says loads of what your intentions were…really, I should have realized it sooner…maybe I actually did, but I didn't want to believe it. I should have known…should have connected the dots…" he whispered the last part as Tsunade, finally, couldn't hold the tension any longer.

"Naruto! What are you talking about? Jiraiya is…"

"Dead," the words came out of Naruto's mouth immediately, "Uncle Jiraiya died sealing the Kyuubi into Katsumi, didn't he?" at the silence that followed, even from the toad sage, Naruto insisted, "DIDN'T HE!?"

"We should speak of this in private…" Jiraiya's words came slowly out of his mouth.

"Drop your pathetical excuse of an illusion, Hokage-sama," The words were spat out with disgust, like they actually had a foul taste, "Stop desecrating the dead with such a shameful act."

As the Henge dropped, the Hokage, in his white robes, with his hat on, looked sheepish just like a man caught with his hands in the jelly.

"Minato…" Tsunade had no words. Shizune too was gasping in silence.

"Did you speak with the Kyuubi?" Minato's question hanged in the air for a brief moment, before Naruto, slowly, shook his head.

"I didn't need to. The Bingo Book states Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin to be a proficient Fire and Earth release user, at least, since nine years ago. The recent editions of the book instead, warrant him also as a lightning proficient user…and with techniques extremely similar to those of the fourth Hokage. That wasn't all, however: I had two years to think how the Yang chakra could have been sealed within Katsumi through the Iron seal. The Yin chakra is largely inert unless given purpose, but the yang? It would have crushed through the iron seal in an instant. That's when my Fuinjutsu lessons brought me to conclude that only the Shiki Fuin, the seal of the shinigami, could have accomplished such a feat…and I recalled a baby Katsumi in the hands of a Jiraiya's Kage Bunshin…when I fainted, my chakra coils already filled, he resorted to Katsumi, and to the Shiki Fuin…but by then he was already worn out, and couldn't complete the seal could he? That's why her seal is weak and broken…right?"

"How do…" but, once more, Minato's words were cut off by Naruto's snarl, who replied.

"Don't interrupt me! That was the reason she attacked me, that night, wasn't it? And your wife, Hokage-sama, rightfully thought I was to blame, and threw me out…yeah, I can even understand your stupid reasoning now: you thought I was the menace, and you decided to drop me off someone else…and when you realized the truth, you instead thought I'd be filled with anger and resentment, and you sealed my memories away hoping I'd come back as a civilian!" the windows bolted close, as a thick gush of air had done what Shizune hadn't manage to complete.

Then, in the darkness, Naruto opened his cold Ice blue eyes.

"Well, guess what you bastard: two can play the game. If I as much as hear anything, anything at all going on against my family, my friends, or any under my protection, then I don't care what the council will do to your pitiful excuse of a family, but Katsumi will take the place she was meant to have as the village's Jinchuuriki. Except for missions, that I will pick, I don't want to see you ever again, until I come for your damnable hat…you aren't worthy of being the Hokage any longer, and I'll prove it to you," Minato's fist clenched, as he gritted his teeth, before nodding.

"Minato…how could you?" Tsunade's words echoed through the room, but the blond Hokage didn't reply to them, instead focusing on Naruto.

"The death of Jiraiya will remain an S-rank secret however, if word comes out of the village of his death, his spy network would…"

"I am not a petty bastard," _like yourself_, "Who would damage the leaf," _like yourself_, "now leave."

The cold words hit once more Minato, who turned to look at Tsunade with a pitiful expression of sorrow, before dispersing: after all, he was only a Kage Bunshin.

The memories hit the real Hokage like a two thousand tons mountain, and he had to harshly breathe in air, as he pushed both of his hands in front of his face.

He had to stand up from his desk, in his office, and head towards the window, the mantle, the robes, even the hat were oppressing features on his body. This was what his mistakes had brought.

If only he had admitted his errors beforehand, if only he hadn't tried to hide…but after everything that had happened, after seeing what had happened to Naruto, he had thought Jiraiya's iron seal had failed on the boy, and he had resorted to keeping him as a civilian to save his life…but then he had realized that Jiraiya's words on the seal referred to Katsumi, and by then, it was already too late.

Seeing a toddler transform in a mini Kyuubi had made him flinch, and worry…in the end he had to reinforce Katsumi's seal, and in doing so he had come to the realization that Naruto, probably, never did hold the Kyuubi in him…he had been wrong once more. Jiraiya had split the fox half and half.

His fist repeatedly hit the wall of his office, his teeth gritting. He shouldn't have gone to make sure Naruto was fine. He shouldn't have risked it again. Last time he had been lucky the boy hadn't used that chameleon trick to see through Henges, but this time? He was going for Jounin, it was obvious he'd be more expert…yet he had to make sure, didn't he? His curiosity had claimed its toll…

"Stupid, idiotic man…you're an idiot, you know it, the world knows it, you're an idiot," Minato's mumbled words forced him to snap back to reality, as he finally gave a head-butt against the window frame, "Obviously he'd think I'd be considering him a weapon all this time along…I should have just come out clear with everything…now it wouldn't matter what I tell him, there's no way he'd believe me…" and just like that, the Hokage sighed.

"I can still salvage this, I suppose…I hope...and if I can't, then maybe Kushina or Katsumi can…" as he whispered that, moving to the papers, he realized he hadn't even asked the most important questions to Naruto, like what Itachi had told him, or things like that…he needed it to make Itachi's report accurate. It had been three months now, three months since the massacre of the Uchiha clan, from which only Mikoto Uchiha and her youngest son had come out alive.

Three months in which Itachi had been branded an S-rank missing Nin, and had met with Jiraiya, who had warned him of Danzo's secret actions…now Itachi was loyal to the leaf, no doubt, as long as Minato could bring him Danzo's head eventually. However Itachi's report on Naruto had been worrying…he had held his ground against an Anbu rank shinobi, and had used…Ice release? Probably Itachi had been wrong, but still…it warranted investigation.

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Tsunade was fuming with anger, while Shizune was trying to calm her down.

"Since when did you know, gaki!?" at the question, Naruto flinched, before muttering meekly.

"I…I wasn't completely sure until today…when I used my sensing ability, I felt the Hokage's presence instead of Jiraiya's, and when he came up as Jiraiya…I just had no choice…to think it all fits…" Naruto chuckled grimly, before letting his blue eyes go to Tsunade's face.

"I was such an idiot, right? I didn't want to believe it, no matter the proofs, and now this…there's just…so much…nearly too much…" he added in a whisper, as he let his head go back against the pillow, his eyes looking at the white ceiling of the hospital.

"Well, you know, we can pack things up and leave you know?" Tsunade replied, "With what…"

"Kaa-san," Naruto whispered, "Anko-chan is pregnant, I have classes to teach, Neji needs someone to keep him out of trouble, then there's Kakashi-Oniisan who can't keep himself off alcohol and porn unless he has someone to speak to, you have to take care of the hospital…how many would have died without you here? No…I can't be selfish like that…and neither can you, Kaa-san," he slowly spoke, his eyes moving to meet the amber gaze of his mother, who was, quite actually, scowling.

"Konoha always takes things away from me…I should have just come back here and taken you away when you were still a freshly minted Genin," Tsunade muttered, "Then we could have gone gambling to the land of the Moon, that's what I should have done," at those words, the slug sannin crossed her arms, before whispering, "then again, I would have still thought that pervert of a toad hermit to still be alive…I can't believe Sensei didn't know…"

"He probably knew," Naruto whispered, "He was there, together with Orochimaru, the night of the Kyuubi attack…but probably Orochimaru left before Minato could explain, and so only Jiji and the Hokage knew," as he said that, he winced, slightly.

"Seems like there are visitors coming, Kaa-san…you wouldn't mind letting them in?" Tsunade couldn't help but sigh.

Naruto was so much like her granduncle that it was scary, she fondly did recall the tale of how Tobirama Senju managed to always win in the hide and seek game when he was still alive and she was still a toddler…there was just no way to hide from his sensor ability, and nobody had even found the trick to it.

Naruto, on the other hand, knew the trick to it.

_Naruto grinned, looking around the now perfectly in order cave. Thanks to the waterfall, he had managed to conjure and use a Mizu Bunshin to clean…and to dispose of the corpses. He had no idea where the waterfall ended, or where it delivered its water, so he had dropped them out of the village during the night and *changed the air* in the cave. Now, with everything in order, the laboratory seemed ready to be used. The question however remained…for what?_

_The Edo Tensei jutsu was something he wouldn't dare to try. Sacrificing a human life just to bring back someone from the dead? He'd need at least some prisoners, to actively try and practice it, and Tobirama himself had nearly removed the rat's problem from downtown Konoha, when he had been the one trying it out. To sacrifice that many humans only to be sure it would work? Tobirama could use the prisoners from Konoha's prison as he was the Hokage, but even then, he had come to realize later that it just wasn't right to bind souls to dead bodies. In the end, Tobirama's legacy, in the laboratory, had been divided into sectors: the chakra control exercise needed for dual-nature chakra use, that was the basic of everything else, the Genjutsus that had made Tobirama feared, the Suiton jutsus that had made him powerful, the Edo Tensei that had been kept tightly under control, the space-time fuinjutsus, essential for the Edo Tensei usage, the Kenjutsu's scroll to properly wield the Raijin no ken and finally his sensor capacity and tricks. The last one had proven to be nothing more than a single line, and had actually been all there was to Tobirama's sensor capacities._

"_All has water…just sense it in the right places," that was all there was: a single line on a single scroll. That cast aside, the chakra control exercise had been necessary to master, and it had taken him a year and a half. Tobirama, for all his genius, for all his humor, was also a sadistic bastard._

_He never actually explained things, and since he wasn't alive any longer, the only way to actually get anything done was to break your own brain over his sentences…Naruto was sure that Tobirama had been chuckling at every moment of his writing, trying to come up with sentences that had little to no sense. He wasn't even going to start on his so called *deviations from the argument* that seemed to be something he was fond of: one moment, Tobirama was speaking to him through the ink-laced parchment about seals, and the next he was blaming a certain Saru for throwing dung-coated projectiles instead of venom laced ones. One time, he entered a certain rant about how he would never found a wife if his Kunoichi student kept on lashing at them with her technique to pull objects close to her while rendering them immaterial…a feat that had also brought the accusations of indecency to sky-rocket for a while. That had lasted a good five scrolls, before returning to the matter at hand of how to increase the pressure in water technique to cut through rocks. Tobirama wrote without holding anything back, delivering everything that passed through his mind with so much passion it seeped through the written words…he had to have been an incredible person, a charismatic leader, and an extremely fun to be with person. Obviously he hadn't written the way of his death, but it had been something he would have been proud of: dying young, in battle, to protect Konoha and its future. There was nothing but pride in being even remotely compared to him, but Naruto knew that, in order to live up to such a man, he'd have to train._

That was why he knew there was a certain Neji Hyuga, trying to contain his patience judging by the sweat that was rolling down his body, who was currently nearing his door, escorted by his mother.

In a couple of seconds, the door opened again, and the boy entered with relief truly plastered on his face.

"Sensei!" as he nearly tumbled on the chair to the side of his bed, since the room was in the dark, he was quickly grabbed by Shizune, avoiding the boy a nasty fall.

"Calm down Neji…you don't need to keep me company as a roommate in the hospital," Naruto chuckled, as the boy composed himself, thanking Shizune and taking the free chair to sit by his sensei's side.

"Anko-san told me you had woken up! It's been three months and there's a lot that's going on in the village…you know Sasuke? He's become all…" Neji, for three months devoid of someone to speak to, began pouring out everything he had heard, listened to, or even done, with Naruto nodding and simply staying there, listening, while Tsunade and Shizune left the two to catch up.

"…and that was when I met Anko-san coming my way," as the Hyuga boy finished speaking, he nervously looked around, before adding, "There are rumors that Anko-san...forced herself on you Sensei…it's not true, right? Sure she acts a bit crazy but…"

"No, she didn't force herself on me Neji…" the reply came with a light grin, "Someone gave you *the talk*?" Naruto's right eyebrow shot upward, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"Ko-san did when I asked…and…by the way…we're all still in your fan club sensei, albeit you did break a lot of hearts around, especially Ayame-san's," at those words, Naruto's chuckle turned into a slightly embarrassed face.

"I think I should speak with her too, right?" he hinted, only to receive a slightly awry face from the Hyuga as a reply.

"She was sent away by her father, to train with different cooking-nins, *to learn new flavors*, at least, that was what I heard Sensei," Neji squirmed on his seat, his eyes once more nervously gazing around, "and I…I had a question Sensei…" at Naruto's nodding, to have the boy keep on talking, Neji took a quick breath, before adding, "I looked at the Gentle Fist style of the main family…why is it so different from the Branch one?"

The grey-haired boy frowned for a moment, before whispering.

"Can you show me the differences?" it didn't take much for the *differences* to become clear, and once they did, Naruto slowly clenched his fists.

"Well, Neji…I've got a good news, and a bad news…the good news, is that your ability to replicate other's movements and styles is really good, the bad news is that the branch family style is made to be utterly smashed by any main family members…" Neji's face turned to a light scowl, and the Senju found himself thinking how this day was turning more and more filled with scowls, "But on a brighter tone…since you have more variety in your fighting style, you shouldn't have a problem becoming the…oh…you already reached that conclusion, right?" Neji simply nodded, slightly.

"It's not the first time…and…well…promise not to get angry?" the question was asked with a tinge of fear, as Naruto found himself dreading the next words.

"I can guarantee I won't be angry at you, Neji, no matter what…but that's as far as I'm going to go," the grey haired boy hissed that slightly, as the Hyuga boy flinched, before replying.

"Since I…was good, I was made to…challenge one of the…main family, you know?" as he said that, hesitantly, Naruto's face was the one doing the scowling in that precise moment.

"No, you didn't tell me, you actually avoided the subject on how you have been…" Neji's eyes went sideways, before whispering.

"Well, I was challenged, by one of the main family and…I won," he said, "He was fourteen…son of an elder…bad thing…so I was…" he gagged, trying to find the words, the correct words to speak it, "It hurt so much…I actually came here before…but you were sleeping so…I…"

"Come here Neji," Naruto's right hand beckoned the boy closer, before pulling him into a hug, "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine now…"

There was a lot to think about, but he inwardly winced, feeling other persons familiar to him moving closer: just how many people did Anko speak to?

"I'm…sorry, I shouldn't be…crying, it's…" as Neji wiped out his tears, Naruto chuckled, lightly.

"Neji, oh Neji…crying is normal, it's part of the emotions that define us as humans…it's normal to cry when sad and laugh when happy, that's the point of being human…"

"I should go now sensei," Neji's reply came after a moment, of seeping in his teacher's words, "I'll come again soon!" and with that, the Hyuga boy dashed off, leaving Naruto ready to meet yet one more visitor, or pair of visitors: in the form of Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Mikoto.

As they entered the dimly lit hospital room, Naruto's light glowing blue eyes cast themselves on the pair. Sasuke's face a mixture of anxiety, scowl, grief and tension, while Mikoto's face was one of a woman resigned to knowing that she was one of the last of her clan, because of her son's doings, and that her eldest son had now become an S-rank missing Nin.

"Are we disturbing your rest?" as Mikoto asked that politely, Naruto shook his head.

"I think I slept enough…" he replied, only for Sasuke to butt in.

"Three months is more than enough for someone like you," the Uchiha heir replied, looking straight into Naruto's gaze.

"Sasuke!" Mikoto exclaimed, looking down angrily at her son, who, however, pointed his finger at Naruto.

"What!? He couldn't bring back Itachi-Oniisan! I won't believe he did it! I can't believe he did it!" Just as Mikoto was about to raise her hand, probably to slap Sasuke, Naruto exclaimed.

"There's no need!" Sasuke, already with his free hand ready to defend himself, looked perplexed at the grey-haired boy, just as Mikoto too was puzzled.

"I'm sorry he's…"

"There's no need…Itachi's actions were something I would have never expected too…it took me cracked ribs and a sword in the lung to understand it, to truly understand it…" Naruto's words were barely whispers, as his gaze showed his sorrow, "I still can't believe three months passed…it's just…yesterday, to me," as he finished speaking, Sasuke exclaimed.

"What did he say!? He had to have said something, right!?"

"Sasuke! Keep your voice down, it's a hospital, and Senju-san has woken up only today: you will keep your voice low or you will leave," Mikoto hushed her youngest son, as Naruto, shaking his head in dismissal of the issue, spoke again.

"He said…" _that I betrayed his trust? That I used him? That I never looked at him and at his sacrifices? But he never spoke a word…I would have been there, and yet he did everything alone…but if I say the truth, he'll hate Anko, right? And if I say nothing, it would still be…Oh…Itachi, were you expecting this question from your brother?_ "He wanted to test his strength, to prove that the curse of Hatred is stronger than the will of Fire, to prove that an Uchiha was stronger than a Senju," _to prove himself as better than me for Anko? Was there anything I could have said differently to convince him?_ "And then we clashed…and the results are as follow."

"I can't believe this…" Sasuke whispered, as Naruto replied, carefully choosing his words.

"He spoke of the power of the Uchiha's sharingan…the Mangekyo Sharingan," the grey-haired boy spoke quietly, "He used strange jutsus, only with his eyes, Susanoo, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi…"

"Did…Did he tell you if he had killed Shishui?" Mikoto's words interrupted Naruto's remembrance of the facts, as the Senju couldn't help but nod, recalling it.

"He said it had taken him just two years to make him his closest friend…and then he had killed him, but the reason…"

"The reason is the Mangekyo," Mikoto's words were sharp and precise.

"Kaa-san?" Sasuke asked perplexed.

"The Mangekyo sharingan is the evolution of the normal sharingan…it is written in the Nara Shrine's tablet that only through the death of someone precious, only through selling one's own happiness in exchange for hatred, would the Mangekyo be awoken, but those jutsus you spoke of, those eye techniques…nobody could have taught them to him…" as Sasuke's mother spoke, Naruto couldn't help but grimly reply.

"Well…a certain Madara did deliver me a right hand jab…at least: I suppose it was him, Itachi…he called him that when he interrupted our fight," at the boy's words a look of shock and incredulity spread through Mikoto's face.

"But Madara was killed during…" as Mikoto pointed that out, Naruto replied meekly.

"I don't know if it's Uchiha Madara or not, but I know Itachi called him that, the man preferred to be called Tobi…and that was all I got…maybe he just used it as a nickname?"

"Well…we interrupted your rest for enough, we should be leaving now, Senju-san…" as Mikoto turned to leave, Sasuke stopped for a second, looking at Naruto, before muttering meekly.

"Can you bring Itachi-Niisan back?"

"Sasuke…" but Mikoto's words were interrupted by Naruto, who smiled at the young Uchiha and replied.

"I will, Sasuke. You just keep studying and who knows, maybe by the time you graduate I'll have you in my Genin team, and we'll bring Itachi back together," and with those words, the raven haired boy nodded eagerly, before leaving together with his mother.

Naruto rolled his eyes over, three difficult conversations out of sight…and he already sensed the next one approaching him.

He just hoped this one would be easier, a long lot easier.

"Senseiiiii," the wail did make him wince as his ears suffered the high pitched squealing tones, just what time was it? Did they free the brats from academy hours just for him? He eyed nearly murderously Iruka, who had brought the entire damn classroom in his room. He shouldn't have been this touchy, he liked the kids, but really…couldn't he have brought them in at waves? One at the time? Three at the time? Suddenly, he was shoved in with *Get well soon* cards, flower bouquets, more cards, chocolate, and much more.

The murderous glare on Iruka lowered its strength when the chuunin-sensei finally said, after half an hour of Naruto thanking for the gifts.

"Well, now that you have all come over, we can go back to the academy for the reminded of the lesson…we agreed to do this as long as you all kept your part of the promise," and within moments the whining began.

"But…Aniki needs someone to cheer him up!" Kiba exclaimed, guilty, "And we saw Sasuke leave in his broody self!"

"Sasuke-kun needs a beautiful girl to warm his heart! He's not broody!" Ino replied.

"That matter is irrelevant, Sensei should need time to rest," Shino pointed out matter of fact.

"Troublesome…can I take a nap on the chair?" as Shikamaru asked that, pointing at the free chair, Iruka's forehead sported a tick mark, before someone else interrupted again.

"Sensei, did you use any cool jutsus during the fight!? Can you describe what they were like!?" Naruto didn't know wherever to be happy or not for Sakura's loyalty to his fan club…or be worried. Maybe it was the jutsu desire?

"Listen…" Naruto tried, but he was interrupted, obviously.

"Shino-kun is right! Stop bothering sensei!" Katsumi exclaimed, pushing away from Naruto's side a couple of kids.

"A-Ano…Katsumi-chan is right…" Hinata intervened too, albeit she didn't actually move from her spot.

"Munch Munch Munch…" Chouji, in the background, happily sported chips that he was just so casually eating…albeit he did drop an extra-sized pot of coffee, Kami bless the boy, under his bed…Naruto had mentally promised to increase the boy's grades, no matter what.

It took Iruka twenty more minutes to bring the rowdy class outside the hospital, that, and the help of three nurses and a pissed off Shizune.

Moments later, Iruka did return, sheepishly lowering his gaze to the floor.

"I didn't think they'd behave…but I hope they didn't…"

"Nah, it's fine Iruka-san…I'm never annoyed by kids: they're the future of the village, can't be angry at the future of the village," Naruto replied with a light chuckle.

"I see…" Iruka took a moment of silence, before asking, "Did you manage to convince Sasuke-kun to attend school again? Since…the incident, three months ago, he hasn't been…" at that, Naruto frowned for a second.

"He has skipped three months of school?" The question was making Iruka slightly sweat. He was the chuunin sensei, not the assistant of the chuunin sensei being asked a question of extreme importance.

"I tried but…"

Naruto sighed, before shaking his head slightly.

"That won't do at all…Iruka-san, can you tell him that, if he doesn't come to school since tomorrow, I will, once I'm out of here, and please, do repeat my words to the letter," the grey haired boy spoke quietly, but decisively, "grab his lame excuse of a haircut and fling him in a water dragon jutsu to launch him all the way to class…and I am serious about it."

With the underlying threat…maybe not subtle at all, Iruka nodded. Probably that would be all the motivation the boy would need.

"Did Tsunade-sama say when you'd be discharged? You remember last time, with the pink class? Well, this time, I actually managed to rein them in promising them a visit when you woke up…but now…" Iruka shuddered slightly, as Naruto couldn't help but chuckle.

"Just keep the lesson interesting, Henges should come easily to you right?"

"Yes…but I can't maintain them for the entire school hours!" Iruka replied.

"Just increase your control. Mind-Technique-Body Iruka-san, trust me, it works," and with those words, Naruto's face sported a small smile, "You'd better be going however, I'm sure that by now Katsumi and Kiba are halfway to the nearest ramen stall…together with Chouji."

"See you soon then Naruto-san," and with that, Iruka left his room.

Taking a sigh, and a deep breath, Naruto waited for the rest of the visits of the day.

Hiruzen Sarutobi actually managed to enter his hospital room without being sensed, obviously not a little feat, but completely plausible, seeing how it was the third Hokage one was speaking about.

"I'm angry with you, you know?" Naruto's word did have the desired effect, as Hiruzen winced, before replying.

"I'm…I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, Naruto-kun," the third Hokage's words did little good, as the grey-haired boy sighed.

"Really, the Kami of shinobis didn't know about the Yondaime's situation, about that night? It's funny, I kind of thought that, out of everyone in the village, at least two people had to know…turns out you were one of them, but maybe I'm wrong…just paranoid, you know?" Naruto's words fell down heavily, before his cold blue gaze settled behind the boy's eyelids.

"But you had to know…you were there…and you wouldn't have dropped the issue that easily, would you? You knew…and you were guilty about it, that's why you defended me from Danzo, and the Hokage, years ago…and fake-Jiraiya wouldn't have fooled you…you had to know, you taught him, didn't you? You had to have realized it, you had to have seen Jiraiya die...but Orochimaru didn't…but he was there, wasn't he?"

"Orochimaru took a Kyuubi's tail, and was knocked unconscious for a good part of the following week," Hiruzen spoke, not willing to keep up a charade that was clearly no longer needed, "But Minato didn't have…"

"I don't care, Saru," at that nickname, Hiruzen stopped breathing for a moment, "I truly don't care what excuses, what defenses, what reasons, you, him, or anyone else might have. I am here because of Konoha, because of my friends, my bonds, my people…but I am not here for him, I do not care if the world burns: I am not here for anyone but those I deem worthy of being protected, no amount of sickening nonsense will convince me otherwise."

"That…nickname, why did you use it?" Hiruzen was curious, and hoped to change the subject, what he didn't expect was the reply.

"Saru, for all your worth, you need to be pegged down in pride. Pride kills shinobis more than anything else. That's why I'm calling you Saru, not because I wish to offend you," as Naruto's words trailed off, it was Hiruzen, who took the ending of the sentence.

"But because I need to remind you that, no matter what, we're all monkeys, and you too are one…" the third Hokage breathed slightly more, before sighing, "Those words…how did you come across them? Was it a diary, or a journal?"

"It was an excerpt on salmons," Naruto replied, chuckling slightly, "You wouldn't know how much Tobirama-san trailed off while writing."

"Oh, I know…he assigned mission scrolls too…I still have the one in which he spoke of Hotaru's whiney attitude," at that, they both snickered, like they weren't even more than two generations apart.

"He trusted you not to do the thing the laws imposed, but that which your heart claimed true," Naruto spoke again, quietly, "He wrote the laws for them to be followed with a kind heart, not to be used to oppress. He gave the Uchiha a place in the village because he wanted to display trust, and not to put them under Anbu surveillance…and he was proud, extremely proud, of every single one of his students," Sarutobi simply nodded, a small smile on his lips.

"I thought you'd be chewing my head off for lying to you for all these years…why aren't you at least more vocal with me?" at the question, Naruto sighed.

"You had to obey the Hokage's orders I suppose…you were but a pawn, so I can't give you the complete fault…next time, if there is another life, do give the hat to someone better though," at that, Hiruzen nodded.

"So…what are you going to do now? Are you still going to become Hokage?" Naruto couldn't help but smile at the question, before whispering back.

"You can bet your dung laced kunais, Saru, I *am* taking that Hat." _And revenge will be sweet…so sweet._

*Somewhere else*

"I hate the rain," the voice came out metallically, as small wriggles of steam poured their way through the fissures in the man's armor.

"Han, come on, rain is a little price to pay for safety," the other man, a red-haired man with a goatee, replied.

"Roshi: you have a lava umbrella, I don't," the now named Han replied, pointing at the molten umbrella that was indeed preventing the water from even touching the man called Roshi.

"Did Fu manage to get Otaka-ka…Oka…what was his name?" as Roshi stuttered on the word, Han rolled his eyes, before replying.

"Utakata, and she reported that yes, she did, but the man wanted to bring his apprentice with him, Hotaru, so they'll take a bit to arrive," Han replied moving his hat to the side, letting the water that had accumulated till then fall in a small waterfall down below.

"What about the Ichibi?" Roshi's question made a tick mark appear on Han.

"Why are you asking me!? It's Sasori who has the spy network!"

"You're closer than him…" with a sigh, Han replied.

"Kid's ballistic, with the Kiri civil war and all: we've had the three tails running free for a while on Kiri's shores, so after we take care of that, we can move on with…Gaara, was it?"

"If you don't know how am I supposed to?"

"Yes, his name is Gaara," the voice came down slowly, and controlled, as a blue haired woman with black clothes and red clouds appeared, "and he, just like you, is in need of a place to call home."

"Well, a home and peace…let's just hope this doesn't end like Uzushio…" Han's voice turned a bit dark.

"Your past doesn't matter, Han-san," the blue haired woman replied, as her gaze went to the darkened eyes of the Jinchuuriki.

"I still hear them scream at night, for all their seals…I…" his voice trailed off, before shaking his head.

"Never mind that, you're right Konan-chan, it's the past. Past stays dead the moment we enter Akatsuki."

"This is one of those moments I'm glad I'm the young one: less dark stories to remember," Roshi's joking tone brought Han to snap back to attention.

"Yeah, who'd think this colossus is but eighteen years old? No, really Roshi, what the hell did you eat?"

"Steamed dumplings, steamed vegetables…"

"I say you drank steamed milk too…is there something you don't eat that went under steam?" at the question, Konan actually raised an eyebrow, before replying.

"Water, right?"

"Steam can…"

"Okay, that's enough Roshi: how's the new kid going?"

"He was a bit shocked," Konan pointed out, "When Madara brought him here he hadn't told him about his old sensei…typical Madara."

"Why does he insist on being called Tobi?" Roshi asked, as Han shrugged.

"Probably doesn't want to flaunt out his age…does he have a shine for Konan-chan, maybe?" Han replied with a teasing tone.

"Paper cuts hurt, you know?" Konan pointed out, as paper shurikens were already appearing from her hands.

"I withdraw my previous statement," and with that, they turned to watch the rain fall.

**Author's notes**

*Battle of VoTe, Done*

*Hospital visits, Done* (Kakashi is on missions, for those who would have asked why he wasn't present)

*Jiraiya's death revealed=it was obvious since a bit of chapters before this…I heavily hinted it, and subtly hinted it too. Cookie to all those who caught it!*

*For the Mangekyo= Listen, it's on grief and hatred stuff, it's clearly not the *best friend death* or things like that, Itachi didn't give the mortal blow to Shishui, so it's just grief…killing family does that too*

*Anko wasn't pregnant because laws of murphy claimed so…it was prepared…when it comes out…it's going to be fun!*

*Tobirama is simply fun to write like a sort of half-mad half genius person*

*The next chapter is probably going to be filler before the Canon days. Expect fluff. It's not pairing, but that doesn't mean fluff can't be there…and problems.*

*Naruto's kyuubi's power are, at the present, (for those who haven't yet understood them):

Chakra leeching through bite/kiss.

Seal implanting through Kyuubi's face appearing.

(related to above) Seal tracking/seeing through/tracking device

Floating blue fox hands with blue flames.

Blue flames of fire!*

Q&A

Naruto can do cold air, that's clearly Ice release! - No. Haku can create ice from the damn moisture at age fifteen like it was cakewalk. Naruto needs a body of water, unearthly chakra control, and should be age eighteen by the time he actually meets Haku.

Naruto should just destroy Konoha - Destroying one of the major villages, alone? For the only reason that there's a bastard in there and a couple of rotten apples? Violence is bad people! There are already thousands of Rinnegan Naruto/Sharingan Naruto/ Godlike Naruto fic in which Konoha gets trashed, destroyed, incinerated, etcetera…now, on killing Minato, we are all on the same wavelength…but you'll have to wait. Revenge is sweet when taken slowly.

Did the Akatsuki just…turn…what the…- Yes. And No. (I'm evil like that) Let's say Itachi's shock was second to none…for more than one reason.

The 2nd hokage didn't complete the jutsu of the Edo Tensei (Narutopedia) - I suppose he used some sort of watered down version: instead of killing humans for humans he used…chickens? Rats? And thus had a watered down replica/not eternal zombies

To Kagami (I'm addressing you personally because you clearly seem to know more Japanese than me, at the same time I'm writing it here so if someone else knows the answer he can reply too): Do you know the affectionate terms one can use in a relationship? I only know Kanojo (Girlfriend) and Koibito (lover) but that's all I have.

Inarealpickle: A boy who knows perfectly well that he has been missing from home one night, will reek of Anko's smell while confronting a legendary sannin (Who will pick it up, with her obvious supreme mother-senses) and who will, obviously, not survive it by lying…he simply knew.

Author's Final Notes

As you may have guessed, every *arc* revolves around a Truth that gets uncovered.

One's done, another is coming, and more will pop out with time… (chuckles)

Now, for the Naruto's team, I'm saying it right now, I have the following ideas. (all for maximum carnage)

Kunoichi all-out.

Ino-Katsumi-Sakura- Useless, Powerhouse, Useless (Just think at the slaughter!)

Trouble in the family

Hinata-Kiba-Shino- team eight, clearly…but we have a jealousy risk, a *sister* risk and…bugs.

We all love the canonverse

Sakura-Katsumi-Sasuke

Team Doujutsu

Hinata-Sasuke-Katsumi

Ino-shika-cho

(like on the tag)

Shikamaru-Hinata-Sasuke- a strategist, an unsure girl and a guy who thinks Naruto should only train him…

As for why there is no Neji-Tenten-Lee, the reason is that, by the time he gets Jounin, he *could* have them immediately as Jounin sensei, but Maito Gai would claim Lee, and for that the rest of the group would follow (With Gai having more age as a jounin) (Plus even Kurenai waited a year for a Genin team…or even more.)


	13. PC:Revolutions

Chapter thirteenth

Shades covering his eyes, Naruto smiled slightly, as he was finally discharged from the hospital. Actually, he wasn't being discharged: he simply discharged himself. They couldn't keep him in there if he was fine, and he had to regain his bearings, see what changed in three months of time…to his surprise, little to nothing actually changed. He was lucky they had brought some of his casual clothes, and his wallet, for when he would be, technically, discharged…but why wait till after lunch hour, and be forced to eat hospital lunch, when you can use your own legs to move to someplace better?

Ichiraku's ramen was still there, albeit there wasn't Ayame, and Teuchi was sporting a slight frown at seeing him enter, which soon turned to a sigh and a tap to sit at his usual spot by the counter…near the ramen's pot.

"So…discharged?" Teuchi's question came out lightly, as he already began preparing the ramen. There actually wasn't a need to ask what ramen the boy wanted: every time he came back from a mission wounded, which happened not frequently, but still did, he'd have beef ramen…with extra beef.

"Yes…" Naruto was actually awkwardly waiting for something, a sort of yell from the man he viewed as a surrogate uncle, or some sort of teasing for having broken Ayame's heart, or things like that…silence and acceptance wasn't in the possible outcomes of this meeting.

"You know, if it had been anyone else, I would have been surprised," Teuchi pointed out, "then I would have been angry for a while, probably ordering with my trusty metal ladle the guy to take responsibility…but I know you wouldn't have gone into this lightly, and if it happened…well, it happened," the old man sighed slightly, "And you will take responsibility…right?" the question was asked with a smile, but the previously mentioned metal ladle was there, ready to be used.

"H-Hai Teuchi-san," at Naruto's reply, the man nodded, before depositing a beef ramen in front of Naruto.

"On the house, congratulations are in order then: you're going to become a father."

There: it took the words of the ramen stall vendor to finally make Naruto sink in the fact that he, Naruto Senju, was going to become a father. It just was…he was going to become a father! There was going to be someone else who'd have his surname, sure, but it wasn't just that. He'd have someone who'd look up to him, who'd come to him, who'd cry and laugh and would need help and…

So Naruto finally panicked, as his eyes grew the size of watermelons realizing the sheer weight of what parenthood truly was. Luckily his heart could take it.

"You…still hadn't thought about it?" Teuchi's question remained in the air for a while, before a loud chuckle turned into a roar of laughter from the man.

"I was in the hospital for three months, in coma! And I have a lot in my mind right now!" Naruto weakly defended himself.

"Well, at least you're taking it with stride," Teuchi replied, "When I discovered I would become one, I outright fainted."

"I already slept a lot…I'm not going to faint…Kami, I'm going to be a father," Naruto muttered the last words more to himself than to anyone else.

"I'm going to have a little me or little Anko run around, and…and they'd call me Otou-san, and they'd become awesome ninjas or kunoichis and then…" as Naruto began babbling words after words, Teuchi kept the smile plastered on his face, as he could clearly see how much the boy was excited about it: he hadn't even touched the bowl!

"I'm sure he'd be a great shinobi or Kunoichi, but did you already speak about it with Mitarashi-san?" at the question, Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Well…no," as the boy sheepishly scratched the back of his head, Teuchi sighed.

"Listen, I'm giving you advice out of concern: a marriage works only when both parts do their job properly, and bringing up a children is difficult, extremely so if you have to do it alone," the man smiled slightly, "So you should probably speak with Mitarashi-san about it…albeit it will soon be Senju-san, right?"

Naruto's face blushed slightly: Anko Senju didn't have a bad ring to it, didn't it?

"I…I just don't know where to start," Naruto whispered, "I mean…what does one do to prepare for a marriage?"

"Nothing except smiling and saying yes to your mother," the female voice that spoke came from behind him, forcing Naruto to turn around as Anko, standing in a dark green one piece dress, always with the Senju symbol on, walked inside the ramen stall and sat down.

"Do I have to go back to the hospital?" Naruto whined, as Teuchi raised an eyebrow.

"Weren't you discharged, Naruto?" Anko simply chuckled at the man's question, before replying herself.

"Obviously he discharged himself…you know him," her hand tapped slightly on the counter, before looking right and left, and finally, deeming it secure, she whispered, "I'll have Dango Ramen, one bowl, quick and silent before the harpy finds me," teasingly adding then, "And by harpy, I mean my mother-in-law."

Teuchi silently nodded, getting to work on it as Naruto raised a perplexed expression.

"Your mother seems the one under hormones, not me, you know? She's truly, truly frightening when you cross her on health issues concerning her grandchildren…" the purple haired kunoichi whispered that while keeping her eyes around her, worried and tense as she took the prepared bowl and started eating in silence.

"The marriage is in two weeks, by the way," Anko pointed out, as Naruto had finally turned to stare at his sort of ramen-marsh with beef strips drowning in soggy noodles.

"I see…" the boy's chopsticks were suddenly engulfed by the sogginess, and when Naruto did actually pull, it came out as a single block, sort of like a ramen ice-cream…with the same consistency as jelly…just how that could actually happen was a mystery, but Naruto wasn't too keen in discovering it: he simply ate.

"You'll have to memorize the vows, go to the tailor for the kimono, your mother is going to be the acting priest, she's going to name you clan head, and…" as Anko spoke, in a forced monotonous voice, she took her time letting her smirk rise as Naruto seemed more and more puzzled with his strange ramen by-product. Until he finally turn his head with a snap to face his wife-to-be.

"Wait, what!?"

"Oh…Now we're listening, huh? Well, good to know…I ain't repeating, and you're paying," with that, Anko stood back up, her bowl finished, as she turned to leave at a fast pace. Naruto sighed, paying for the woman's bowl, before waving goodbye and moving to her side.

"No, really, what was that about naming me clan head?" as Naruto queried that, Anko sported a smirk, before replying with a sing-sung voice.

"Oh well, if you want to know, your Kaa-san has decided she's too tired to keep being the clan's head…too much paperwork," at that, the grey-haired boy started opening his mouth to say something, but was quickly shushed by Anko's next words, "and she also has the hospital to keep an eye on, so she's delegating the official clan's business to you…"

"She wants me to go to the council in her place," Naruto retorted, "And she certainly could use a Kage Bunshin, right?"

"A Kage what?" at Anko's puzzled expression, Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know what a Kage Bunshin is? Kakashi-Oniisan knows them…"

"Tell me what it is, hubby, before I smash your face against the road," the woman replied with a tick mark and a stretched smile, already clenching her right fist.

"A Kage Bunshin is a Bunshin that is solid, and can be used to do things…like paperwork, for once," as he pointed that out, Anko's face displayed a smile, a strange, perverted smile.

"Oh…I just *need* to see this, can you do it?"

"Ehm…No. It's really chakra intensive, and I don't actually need another type of Bunshin," as Naruto took a moment to try and understand why Anko was now sporting a sad frown, he decided to file any immediate change of emotions straight into the *she's pregnant* folder of his mind.

"Well, since it's a nice day and we're both escaping your mother's frantic search," Anko spoke with a small grin, grabbing Naruto's left arm, "Let's go to the park and think about names."

"Names? Shouldn't we wait to see if it's a boy or a girl?" at Naruto's question, Anko simply began to adjust her stride to his, before replying in a murmur.

"It's so that we can the Henge ourselves in different people and place sure-fire bets on the names, and then rack in…"

"You can't be serious," the Senju sighed dramatically, "Why would there be a need to raise money? The Senju's bank account and mine are both in the green."

"There is never enough money in a bank account," Anko retorted, "And…you're fine with me spending your money?" she was perplexed, and that made Naruto frown slightly.

"Hey, it's our kid we're talking about, and we're getting married, what's the big deal?"

"I had weeks and weeks of nagging from wives of clan's members, of the Konoha's clans stating how marrying in a clan for a female meant having to pass through their husbands for expenses…and I'm not going to beg you for money even if it kills me…" the purple haired kunoichi replied with a stiff expression, before her light hazel eyes softened, "And I thought you wouldn't be fine with this…or trusting like this…albeit I should have suspected you'd be a complete softie…you should see how terrorized are the Hyuga's clan wives…well, they don't show it…but they get branded with the cage seal, even if they marry main family members! It's nothing short than slavery, I tell you…like they were pieces of meat and…"

"Anko," Naruto spoke quietly, his eyes settling in a condoling tone, "I know, there's no need to make me remember," as he finished speaking, they finally reached a bench in the park, where they both sat down in silence, for a moment.

"Ah, the girly boy," Anko muttered after a moment, "is that on his forehead the…"

"Yes, it's the caged bird seal. A direct evolution and fusion of a slavery seal and a Doujutsu sealing tag, mixed with pieces of blood sealing, to prevent Doujutsu extraction…it has gone through five evolutions since birth, and Tobirama himself went on extreme tangents when he remembered about it," the grey haired boy's eyes went to the park, as the memories of what he had read on the seal's research came to him.

_The scroll was meant to be a space-time fuinjutsu scroll, nothing terribly difficult, involving summoning and de-summoning of coffins in allotted spaces. As Naruto read, however, he realized that there *was* something that was interesting, as a note at the side of the scroll._

"_Speaking of seals, have I already said how much I'd like Hashirama to come back from the dead, take a baobab up his ass, and sprout fiery molten branches out of his ears? Yes, molten branches, as in, already burned up. Nothing better than a spikey wooden spike up one's own ass to understand why you don't simply leave a group of stuck up asses to come up with their own solutions to a problem that has plagued the shinobi world for centuries: the stealing of doujutsus. It was a common practice, I must admit, that the Senjus used to steal the sharingan of their Uchiha enemies, and since blood permitted it, we also could deactivate it and activate it, actually making its usage less stressful than a normal Uchiha could ever hope to use. The Hyuga decided that seals would do the same thing, I can even relate the thought: You go to war; you get a seal that destroys your eyes when you get killed, or when they try and pluck them out by force. That's fine, really, I can understand that. So now explain to me why you had to start using it to solve clan related disputes, and why you modified it so that it can also inflict pain? A mean to get discipline from rowdy clansmen? Fine, but tell me how to remove it, I'm the second Hokage damn it! Nope, *In clan related business*, basically *Fuck off Nidaime and let us enslave those we don't like of our family*. And what do my brother's laws say? Yep, you have to leave it to the clan and obviously I can't change that law without the entire clan's approval. Damn fucking clans. We're a village! I am so *not* promoting slavery in my village. Worst thing? Those guys aren't even seeing what's going to happen, they claim their clan's mates are all *Good* and that I'm simply a pessimist. You know what? I…" the rant had then degenerated into a full-out hate of slavers, passing through the freedom thought, and then re-looping back to the argument at hand concerning coffins and the fact that mortuaries would never be low on business...ever._

_Tobirama had probably expanded on the argument somewhere, but knowing him, Naruto would probably have to read the side note of a side note related to a shopping list. _

_This was one of the times he actually hated the guy. Just how much did he write? And why couldn't he keep his thoughts organized?_

"He didn't like it?" Anko asked, curious.

"He outright hated it," Naruto replied, sporting a smirk, "The names he called them…the insults, damn…" the boy was outright chuckling, "anyway, let's just say that, while not being vocal about it, he did write about it…a lot."

Anko sported a light frown, before muttering.

"So you keep up to your nickname, huh?" she sighed, before slowly letting her head fall to her side, on his shoulder, "Finally some peace… I hate being fawned over every five seconds."

"Didn't we decide we were discussing names? For betting purposes?" Naruto retorted with a slight smile.

"But you said…" Anko's perplexed look was replaced with a frown, as she warned the boy with an angry scowl, "don't you…" _dare use my very own phrase against me_.

"There is never enough money in a bank account," the small growl coming from Anko was countered by the light chuckle of Naruto, before the Kunoichi bit her lip, looking around for a moment with a slight guilty face. Maybe if she told him now, he wouldn't hate her. He was a good friend, her best friend probably, and in years, maybe, who knows, she might have actually fallen for the boy too…but being forced into this situation wasn't something she could live with, especially because she wasn't the one who was getting the bad side of the deal: it was Naruto. She was marrying inside a prestigious and famous clan with enough money to pave the streets of Konoha gold, with decades of history and two Hokages within their midst, and while now low in number it would probably become great once more. She was probably in the middle of one of those nauseous fairy tales, where the knight in shining armor will save the princess from harm, and they'd live happily ever after. The only problem was that she wasn't a princess, she was a kunoichi from Konoha who had been ordered to create ties for Naruto, to keep him loyal, and whereas his loyalty be proven shaking, to report. In the worst case scenario, her orders were to kill him in his sleep. On the bright note, she wouldn't be going on seduction missions, because she was already in one. One that involved only the most loyal friend she would ever had, and of which friendship she wasn't even worthy to begin with.

"Listen Naruto," her voice was slightly trembling, as she spoke, "there is…"

"Oh my…what a pleasant surprise," and with those simple six words, Anko stood really quiet, and paled, as she slowly recomposed herself, while the amicable smile of Danzo showed itself for a brief moment, in front of the couple. How could he know, how could he actually know they were there, or that she was about to spill the beans? How could he simply appear, out of thin air, right in front of them, with that smile that seemed all but friendly, especially to her? This was the subtle message of his appearance: he knew, he would always know whenever she'd try something, and he'd be there. He'd be there and he'd be ready to silence her. Not harming her, no, that wouldn't be effective…but the child? Oh he could harm the child, those next to her, and much, much more. She knew she had no choice in the matter, she knew she should just be happy and smile…but her pride, her honor, her heart…they were against all of this…but she was too weak to refuse, too weak to do anything. She was weak. She was a discarded weakling, and just knowing that made her heart cringe, knowing she could be bossed around by stronger foes made her shiver, knowing that the boy next to her was genuinely caring for her and their child, knowing all of it, how could she actually smile and be happy? Knowing her happiness was meant to end, eventually? Knowing she'd betray him even more harshly than anyone before? But what could she do? What? Nothing.

Nothing, and that was the reason she stood silent, next to him, the morning just got colder, and would keep getting colder, and colder…

"Shimura-san," Naruto replied with a light bow of the head, eying Anko who seemed kind of tense and…scared? Did something happen between the two? Maybe it had something to do with her work at the interrogation department…could be something about privacy issues?

"Senju-san, Mitarashi-san," Danzo replied, "It is quite a coincidence that we have met here in such a bright day, isn't it?"

"Especially when the darkness usually comes out at night," Naruto answered back, "But I'm not quite sure coincidences exists any longer in our world, so why not…get straight to the point?"

"Alas Senju-san, some things need to be spoken…in a more private place. Might I invite yourself and your future wife for dinner, perhaps in the following weeks?" as Danzo spoke without pleasantry, nor ass-licking, Naruto could actually understand that this was the same sort of game that the third Hokage had to deal with, if not daily, at least monthly.

"I'll need to make sure there is no planned honeymoon in that period of time, but I will let you know a suitable period," _eventually_.

"Of course, just…I was informed by our common…friend, that you had an incredible insight in the Nidaime's actions and words, a secret journal of the second Hokage, perhaps?" at the question, Naruto replied with relative ease.

"There's an entire library of it, truthfully, Tobirama-san was extremely passionate and dedicated to his…handwriting."

"I see…if I may pry, as a personal request from me, that is…was there anything mentioned on my regards in any of those journals?" at the specific interest, Naruto's face softened considerably, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by neither of the two near him.

"If I pinpointed the nicknames correctly, you should be mentioned as Spiky, right?" the absurd nickname did make Danzo tense his shoulder, before giving a slight and nearly imperceptible nod.

"Then there was something…something about coming out clear with one's own intentions, instead of mulling dark thoughts in the background, because even if they are made with the best of intentions, nothing can truly grow in the darkness, without the light to see the correct path," actually, Naruto knew perfectly well what Tobirama had said, and it wasn't at all that. It was more _"Spiky is brooding as always, can't he just man up, and tell me he wants to be Hokage? I'd deliver him the paperwork with glee in five seconds tops. A Hokage needs to be a thinker, but also someone who can act: one needs to be able to walk straight up and make his claim, with the knowledge of being in the right. If this goes on I'm going to have to grab dung-kunai Saru as next Hokage…I'm sure he's going to institute it as an art…"_

"I thank you for having toned down his possibly offensive comments," Danzo replied with a slightly amused tone, and, at Naruto's embarrassed expression, he added, "I read his mission scrolls too, Senju-san, I know perfectly well how he used to express himself through his…handworks," with those carefully chosen words, Danzo turned to gaze at the sun for a moment, "Well, it seems the Darkness is going to recede to its humble evil lair, I await a possible dinner date with trepidation, obviously."

Seconds later, he was gone, and both Naruto and Anko eased themselves, slumping down on the bench.

"Did he just…make a joke?" Naruto muttered meekly, looking at Anko for confirmation, but the purple haired Kunoichi seemed to be trembling slightly.

"Anko? Is everything alright?" a hand moved itself to the forehead of the woman, who pushed it away abruptly, grabbing a hold of Naruto and kissing him, straight there. It sounded more like a kiss out of desperation, like something that needed to be done in order for her to calm down. A minute later, she broke off the kiss, gasping for air.

"What's the problem Anko? You can tell me, I promise I'll listen," as Naruto whispered that, worriedly, the woman sported a teasing smile, before chuckling.

"It's the hormones I tell you, the hormones. That, and it's…work related, yes, T&I secret stuff, you know…" but deep down, she was shivering. Albeit it was a strangely warm end of January, she was shivering.

"Here, you're freezing cold: why didn't you grab a jacket?" with those words, Naruto removed his own jacket, placing it gently around Anko's shoulders.

"My original plan was intercepting you before you entered the Ramen stall, and then bring you home to warm your heart with some home cooked food," the woman pouted, nestling her head on Naruto's shoulder, "But then I thought *Scrap that, I want dango ramen*, and I had you offer me food."

"So, you left food in the oven or on the fire?" Naruto queried back, as Anko's mouth opened for a second, in a perfect O, before closing it with a light grin.

"Obviously not! I thought that, once you realized the really good intentions little me had, you'd offer yourself up as a cook due to my…conditions?"

"Now that I've got the time to ask…Dango ramen, really?"

"What can I say? I suggested, Teuchi did it, I liked it," the woman's slight sigh of relief was making Naruto strangely embarrassed, but he decided to push the thought of Anko having soft cheeks in the back of his head for the moment, especially because he also knew the girl needed but a second to fling a kunai straight at his head.

Not that she would…but he didn't place it out of the Hormones' capacity to do so.

"Anyway, if it's a girl, I'd call her Anko," obviously, the sentence was said with a chuckle behind the words, so Naruto didn't actually think she was serious…albeit he could see the mayhem of both answering the call for the same name.

"Raidon?" Naruto suggested, only to be given a dead-panned stare from Anko.

"Thunder god? Try again, something less boasting please, something like Shina, for example."

"That means virtue…what about Suki?"

"Beloved huh? And what about Shuu then?"

"Responsible? With us as parents? Please, I'm not that mad yet," Naruto chuckled, as Anko gave him a light eye rolling and a pout, before pointing out.

"What about Yumi if it's a girl, and Yoshi if it's a boy?"

"Beauty and Best? Well, if it's a boy we could call him Tobirama, right?" at the sparkling eyes of Naruto, Anko relented with a sigh.

"Fine, if it's a girl it's Yumi, but if it's a boy it's Tobirama…but I'm sure it's going to be a girl," she replied wistfully.

"We will see, you know, we will see," Naruto replied.

"And if there are twins?" At Tsunade's question, coming with a sporting tick mark from behind the two, her hands on her hips, Naruto replied with practiced ease.

"We could call the second female Tsunade, in honor of her beautiful and kind grandmother, especially kind, extremely kind grandmother," the boy said, standing up at the same time as Anko, both trying to back away.

"And what about the aunt Shizune, huh?" Shizune queried, from the other side, blocking their secondary exit point.

"Well, if there are actually three female twins, that name is in too, obviously," Anko pointed out, before moving carefully behind Naruto's shoulders, whispering, "You're the man, protect me!"

"Fine!" before Tsunade or Shizune could do anything, Naruto had already gone through the single hand sign required for one of his trademarked jutsus.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu! See you tonight Kaa-san, Oneesan!" as the thick mist sprouted from the boy's surroundings, the couple actually disappeared from view.

Once the fog dispersed, Tsunade and Shizune looked at each other with stupefied and perplexed faces.

"He must have entered the rebellious age…I knew she'd corrupt my poor Naru-chan!" and, falling prey to her own fake-hormones, Tsunade mock-cried on Shizune's shoulder.

"Now, now, Tsunade-sama, no need to cry, it's just a phase…"

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, but by then, just as Naruto was in his kimono, and Anko in her white one, both sitting in front of Tsunade who would be the priest for their marriage, the boy had realized that something was…off.

It hadn't been Ibiki practically begging for forgiveness, nor Kurenai's grief over the loss of a substantial income from the fan club's funds, nor the lower number of fans. It clearly wasn't the marriage's location: the inner garden of the Senju compound had cherry blossoms in permanent bloom, flowers, plants and a wonderful white gazebo. It wasn't the food, because there was as much ramen as there was dango, as much healthy food as there was fat one. It wasn't the people invited, because both Danzo and Hiruzen were there blocking off each other's vibes, and while Katsumi had come together with her mother, he hadn't said anything about it: the girl was a minor, she couldn't hold it against her, and he was an adult, he could tolerate the woman's presence for a single day. They did gift the couple with some Fuinjutsu books, something the Uzumaki clan had great pride in…while telling that the Hokage couldn't come because of a terrible flu case.

The clan's head were there too, so someone missing wasn't the problem, and furthermore, every clan had brought a gift, so, what really was the problem?

The Akimichi had brought as a gift, much to Tsunade's distaste and Naruto's supreme joy, over five-hundred kilos of coffee in grains. At the sight Naruto had actually managed to hug Choja, the Akimichi's clan's head, who had returned the hug with a hearty laugh. His wife, on the other hand, had given to Anko a collection of cooking books…that Naruto would probably end up reading.

Shikaku Nara had gifted them a wonderfully carved Shogi board, while his wife had subtly slipped to Anko…health products for night activities. To say the purple haired kunoichi actually blushed was to say more than enough.

Inoichi Yamanaka actually was sporting a happy face, possibly because he was sure his little angel wouldn't try anything with a married boy, and also because marriages always made his wife happy, thus, more night time. His gift had been in the form of a set of Torture and Interrogation books for Anko, but Naruto *did* say he'd read them later too. Inoichi's wife had instead opted to hand over to Naruto a "How to paternity" book.

The Hyuga clan had brought, obviously, furniture. It was to be said that Neji did his best to act as serious as possible in the presence of the main family clan, and revert to a child the moment they disappeared from sight. The furniture was actually something both needed and, obviously, thoughtful gifts were the Hyuga's specialty. The reason was that, now that they would be married, and thus sharing a room, they truly couldn't stay in the same spot in the compound, and there was this really nice cottage near the outer edge of the area, that Anko had fallen in love with at first sight. Obviously, Naruto had conceded: the purple haired woman got away with pretty much anything, as long as she had a Kunai and hormones to blame.

The Aburame clan had actually gifted some honey bees hives that were now buzzing in a corner of the garden, trained to not attack intruders unless commanded. Shibi had subtly suggested that honey with coffee was a double god-sent, and judging by the seriousness with which the Aburame's clan's head had spoken, Naruto had been inclined to believe him.

There were many other gifts, of various nature and form, but all of them weren't the cause for Naruto's mind nagging at him that something, there, was wrong.

His gaze had fixed on Anko, who was finishing her vows. There. Now he understood what was wrong. He had always thought she wouldn't have much of a problem with it. She had insisted on it, but those had been his mother's words. Truthfully, in those two weeks he had barely had the time to think, to stop and ponder. This wasn't what she wanted, but she was going along with it for him…and he was pretty much doing the same. All he needed to do was to say no, to stop this, to…

"And do you accept to honor your vows, Naruto Senju, heir of the Senju clan?"

"I do," why wouldn't he? Was there anything that could prevent him from doing so?

There was a light snarl, somewhere in the back of his head, but it lasted only a second, to be replaced with another equally light seething growl. He pondered for a second to ask what it was all about, but resorted to bit his tongue. It wouldn't do to ask out loud, with all the people gathered, why the Kyuubi had taken that precise moment to start growling in the back of his head. The rest of the marriage was a blur of people making congratulations, children playing, more congratulations, and finally, with a little help of chakra to enhance his strength, bride carrying to the cottage.

Then again, that was what a husband was meant to do, right? Consummate the marriage.

*During the Night-Mindscape*

Naruto's eyes were jolted open by a ferocious snarl. Two enormous cold blue eyes looked at him, with distaste and anger clearly evident in their icy being.

To say the Kyuubi was pissed would be an understatement.

**I hate being forced awake!** She snapped, looking at him, before softening her features, **You have no idea what I'm saying…right?**

Naruto shook his head, he vaguely recalled some light couple making, because of Anko's state, but that was really all there was…he hadn't done anything, unless it was subconscious?

**Meh,** the fox sighed, **I suppose I shouldn't have jumped on you like that, since we're friends…how much time did I nap? And who's the pineapple girl?**

"Ku-chan, she's…well…my wife and it's been…four years and half?" he hesitated: maybe the fox would be pissed about the Hokage ordering him not to loosen the seal…albeit it had been because of Jiraiya…who was the Hokage from the beginning? Then, why bring him on that training trip? Oh…he didn't want Kumogakure to take him…he'd sell the Hyuga clan's head out rather than him. So that was all there was to it, even then, it wasn't to protect him…but to shackle him and keep him put.

**Yeah four years and half sound good,** the fox stirred slightly, before turning to the side, using her tails to grab the sheets of her giant bed, and then pushing them away, to reveal, beyond the bed's covers, on the white mattress, stood a giant replica of the Iron Seal.

"So…the choker was a bluff?" Naruto queried, as the blue fox simply chuckled, before shaking her head.

**Oh, no…the Choker is nothing short of the on and off, the seal itself *is* the bed. Destroy the bed, destroy the seal, and I'm out of here. Well…you'd probably die by then, but those are details.** The Kyuubi winked, **and I truly like this place. Sleeping all day and night, nobody to disturb you, really, I'll stay here if you don't mind.**

"Ehm…okay?" Naruto was sheepishly scratching the back of his head by now. Why was the Kyuubi, valued to be the most fearsome of bijuus, the one that had attacked Konoha and all…so…meek? Playful? Sleep-willing? He'd say *lazy* but it usually wasn't to be given to females…right?

**Now, before I go back to napping,** a small yawn escaping the fox's lips, **let me tell you something important: I was jolted awake when someone, earlier on, began pouring external chakra into your system, forcing you to accept the marriage vows, and it stopped only after you finished *consuming* the marriage. So, since that prevented me from going to sleep, I started getting jumpy.**

"External chakra?" at Naruto's question, the fox nodded once more.

**Genjutsus, for one, require opponents to inject their chakra in your brain and then mold said chakra to grant illusions, but you know that, so let's just cut the chase, so I can nap…someone forced you, and you didn't even realize it…**

"Great," the boy groaned, "Now Anko obviously thinks I'm doing this for selfish reasons, while all I wanted was to say no, and give her time to think about it…what do I do now?"  
**You should probably try and pin down *who* did this to you, since it's not the first time it happened. Then I suggest doing something…without having to wake me up that is,** another yawn, a small stretch, and the Kyuubi, the almighty nine tails, dropped herself beneath the covers, the movement forcing Naruto to roll to the side, and get grabbed by one of her tails.

"It happened before?" at the question, Naruto winced, being brought right to the side of the sleeping Kyuubi, who seemed to be latching onto him like a girl would with a teddy bear…now, if only she weren't a nine-tailed fox, it would be better: the fur was getting in his mouth.

**Yeah…yawn…sometime…ago…night**

"I can't believe I get a Bijuu who sleeps…hey!" Naruto exclaimed, "What about Katsumi-chan!? She's a Jinchuuriki too! Hey, you listening?" seeing how the fox was already lightly snoring, the grey-haired boy pouted, before rolling his eyes and returning to sleep…what else could he do? He could mull over what this brought up: someone wanted him and Anko to stay together, but why? And if it already happened before, then when was it? Was it when he and she…but why? Did they think they'd be together afterwards?

A small doubt, a stupid idea, crept within his head, only to be swiftly removed…it wasn't possible that Anko had done that: she was never one for Genjutsus, and she wouldn't have had that sad lingering gaze when she said her own vows…it was something else, it was someone else…but whoever he was, he'd pay.

Seething rage took the place of his doubt, as whoever had pulled the strings, wherever he was, would pay…but he needed to find out the *Who*…and the *How*.

*Outside the mindscape*

Anko slowly opened one eye, to make sure that Naruto was indeed sleeping. She had seen him hesitate in saying his own yes. She had feared for a moment that everything would have gone for the worse, and that he'd say no, he'd rethink about it…instead he hadn't. He had taken responsibility till the end, he had acted like a man any woman should be proud to claim their own husband…and yet her heart was aching. This would destroy her, she knew it. This wasn't like the Stockholm syndrome, of jailors and prisoners that tended to be developed in places where one side took care of another, one chained or shackled or standing behind bars, or tied to a chair ready to be tortured. She knew the reason her heart ached was because, while she had had a fling with Ibiki himself, their talks had always been about nothing more than special friends, as they both were too *tough* to go on the whiny and bitchy path of girlfriend and boyfriend. Here? Here she actually thought about it. When you're put in a situation where the odds should be against you, like any seduction mission usually was, and then the odds suddenly were nothing, instead being a boon…you felt cheated. She felt cheated. She felt cheated not only because she was starting to feel genuinely happy about this arrangement…but because she was actually…

She closed her open eye shut once more, briefly cursing for the wave of nausea that hit her, forcing her to stand up and trudge to the bathroom. There, she looked at the mirror, taking in her naked form. Her purple hair, while spikey of its own, hadn't been obviously tied in the usual pineapple way, and had been left to reach shoulder-length on her back. She had eye-bags, carefully hidden by make-up, but now clearly visible. She was a mess, physically, because of what she now held within her, and mentally, because she couldn't come up with the reason why she had done it…this was torture.

Anyone without a moral, or a principle would have been happy. Naruto was kind, loyal, gentle, willing to go out of his way for anything, every quirk and crave she had was answered in the split second later. She had tried to keep it down, to go without saying them out loud…but he knew, he was good at reading persons, and he knew what she wished even before she spoke of it…and that made him even more difficult to be with. She hated lying to him, she hated not telling him the truth, and she knew he would never, ever, let it go…she knew it.

_It was a bright day for three moody teenagers: at least, one was a teenager, while the other two were still kids… highly lethal kids, but still kids. They were going to be assigned another Jounin sensei, and there was no need to actually be nervous on which teacher would be: while there were many who would take Itachi as their personal pupil, few would take Naruto, and as of recent, nearly no-one would take Anko…to take all three, willingly? Considering the fifteen minute of lateness, the three already knew who it was…and a silver-haired Jounin decided to amuse them by appearing just then._

_Kakashi's lateness depended principally on how much he hated a team. Not that anyone knew of it, since this was the first team he had passed, but it had a purpose: to make the team bond. Knowing full well how his team was tightly knit, no matter what, he decided he could simply have them wait for just fifteen minutes, before showing up._

"_Well…Yo!" as Kakashi waved at them, the three looked back at him with a united *sigh* front, before shaking their head in unison._

"…_You're making fun of my team bonding exercises, right?" at his following words, the three looked at each other with fake surprise and shock, before snickering._

"_Hai Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said with a chuckle._

"_Really, oldie here should have known we'd prank him," Anko grinned, as Itachi, simply, sported a smile._

"_It's silver hair, not grey hair and certainly *not* white!" Kakashi whined, before sporting his eye-smile, and saying, "Well, let's get to know each other then, as a team bonding exercise!"_

"_But we know each other already!" Anko exclaimed back, but Kakashi shrugged._

"_Fine…" Itachi sighed, "My name is Itachi Uchiha, I enjoy visiting Japanese cafés, and my dream is to bring peace to the shinobi world, I like any type of tea, and dislike those who think violence is the solution to any problem."_

"_My name," Anko pointed out, "Is Anko Mitarashi, I like doing tea ceremonies, and I want to kill, butcher, slaughter, annihilate, burn down, and if possible torture, my ex-sensei for what he did, I like dangos and dislike anything sour," as she hissed that, the other shivered slightly._

"_I'm Naruto Senju," the boy whispered, a small amount of pride seeped in at the surname, however, "I like reading, my Kaa-san, my older sister Shizune, Itachi who can't survive his brother without me," Itachi flinched at that, but said nothing, "Anko who would die from stomach aches if she ate only dangos," this time the purple kunoichi was the one to flinch too, "Kakashi-sensei when he's punctual," that made the silver haired Jounin eye-smile, maybe…just maybe, he'd get there punctual, one day, "and I dislike what Orochimaru did to my friend, I dislike people who tell lies and I absolutely hate people who lie to me…my dream is to become Hokage, to know the truth."_

Those had been bad times, but that had, with time and patience, turned for the better…but the question, the dreaded question that she was mentally asking herself in the bathroom was the one that made her feel sick within her very soul…could she actually fall in love with Naruto? In the years to come, he'd probably become a great man, a great husband, a great shinobi…and their child would be loved, clearly…there was no excuses, even on her side…but would he still love her afterwards? She could sabotage him becoming the Hokage, she could try…but it would break his heart if he found out. Could she do it? Could she be extremely selfish? Could she order him to stop from knowing the truth for her? She knew that, while he would refuse, he would never completely say no to her, and little by little, with time, he'd probably end up renouncing it, for her…he didn't love her, but he felt obligated to her, and…

He was probably the one with Stockholm syndrome of the two: she was the older one, the knowledgeable one, the experienced one, he looked up to her judgment, and she could…

Anko shook her head, as she took one last deep breath, before going back to bed. As the covers slid easily on top of her, she couldn't help but snuggle against the warmth of Naruto's body. Looking at his features, she couldn't help but smile slightly, as his face seemed to have a stern and tense look, even in his sleep. Obviously she knew he was faking sleep, ninjas usually had really light sleeping, and Naruto's keen hearing was more than enough. She thought about teasing him, actually, but refrained, preferring to simply close her eyes, take one last deep breath, and go to sleep. For once, strangely, she could actually sleep without problems, if she wanted to: enemies would have to pass through Naruto's light sleep, so she *could* slumber…but the wrenching feeling in her guts wasn't helping her at all.

*Next morning*

The sun rose and its rays decided that no, the glass window wouldn't stop them from pestering at the newly made couple. The one that woke up first was Naruto, who begrudgingly trudged out of the room in an extremely silent way. Anko realized he was gone simply because she no longer felt his body to her side, and because she had already woken up a couple of minutes before. Sleeping with someone was strange. At least in her mind, it should have been about two people troubling each other while trying to find a comfortable posture. Instead it had been soothing, feeling somebody's warmth right next to her, somebody's light breath.

When she stood up, to the side of the bed, she winced slightly, before deciding that a nightgown would be all that she needed…she didn't expect nor suspect anyone would come by the morning afterwards. Usually couples rutted like rabbits for the following days, right? At least…that was her idea of marriage. She shook her head, grabbing hold of the elastic to tie her hair back in its usual form, and then, satisfied, descended downstairs.

The cottage was a two floor wooden construction: three bedrooms, on the upper floor, a small bathroom for each, and in the lower floor a kitchen, an office and a living room. By the smell that hit her nostrils, she was sure where Naruto was. The kitchen wasn't anything too grand, but neither was it something trivial. A rectangular table, long enough to hold six chairs on each side, a kitchen counter that stretched in a L-shape way in the corner, a fridge, a microwave, a radio in a corner.

"Should I expect this every morning, Koibito?" as Anko chuckled that, getting her seat at the table, Naruto turned around, already in his casual clothes, a smile on his face.

"Well, as long as I'm here, I can avoid you eating too many dangos, right?" at the rhetoric question, the pancakes hopped out of the pan and straight into two dishes on the boy's stretched arm.

"You are *not* lowering my dango intake," Anko replied, her eyes narrowing while her face sported a fake scowling.

"I'll be subtle about it," the grey haired boy replied with a chuckle, as maple syrup, butter, and the rest were brought to the table, together with a jug of milk.

"Here I was thinking you'd be drinking coffee…" the purple haired kunoichi's nose flared for a moment, before she slightly growled, "You already did, right? Where's my coffee, huh?"

"Coffee is bad," Naruto replied, nodding, "And I'm being a hypocrite right now, live with it," he added.

"_I'm a hypocrite too…"_ the thought quickly left Anko's mind. No need brooding over it: she would have to live with this situation, and hope everything would at least turn fine…or similarly fine.

"Oh really…but I want coffee too! With peanut butter jelly in it!" at the exclamation, Naruto sighed.

"I'm actually tempted to let you try coffee with peanut butter jelly, but I love you too much to let you suffer through that," with those words, Anko's hand suddenly clenched, as her stare went blank for a second.

It was meant to be a pointless conversation, right? The boy had to be lying about the love part, right? It had been what, two weeks? Did he already have feelings for her beforehand? Was this just normal talk? What…

"I know," Naruto whispered quietly, "I might have been a crappy *boyfriend*, but that won't stop me from being a good husband, and a good father."

"_Stop this. Stop it. Stop…why…stop being this so damn perfect…stop it!"_ Anko's hands were already white from her clenching, and suddenly, she didn't realize when, but she was on the floor, crying, with Naruto next to her, worried, his face showing a light fear, but mostly, anxiety and worry.

"Just…just why?" she sobbed, not even knowing why she was asking a question that Naruto would have no idea what it was referring to, but still the boy, or maybe the man, did give an answer.

"Because I'm here, and I won't go anywhere…I have already changed the people's view on me, I am the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and people smile when I walk in the streets, people stop and look at me and bow their head in shame for what they did…but the simple reason I can give you…is that this is what I am…" he chuckled, "Didn't make much sense, did it?" he added as a question.

No, it actually didn't. He answered *nine* to a question about the weather, but still Anko could understand the reason behind it: he had been abandoned once, just like she had. Only she had first lost her parents, then Orochimaru had abandoned her. Naruto had been abandoned, and betrayed repeatedly, by his very own parents, who were still alive, who had a daughter that was being spoiled while he watched from the sidelines, and now…now he had his own responsibilities, his own family…he wouldn't leave it for nothing in the world…which meant that, when the time would come…

She hugged him, tears running down her cheeks. She was a horrible person, she knew it, she was obeying orders and yet there she was, she just…she simply didn't know.

She didn't know if what she was doing was part of the mission or not anymore.

"It's alright, everything's alright," Naruto whispered, gently caressing Anko's hair, as he hugged the older kunoichi. They had four years of difference for barely two weeks, and right now they had at least five years of difference, yet there she was, a tough and stern T&I interrogator, damn, it was Anko, and yet there she was, crying. He knew hormones sent pregnant women into cravings and humor changes…but this was a bit too farfetched to consider it the work of hormones.

That's when it ticked in to him.

Anko was clearly hurting from being with him. He had been put under a Genjutsu to force him to say yes to Anko. Now, when he had told her that he loved her, in a figure of speech, she had become a crying heap on the ground…somebody had forced Naruto to marry Anko…to harm her.

That was the thought in his head now, it had to have been somebody subtle, and he had played in their hands. It was obvious that he could have stopped it, if he had just stood up and said no, but he had thought that Anko wouldn't have let his mother boss her around, if she didn't want it too. So this was his fault.

He should have said no from the beginning. He should have done something, anything, to stop this from happening.

Why would someone force Anko to marry him, however? There were reasons he could come up with: with him married, he was out of the market, so maybe now girls belonging to other families would be free for heirs of other families. Maybe someone wanted Anko settled, but Ibiki had gone to great lengths to beg to be forgiven, when the cheatings had turned out to be false, and it wasn't possible it had been him, or his new girlfriend. So who was it? For a Genjutsu to work that way, without him noticing, it could have been Kurenai…but why? He doubted the Genjutsu mistress, the nickname given to her, would have done that, to Anko of all people…

Orochimaru? Just how did he manage to get into Konoha? Well, obviously he would have managed, but why? To mess up with her? No, it couldn't be him.

The Hokage? Why would he hate Anko? It wasn't like she had betrayed…

Oh.

Naruto's eyes widened for a second, and in his stopping to move, Anko's teary eye moved slowly upwards, to look at the man's face. That was standing still, frozen in shock.

"Itachi…" he muttered.

It all made sense.

Itachi, the idiot, the bastard, the thrice damned cretin…he had orchestrated it...He had felt betrayed.

Killing his clan was the excuse. He had confessed to Anko, she had refused him, and he had snapped. Deciding for revenge, he had first looked for the strength to do it. Then he had tested it by killing his clan, and finally he had left Konoha. The Kyuubi had told him she had felt the Genjutsu once, before. It had to have been him: a delayed Genjutsu would have had all the time to seep in his brain, with him three months in a coma…all for his revenge on Anko…to make her suffer. Maybe he had spread the rumors of her cheatings? Nobody would have thought that Itachi was untrustworthy…

So that meant that Itachi had been present at his marriage, and with all those present, and Madara to help him…was it that impossible? Nobody would have looked for him there, and he hadn't used his sensor ability at all during the day…It was improbable. Not impossible.

And in their world…improbable was more than enough. Even though he had seemed so angry at him, during that battle, even though he had spouted such hateful words…in truth he hadn't set his ire on him, but on Anko…maybe the dressing in the red plated armor, like the one of Madara, was meant to display precisely that: he was putting up a play in front of him, while in truth he was aiming at something completely different. His words now made sense…he knew because HE had been the one to throw him into her arms, because he knew, he knew and he had done the same with her…just how much of it had been a Genjutsu, and how much the truth? Naruto was seething, seething with rage and anger ill repressed…but he'd show him, he'd show Itachi that he would not win, he would not ruin Anko's life, or his…

And when they'd meet again, he would break every single bone of Itachi's body, and spit out all the stupid, idiotic reasoning he had, before bringing his battered body back to Konoha.

"Koibito?" at the question, asked with a small voice, Naruto's blue eyes, hid behind his shades, descended down towards Anko's worried face.

"Nothing…it's nothing," and with that, he lightly kissed her tears away, surprising Anko. Usually, it was her who started all contacts… "Stop crying, it doesn't suit you…"

"Do I get dangos with seaweeds?" she asked back, hesitantly, lightly biting her lower lip.

"I'll do my best to have them ready," he replied in a low murmur, sporting a small smile.

"Good," was all that she whispered letting herself be cuddled by Naruto…it was soothing. It made her feel…safe.

*Two Years later*

"I will take this mission, and with that I should be finished with the Jounin examinations," had any other chuunin come by, and spoken like that, he would have been put down a couple of pegs and be forced to gate duty. This, however, was the man known as Naruto Senju, sixteen years old, known as the Ghost lance of Konoha, the Nidaime no Sairai, the Frozen Wave. The last nickname had been a recent addition, when, during one of his A-ranked missions, he had been tasked with freeing a group of Genins held prisoners by two high-level missing Nins. The Nins had died, but the Genins, obviously, had to speak about his skills used during the fight around.

Anko had yelled at him for the following three days, since now his Bingo Book bounty sported a twelve million ryo worth. Asuma Sarutobi, having been in the Fire Guardians, was as high as thirty-five millions, and yet he was perfectly fine…that didn't mean anything, at least to Anko's eyes.

The Jounin examination was nothing more than a formality, one in which chuunins declared themselves ready to take higher level missions on a solo base, and from there on worked to reach the quorum. The requisite was that at least one S-rank mission had to be completed in solo, if one wanted the title of full-fledged Jounin. Otherwise A-rank missions were enough to become a Tokubetsu Jounin, depending on the area of expertise.

"S-rank mission, aid of rebel forces in reclaiming the land of the moon, assassination of Raiga Kurosuki, Anbu level missing Nin of Kirigakure, his brigand gang, Ishidate, Karenbana, Kongo, also known as the *Three Wandering Ninjas*, and Kajika, known as the *Water shark* of Kirigakure, and removal of Shabadaba from the land of moon throne, which he has achieved through the death of Kakeru Tsuki, the previous ruler, and the imprisonment of the remaining alive heir of the throne and his son. Your mission is to aid the loyal forces of Getsugakure, eliminate all enemy resistance, restore the rightful heir to the throne, and make sure his loyalty takes a turn towards Konoha's best interests: the land of the Moon holds many casinos and banks, and its wealth would bring prosperity to our village. Is the mission clear?" as Minato spoke quietly, Naruto, in his blue metal plated armor, nodded. His face was stern, and serious, resembling the picture on the wall, to the side of the office of the Hokage. The only problem was that the picture represented the Nidaime Hokage, and not Naruto Senju.

The forehead protector had been an interesting change, as he sported his own personal one, the one that clearly resembled the one used by the Nidaime. The fur along his neck wasn't white however, but a light dark hue. The armor was finally reaching the same size as the original one, and would, soon, no longer need adjustments. The Raijin no ken at his side always seemed to hum happily, whenever the blue eyes of the man darted around, hidden by his shades. The only reason Naruto Senju wasn't a Jounin was simple: he didn't want to be appointed, he wanted to get there because of his skills…the true reason was that when appointed by the Hokage himself, one had to swear an Oath in front of him, when one became Jounin because he passed the necessary missions' requirements, one simply received a formal letter with the rules to follow. It was an enormous difference for Naruto, at least in his eyes.

"You may go at your leisure," with those words, the S-rank scroll that contained the mission was burned. After all, S-rank missions were secret, most of the times, and rarely fell in with the bureaucracy's style of cataloguing it. They had codenames, the person assigned to it, and a tick mark if completed, or a cross if not completed. Moon-Landing was the codename for the mission, Naruto Senju was the name marked next to it, and that was all that the future generation would know of it, until the new Hokage would take place, and ask the previous about it, or the ninjas involved.

Naruto left the room without as much as a word, his cold and stern attitude kept up until he was outside the Hokage's tower, with everyone who he met along the corridor stiffening up at his passage, chills running down their bodies. Once outside, however, he cracked a smile, and began whistling a happy tune as he waved at the passerby that occasionally stopped to smile back at him, or wave, or ask how the day was.

"Two apples, Mai-san," as he neared the fruit stall vendor, a raven haired woman with dark brown eyes, already in her fifties, smiled back at the grey haired man in front of her, and with a sigh opened her palm.

"Come on Senju-san, hand over the fruit list," caught in his act, Naruto simply chuckled.

"I can lie straight to the face of an S-rank Nin, and I can't fake that all I was asked to buy was two apples?" as the list was handed over, Mai smiled.

"Can't fool experience, boy, and you're not the only one," with that, the old woman began picking up the fruit. Usually, it was the customer who did it, but the man's gauntlets would have ruined it, and he usually never removed his gauntlets outside.

With a sigh, Naruto sidestepped, raised both of his hands, and grabbed by the neck shirt two kunai wielding attackers, throwing them both on the ground.

One was a raven haired boy with dark eyes, wearing a blue jacket with the Uchiha fan on his back. The other was a white eyed boy with long brown hair, wearing a light beige outfit. Both had long trousers, but while the Uchiha's was white, the Hyuga's was brown.

"As I'm trying to tell you, since…what, one year?" Naruto started, "You two need to stop flinging kunais in the market," as he pointed that out, he dismissed a guard that was coming his way, probably a rookie, since half of Konoha knew of the *training* the two kids did with the Senju.

"I told you Uchiha, we should have dropped on him from above," Neji said, standing back up and dusting himself off.

"And I tell you, Hyuga, that we should have gone from below," Sasuke replied, scowling, as he too stood up.

"And I will tell you, for the fifteenth time already, that neither would have worked," with that, the grey haired boy chuckled, before looking at Neji, "examination coming soon?"

"Hai sensei, I'll do my best to pass it," as the Hyuga nodded with a small smile, Naruto grinned.

"Good, so you'll be able to take care of Yumi-chan for me, prepare yourself, for babysitting missions are a lot of fun…" as the grin turned into another chuckle, Neji took on the Uchiha scowl, while Sasuke sported a smirk.

"Take that, Hyuga, you'll be doing babysitter, and I'll be doing…" that was when Naruto butted in with light coughing.

"Babysitting too, she'll be three by the time it's your turn to graduate, oh yes," another chuckle from the grey haired man, before he stood in front of the two, both now scowling, boys.

"Anyway, I won't be in the village for the following months, I'm sorry, but I probably won't see you graduate, Neji…" the Hyuga simply nodded.

"It is not a problem Sensei, as long as your wife doesn't show up with a pink dress for me…long hair does not mean anything about gender," a set of snickers and chuckles later from the Uchiha and the Senju, and the Hyuga narrowed his eyes murderously.

"It happened only once," he muttered.

"Once is all it takes, to burn it to memory," Mai pointed out, as the groceries were handed over to Naruto, who grabbed them with a nod.

"One day it's going to be your turn too Uchiha, and that day, I will laugh," Neji replied, before turning to leave.

"We shall see Hyuga, we shall see!" Sasuke replied with a smirk, before leaving towards the opposite direction.

"Kids these days…" Naruto sighed, shaking his head slightly, as he paid Mai and headed back home. He hadn't expected Sasuke, of all people, to actually befriend Neji. Albeit the two were rivals, or so they claimed, the truth was that they had a lot in common, and not just in the Doujutsu department. Both had high hopes set on them, Sasuke as the last Uchiha, the last male one, and Neji as the prodigy of the branch family. Both had lost someone dear to them, and both wanted, albeit more deeply hidden and coveted within their souls…revenge.

Still, he hurried home, he wasn't supposed to be taking *this* long. As he passed through the streets, a familiar odor hit his nostrils, but, albeit his mouth *was* watering, he couldn't stop. Furthermore, there was a long line of people, kunoichis especially, who were in line for the *Diet* ramen that Ayame had brought back from her cooking trip. The girl in question was a problem Naruto couldn't tackle in any way, and with a heartfelt sigh, the grey haired man kept going.

After the massacre of the Uchiha, and the fact that Sasuke was the last male of the clan, a fan club to *Mend the boy's heart* had started. Soon, it had obviously overrun his in numbers, but that hadn't touched him at all. That time he had a more important thing to do, and that important thing in question was now looking straight at him, as he entered the Senju's compound main house, where he had left *her* in the guards of Shizune, who had free time that day.

If in the Hokage's office Naruto Senju showed a stern and stiff attitude, that made people shiver, and in the streets of Konoha he was a smiling and proud shinobi of the leaf…in private he was a complete different person.

Yumi Senju, daughter of Naruto Senju and Anko Senju, at age two and something, was currently watching with vivid interest the grocery bags that her father had brought in. The toddler had light purple hair, like her mother, a round smiling face, most of the time, and sported dark brown eyes. Anko had told him those were the same eyes of her father, the very same color, and Naruto had simply shrugged, she had his nose, it was clear she was his to begin with. She was wearing a tiger pajama, because, wherever she liked it or not, grabbing her by the tail worked better to catch her, and she wasn't smart enough to realize the weakness of said costume.

"Apple," she said, raising both of her hands upwards, her tiny fingers moving with excitement, as she sported a smile.

"No hug? I feel sad…sniff," as Naruto smiled, he grabbed hold of his daughter with his right hand, bringing her up to her level, where, with a giggle, Yumi actually *did* hug her father.

"Good! Apple now!" she replied with a light laughter.

"Fine, fine," a kiss on the forehead of his daughter later, a peeled apple and the moving back to their house, Naruto began thinking he was forgetting something.

"Did I warn Shizune I took her back? She'll realize it…I suppose," he muttered, shrugging slightly.

As he dropped with care Yumi in the baby pen, he turned to prepare dinner: he had to go all out, especially on the dango desserts. It *was* the only way to avoid Anko's wrath, when she'd come home, later that night, after her T&I shift, and discover that he'd have to go on an S-rank mission.

Well, actually, *would have* wasn't the correct term, but he'd put it like that. The reason he had chosen the mission to begin with was because of the name of the gang leader, Raiga, and because probably with his Raijin he was the only one who could fight head to head against him. The rest was pretty clear: he was going on a revolution spree in moon country, an island with the form of a moon, and that was pretty much all there was on the mission.

The high ranking missing Nins, bandits, brigands, and whatever was just a secondary thing…he just hoped he'd manage to convince Anko of the very same thing.

As he whistled a happy tune, starting to chop down on the radish, he felt his leg being tugged, forcing him to sigh and lower his gaze, and, sure enough, his daughter was already there, smiling with glee at him.

"Apple?"

"You already ate one, Yumi-chan," he pointed out with a light sigh, "But there's apple pie if you'll be good till dinner, understood?"

"H-Hai!" she did have a bit of a problem with the *H* letter, but it was more the *cute* problem where she simply stuttered on it, before making a cute frown and a cute pout and trying again.

Naruto did have a biased opinion on what was cute and what not in any circumstance that involved his daughter, but that was it.

"Park tomorrow?" she asked, deciding to simply sit down, looking at her father's long legs shuffle around the kitchen.

"I can't Yumi-chan," he replied, "Mission."

"Nooo," the girl whined, there, the peace was gone, and the whining could begin. He had no idea *why* they hated him going on mission. On one side Yumi ate an unhealthy amount of dangos and apples, and on the other Anko could actually sip sake…usually they thought, the both of them, to be so smart to do so in secret without him noticing, tsk, the two…but in any case, the moment he had a mission both suddenly decided keeping him around was far better.

He did, obviously, know that they simply loved him as he loved them, but still…hypocrites, the both of them…in the cute way of the term.

"Don't go!" Yumi insisted, already making the pout, the teary eyes and the trembling lip, all with the hold of the leg jutsu.

"Yumi-chan, you know it's work," potentially lethal work, but still work. Well, extremely lethal work, but nevertheless, it was an S-rank mission, one million ryos ready at the end of it, and who would actually refuse it? And he was an S-rank shinobi, S-rank! It was perfectly safe.

If nothing went wrong.

"Kaa-san cries, so no!" she replied, stubbornly, as her father, with a light shake of the head, grabbed her and yanked her off his leg, to hug her, only for the girl to try and push herself away, obviously against the idea.

"Yumi-chan, I've always come back, right?" at the question, the girl's eyes looked with suspicion at Naruto, before still making a small pout and keeping her gaze elsewhere.

"But Kaa-san…"

"Kaa-san what?" as Anko entered from the front door, dropping the trench-coat on the clothes stand, she raised a perplexed eyebrow, before sighing and nodding to herself.

"So it's another mission for mister *I'll always be there for you*, right?" as the Chuunin, soon to be Tokubetsu Jounin, Mitarashi Anko spoke, Naruto rolled his eyes, she would always, always, say that, in every instant she could.

_Mood swings became, at least in Naruto's eyes, double personality problems with schizophrenic tendencies. At least, that was what he was thinking about, until, instead of the hundredth mixture of rant and tears, Anko actually stopped yelling, color draining from her face._

_Nine months? Check._

_Water broken? Check._

_Three in the morning? Check._

_If the bags under his eyes hadn't been any indication, he was also sleep deprived. Yet he was swift, extremely so. Five minutes later, Anko was in the hospital room, Tsunade was there, and he was already losing his hand sensibility, the tip of his finger a light blue color._

"_Kami be damned Naruto I'll kill you when this is over!" Anko's scream was cut by Tsunade's orders of pushing, which degenerated into a swearing and cussing from both sides. _

"_CAN YOU TWO FRIGGING CALM DOWN BEFORE I FREEZE YOU BOTH!?" the yell coming from Naruto silenced both of them, mostly because of shock. The grey haired boy had never, ever, raised his voice._

"_You push and you do your job!" he snapped, at both women, "And the only screaming I want to hear is my child's cry when he comes out! And that's all!" _

_Three hours later, Anko was biting her lip from the pain, tears in her eyes._

"_Just how damn long will it take?"_

"_Just push would you?"_

"_I'm pushing already!"_

"_Push more then, don't stop!"_

_Naruto was kind of wondering *why* he hadn't stayed outside, truthfully, that *was* a better place to stay, instead of inside, with two women who would pretty soon start yelling again._

"_It's all useless…" Anko whined, as Naruto, looking at her sweaty face, bit his tongue, before using the cup of his hand to move her gaze to his eyes._

"_Look at me," removing his shades with his free hand, and thankful that there wasn't any light directly pointed at him, "Everything is going to be fine, okay?"_

"_But he won't come out," she muttered back, feverishly._

"_He or she will come, don't worry, and we'll meet him or her together, and grow him or her up together, and I'll always be there for you, so you push and I'll…go grab five dango boxes, even six if you want, afterwards," at those words, Anko slowly nodded, before muttering._

"_Make that ten, I'm sugar deprived since that bitch of mother you have refused me too much sugar."_

"_I heard that," Tsunade gritted her teeth, recalling it was her grand-daughter that was soon to be birthed, because otherwise, she'd have dropped the Kunoichi to Shizune._

"_Good, it means you aren't old enough to be deaf…you're just old enough to be senile! Sugar is necessary for my metabolism you old hag!" this time, Naruto let the two bicker, rolling his eyes and waiting._

_Finally, after another hour, a loud cry echoed in the room._

"_It's a girl," Tsunade pointed out proudly, like she had been the one to birth it, "I'll have her washed up and prepared, and while I'm at it…"_

"_Kaa-san," Naruto's voice was slightly trembling, "You mind if we look at her first?"_

"_I know, I was teasing you two," a small bundle of white towels was gently lowered into Naruto's waiting hands. There, with a reddish face, was a crying baby with no teeth, obviously, who, after a moment, quieted herself, her eyes still closed. _

"_Hey there…" the boy whispered, "Seems like you've got the loud voice of your mother," he added with a chuckle._

"_I'm not loud," Anko muttered, "And I'd like a view too, you know? Shouldn't mothers get first dibs on seeing the baby?" Moments later, the towel bundle was given to Anko, who held it near her face._

"_Well then, as we decided, it will be Anko Two, the revenge of the Dango, it's a good name, right?" _

"_We decided on Yumi…no movie-like names," Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes._

"_I know, party pooper you are…well, what are you doing still here? Dangos don't make themselves!" within a moment of Anko's words, Naruto was out of the room, albeit the look of hesitation on his face had been seen as clear as the day._

"_You're a cruel, cruel woman," Tsunade pointed out, as Anko grinned._

"_Not my fault: promises are promises," she replied._

"Yes, some missing Nin I already fought before, now it's an assassination mission," as Naruto pointed that out, Yumi swapped arms, being now in the position to hug her mother, and instate the double frowning jutsu together with her.

"Rank of the mission?" Anko asked, as she sat down at the table for dinner, after placing Yumi at her baby seat, to hold her there.

"I've made Dangos, with anko and mitarashi sauces, the ones you like so much because they take after your name, you know?" the frown became a murderous glare.

"You just did not take an S-rank, tell me you didn't take an S-rank, because kami helps me if you did I'm…"

"Anko, it's just an S-rank with a strong missing Nin, but I already fought him before, I know his tricks, I'm going to be fine…trust me, I'll defeat him," and his army, and the one ruling a country, and placing someone else on the throne of said country.

"And that would warrant an S-rank? Out with it…" as the purple haired kunoichi moved closer with the skewer of one of the dango stick that she already finished, Naruto gulped, before turning to take the boiled rice out of the cooking pot.

"Well, he does have a band of brigands I have to kill too," the man added, "And he is in a faraway country," the skewer flew straight to the side of Naruto's cheek, who didn't bother dodging, as it was out of aim.

"You're not telling me everything, right?" Anko rolled her eyes, "Listen, why can't you just swallow your pride and do the oath thing? You could be a Jounin tomorrow, instead of going into a Kami be damned country for an S-rank."

"The principle is what counts, Anko," Naruto replied.

"Promise you'll be back?" the woman muttered, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You know I'm as resilient as resilience go," as the Senju's clan's head, since at least a couple of month, pointed that out, he sat down too, the dinner set on the table.

"Itadakimasu."

*Land of the Moon-Nearing the Island*

The boat was gently rocking back and forth, against the waves. The night sky was cloudy, a perfect night for an amphibian assault. Naruto's eyes scanned the area in front of him. To his side, in the nearby boats, stood the assaulting troops, the men still loyal to the previous ruler, who had been out of the land when the rebellion had struck, or that had escaped to rally men. They would be the distraction, the one that would grant him the ability to sneak in unnoticed. Just as their signals went up, and the boats began the charge, he took a small run and dived into the water.

Had it been a normal samurai in his plate armor, the man would have died, brought to the depth of the sea. Being him a shinobi, with excellent chakra control, he was currently running beneath the water level, the water not hindering him the slightest, as he expelled chakra from his nose and mouth to form a sort of empty air tunnel towards the surface.

Within minutes he had covered the distance to the beach, and with a use of his sensor abilities later, he had managed to reach the forest without being intercepted, avoiding the fortifications and the guards. He smiled slightly, feeling a wave of familiar chakra washing over him…he could use that.

"Meisaigakure no Jutsu," with the camouflage technique in place, he phased out of existence, lowering his chakra emissions while carefully prodding through the vegetation, trying to near the castle, and its cellars, where the mission objectives probably were kept. The problem with the mission was the low quantity of details, the high number of enemies and the high ranked missing Nins, who had to be killed. Basically, their bounties would be a good part of the reward itself, thus it was S-rank because of quantity, not quality.

The cool breeze of the night did little against the oppressing heat of the lush jungle, and its humidity. Still, this was but a minor discomfort, one that a Jounin was trained to ignore, and that he, Naruto, was actually ignoring. It was strange, but he didn't flinch as a small jet of water darted from his right finger, condensing into ice along the way and killing, by aiming straight at the neck of the enemy, an unlucky enemy shinobi on patrol in front of him.

Death was relative. Killing one's own emotions during the heat of battles, feeling kunais carve deeply into the enemies' flesh and bones, the sparkling and the clashing of metal, the launch of jutsus, the fiery fires, the crushing earth, the slicing winds, the drowning waters and the crying of electricity were all…just dull.

The more one went through blood, the more one felt void, it was just like that. Every shinobi was a killer, a tool, an empty machine made to kill under orders, for money.

No matter the morals, shinobis killed for money, they protected for money, they slaughtered for money, they tortured for money, they helped for money and they even healed for money. That was the core of the shinobi world. Money makes the world go round…and at the same time it's a completely tasteless thing.

Naruto slowly grabbed the enemies' clothing, camouflaging himself as the patrol shinobi, before making a mad dash, this time out in the open, towards the castle.

"The enemy is attacking!" he yelled, as he alerted more and more patrols, while at the same time being granted passage closer and closer to the heart of the problem.

It was funny. Nobody questions a scout who is alerting everyone through yells, especially if said scout has an actual reason to be yelling. There might have been different means of communication, but he didn't need them, all he needed was getting closer.

Five minutes, ten minutes, nobody was stopping him. At thirty minutes he was kind of wondering if they actually hadn't thought about anything to relay messages, and yelling scouts were actually the thing used.

"Suiton: Rekkū Suigeki!" Naruto rolled to the side, his hand moving straight to the Raijin no Ken, before stopping there, at the handle. The enemy wore a grey shark-like top complete with a hood which resembled a shark's head, with an appendage on the back that resembled a dorsal fin and dark pants. He also had two markings under his eyes that resembled a dolphin's tail. He sported green eyes and what seemed like dark brown hair.

The attack the enemy had used had created a set of sharp ice darts that had been thrown with deadly precision, albeit missing Naruto.

"Not a step closer without identifying yourself!" as the shinobi exclaimed that, he also narrowed his eyes. After all, Kajika had expected the stupid scout to die from his attack, not to dodge it.

"Oh…right," at those seemingly normal words, the scout recomposed himself, assuming a normal and quiet posture.

"What game are you playing? I told you to identify…" the flash of the Raijin pierced through the back of the man, emerging straight through its chest, electricity running along the body of Kajika, frying the nerves, the organs, the fat and the skin. At least, that was the intention, but the enemy turned into water swiftly enough.

Naruto cursed under his breath, as no attack followed up, and that marked it pretty clear that he was now being waited. He merged with his surroundings once more, trying to put as much distance as possible from the palace, this time.

There was no need to try and enter a fully alerted palace with high ranked missing Nins, not without back-up. He'd have to go help the assaulting shinobis in taking over Getsugakure, and from there take their help in sieging the palace.

At least, that was his idea, as he stopped on a tree branch, looking down below him, at the village of the land of the moon that was being set on fire, with screams piercing the air from different directions.

Had he still a heart, of sorts, he would have probably cringed at the scene of shinobis killing each other, fire jutsus scorching without difference civilians and ninjas alike, men yelling while holding broken or severed limbs, but to him, right now…it didn't matter. One of the shinobi rules about killing one's own emotions wasn't much of a rule, as it was of a prediction: in the end, even death becomes nothing more than a fact. He kind of wondered, as he carefully jumped from building to building, if there was anything that would make him cry now. Probably there was, he knew it, obviously there were some things he too dreaded…but still, as he slit the throat of an enemy shinobi from the back, guilty only of being in his path, he looked at the blood pooling from the open wound, and shook his head.

When they take pictures of heroes, when they speak highly of legends of the past…they never speak of how they felt, while in the heat of a battle. Did they think Hashirama fought while keeping a smile and a laugh? Did they think that Tobirama was the same? No, truth be told, Tobirama actually made the grocery list while killing shinobis…but it was obvious he had been lying about it, even in his writings.

The point was *not thinking*, as a kid, barely of Genin age, was torn asunder by an explosive tag, Naruto didn't even stop to yell or cry or avenge him: it wasn't his job. The broken streets and the crumbled buildings didn't stop him from reaching the village's academy, obviously the main enemy stronghold in the area, and the place that seemed to have suffered less damage out of them all.

It did however sport statues of ninjas wearing the Getsugakure's forehead protector…it was like a garden made of statues. With even a light mist on the ground, it looked much more eerily than the rest of the burning village. It was kind of peaceful, even the screams seemed to have slowly lowered themselves to oblivion. Naruto took a couple of hesitant steps within the garden of statues, scanning the area around for enemies, readying himself to touch the ground to feel the water around.

The light mist moved slightly, a hulking brute crashing his fist straight at the side of Naruto's head, aiming for a killing blow. He was a large and muscular man, with a very wide frame and thick limbs, a very bulbous nose, relatively small and beady eyes, and thick lips. The man wore a white vest over a green shirt, a pair of gloves and a forehead protector with no village symbol on it.

Yet the blow didn't connect to Naruto's head, who managed to rock his head backwards, fast enough to only suffer from a scratch at the side of the face. How his gloves could scratch him was a problem for another moment, as petals began flowing down from the sky.

What appeared like a white haired child, dressed similarly to the hulking brute, suddenly emerged from within the petals, trying to attack him without even wasting a second of time, as the kunais were dodged carefully, by Naruto's usage of the statues as cover.

"_These guys don't talk but fight, high rank,"_ the only idiots who spoke during a battle for the death were either those who had little need to live or those who thought to be extremely stronger than their enemy: in a fight, the arrogant talks, the wise kills. Fights didn't last hours, unless the enemies were both stupid kids thinking to overpower each other, or lost in the midst of emotions. How many times had he thought about *Doing things differently* to bring back Itachi? Too many to count, and yet Itachi was gone now, out of his grasp, somewhere, in some place he didn't know of.

A pulse of chakra to disrupt the Genjutsu, and Naruto's entire body moved down, as behind him a hand shot forward, trying to grab the grey-haired Senju from the back, but missing, resorted to make a downward sweeping motion, to hit the man on the head.

Naruto jumped to the side, rolling and looking at the third arrival, his blue glowing eyes fixed on the form in front of him.

The man had spiky hair, with a headband with no village symbol on it and blue eyes. He wore a blue shirt with pants and a white vest over it, while on his right hand stood a strange gauntlet that seemed to have an eye on the back.

A light sweep of the mist again, and a kunai managed to hit Naruto's shoulder, and be flung away by the armor's plates.

"_I should have dodged that,"_ a narrowing of his eyes later, he unsheathed the Raijin: it was time for the offensive.

Twirling the sword made of electricity, Naruto planted the blade straight in the ground, seemingly doing nothing.

A couple of seconds later blades of thunder emerged from the ground, where the three enemy shinobis stood, forcing them to jump away, as the blades, with a life of their own, pursued, crashing through the statues without faulting, the earth seemingly willing to be cracked and split apart by them.

Naruto's left hand removed itself from the blade's handle, as the man slowly opened and closed it, before mentally swearing, and removing the sword from the ground. The area near him suddenly had the mist swiped away, and the glowing blue eyes of Naruto turned murderous.

"Poison? You use poison?"

"Mushū no Dokugiri: it's a type of odorless poison that slows your reaction senses…do you like it?" the child, a female, spoke with a light glee in her voice, before pressing her attack once more. These three were, clearly, close combat shinobis. A pity he wouldn't let them overpower him, if he could avoid it.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" the water emerging from Naruto's mouth flew forward, creating a semicircular wall of water, that was suddenly empowered with the lightning coming straight out of the Raijin. The lethal combination of highly pressurized water and thunder turned the garden of statues into a marsh with electricity running through the ponds.

Then, Naruto moved his blade to the side, parrying the hit coming from the man with the eye-gauntlet, the object itself enclosing the lightning blade. The two clashed, as sparks came from one side and the other, and the Senju head narrowed his eyes, looking at his enemy, and at the other two…one, the child, had been turned to stone and lay broken in various pieces, the other, the giant, had died from the electrocution.

"Threw the lighter one in the air and substituted with her, they'd have done the same in my position," the enemy actually spoke, a smile of superiority in his face, as his left hand swiftly produced a kunai, aiming to stab Naruto's right leg.

The grey-haired man's leg moved back, just as the orange haired ninja grinned, before turning his stabbing into a swiping motion to the left, getting the left leg of Naruto from the back, in the weak joint point of his armor. A moment later, Naruto stumbled to catch his step, and the petrification gauntlet was already heading for his right gauntlet, where it connected.

The eye opened completely, as it started moving around, rolling like mad, in an attempt to turn the man to stone.

"I won, Nidaime no Sairai," the orange man smirked, before a chuckle removed the smudge attitude from his face.

"You sure about this, worthless trash?" the Senju's gauntlet didn't turn to stone. The armor didn't turn to stone. Naruto didn't turn to stone. The petrification gauntlet of Ishidate suddenly crumbled to dust, and in the shock, the shinobi couldn't dodge the Raijin from falling down on him sideways, cutting the man in half, charred flesh preventing the blood from flowing out, thankfully.

"I suppose these were the wandering ninjas," Naruto muttered, "A-rank? B-rank? Well…doesn't matter…is that…they wore wigs?" the grey haired man shook his head, wigs? Why not simply dye their head?

"So I've got the three medium ones out of the equation…" the shinobi turned to stare at the village on fire, the boats of the assaulters broken and on fire, "And the assault went to hell…" with a sigh, he entered the academy.

The shinobis loyal to the prime minister of the land of the moon, who, after all, were being paid to do their job, and thus didn't care about rightful heirs or not, returned to get new orders from their leaders, only to find the three in charge of the defense dead, and the people within the academy frozen to death, some even destroyed into small chunks of ice.

A pity none saw the explosive tags, until it was too late. But, after all, how could they see the explosive symbols written behind the chalkboards, beneath the desks, and not the usual piece of paper that sizzled? The academy crumbled like the rest of the village, carrying down with her the enemy shinobis still within it, while, from a nearby hill, just as the sun was rising, Naruto Senju put on his sun glasses, before turning to enter the jungle.

"I prefer Yumi's mud cooking," he muttered between foul curses, while chomping down on another ration bar.

The jungle during the day was unsurprisingly hot, warm, and humid. The air seemed thick and oppressing, as the insects crawled around and flew intent on their objective of earning their share of food: blood. It still was nothing compared to the forest of death of Konoha, so it wasn't a…

A fierce roar shook him from the comparison between Konoha's training ground forty-four and the island of the moon's ecosystem, as a sabre tooth tiger charged at him. The tiger itself wasn't surprising, but the fact that it was being ridden by a monkey and a scrawny looking boy was. The boy in question was young and bespectacled with short, black hair and brown eyes. He wore what originally would have been a white outfit with blue, triangular trimmings held closed by a simple sash, a pair of pants and brown boots. He also carried a quiver of arrows slung over his back. His clothes, however, appeared to be in tatters, probably from overuse, or maybe because he simply hadn't changed them in a long time.

As the grey furred tiger tried to pounce at him, Naruto turned into water, falling on the ground harmlessly, as the strange trio looked around worriedly.

"You don't look like shinobis," Naruto's voice whispered, from atop a tree branch. Swiftly, his right hand produced a kunai to deflect an incoming arrow from the boy, "But you do have a good aim, I concede on the point."

"I'm Hikaru Tsuki! Rebel of Tsuki no Kuni, and I'm not going to go down without a fight, you Shabadaba monster!" another arrow, this time with an explosive tag attached, forced Naruto to swiftly extend his hand, and yank the piece of paper straight away from the projectile, that missed him hitting the trunk of the tree.

The tag stopped fizzling, before turning to dust, as Naruto opened his palm to reveal that nothing remained of the inked paper.

"Stop your rant you idiot, and look at my forehead protector," the Senju snapped, reappearing straight in front of the boy, the tiger growling and preparing to jump, but not moving.

"That's…Konoha's symbol? Then you accepted my mission! Good!" as the boy smiled, nodding, he slowly patted the saber tooth tiger, whispering, "It's alright Chamu, it's alright, he's a friend! He's here to save the island!" The monkey on the other hand pointed a menacing finger at Naruto, before turning to scamper on the back of Hikaru.

"You're the son of Michiru? Where's your father, and how did you escape?" at Naruto's question, the boy's face turned sad.

"Dad…he died…" he whispered, his voice croaked, "Shabadaba wanted to execute us, but during the execution I managed to be freed by some guards still loyal to my father…he couldn't make it through the escape tunnel, because he was too fat, and slow…and…" he started sobbing, lightly, "And then he told me to go on and live, and get help, and…"

"It's alright…who put up the mission, however? In the details you were still captured, and…" a frown appeared for a moment, before he suddenly grabbed Hikaru, looking straight at the back of his neck, not caring about the roaring tiger or the boy's yells.

"Damn, you've got a tracking seal on you!"

"Raikyu!" the yell, the all too familiar yell of a familiar voice, echoed through the jungle, as a ball of lightning crushed everything along its path, aiming straight at the assorted group.

"Kaze no Yaiba!" Naruto's left hand jolted forward, as the wind blade sliced straight back at the lightning blade, destroying it along the process of cutting a path to the enemy, who, however, was no longer there to begin with.

"It is you! I recognize that voice! That whimpering voice!" the man speaking resembled, vaguely, Raiga Kurosuki. His hair was white, a pale white, and while one of his eyes was still the same, the other…the other looked like two smaller eyes had been smashed together and pasted there, red irises looking at him.

"Ranmaru, do you see him? It's him! Him! The Ghost Lance! The demon that took you away! But now I see you…and you can't stop me! We are ready! All of us!" the Kibas crackled with electricity, as from all around the group shinobis and brigands alike appeared. Many wielded sabers, looted from the guards of the island, others instead sported kunais, or hand blades.

Kajika too was among them, a feral grin on his face.

"_How did they manage to fool my sensor's ability? Wait…I…" _he couldn't use it. There was something, somewhere that was fooling his senses. But if his senses were fooled, how could they track down Hikaru? Even the chakra tracking seal would have been problematic…

"I see you don't see…" Raiga chuckled, "Well, before killing you, let me tell you what happened after I escaped from you! And nobody interrupts, or I'm killing you lot!" as he snapped that, he snickered, before continuing his tale.

"I travelled a bit around with some of my men, those who survived, that is…but I was always afraid you'd come and finish the job, you shinigami, you murderer!" Said from a murderer, it lost much of its strength as an accusation, but Naruto didn't pry…he was kind of curious, and the more the man ranted, the more time he had to try and find a way out. He looked for a moment to Hikaru, and to his tiger…it could work…

"My hair turned white with the stress, of always turning around, watching my back, I was afraid…then I realized all I needed were more eyes! So that's what I did: I killed a couple of my men, grabbed their eyes, and plastered them on the back of my head…but it didn't work!" as Raiga snarled that, some men winced…probably they had been present.

"So what could I do? I realized I needed Ranmaru: he was always the smart one of us…but he no longer spoke to me! Until I saw his eyes…even in death…his eyes were still there! I don't know how…but I grabbed them, they called to me! And I took them…and now I can see!" as he exclaimed that, Naruto's own pale blue eyes narrowed, from behind his shades.

"I saw your face, and it took me a while…but then I realized it was you! You had dyed your hair, but it was you! My eyes couldn't be fooled! Ranmaru's eyes couldn't be fooled!" The kibas began crackling, and turning slightly more white-ish.

"So I came up with a plan, Ranmaru suggested it, of course, and I took it! We claim a country, we ask for help, and with my name you were bound to come up and finish me! I baited you here you monster! And you came! I knew you would come, but my soul isn't yours to take! And I will be the one to kill you now! Kurosuki family, attack!"

"Kid," Naruto whispered, looking at the utterly terrorized boy, "I'm sorry but it's going to hurt."

"Wh…"

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" the bullet of water hit Hikaru with the force of a running bull, throwing him far away, outside the circle of encroaching enemies, and into the jungle. Chamu looked at Naruto with surprise, for a moment, before roaring to make its way outside.

The saber toothed tiger didn't go far, but she did maul to death three brigands, before being killed by the combination of kunais and saber in her flanks.

"Kill the man, not the tiger! Kill HIM!" as Raiga cackled with glee, he raised his swords in the air, roaring, "Rairyū no Tatsumaki!" a vortex of electricity, with the shape of a dragon, appeared from in between the two swords' tips, while at the same time the thugs from the Kurosuki family moved one on top of the other, forming columns of five men each, all roaring in unison.

"Kuro Tatsumaki!" The spinning blades attacked Naruto viciously, as the electricity dragon fully formed, before delivering what was meant to be the final attack on the Senju's body, leaving nothing but a charred form on the ground…at least, that was the intention of the enemies.

Kajika had surveyed the fighting from the sidelines, waiting to intervene only if needed, in the meantime going through the hand signs necessary for his greatest technique.

"Kajika! He's behind you!" as Raiga roared that, the shark dressed man turned around, finishing his technique in a second.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" water began sprouting from his hands, to form the water dragon for the attack, only for it to condense into ice and fall on the ground, a wave of cold hitting him immediately, and leaving him frozen on the spot. A second later, a hand without a gauntlet, a terribly white and pale hand, grabbed the shoulder of the ninja in question.

Chakra simply left Kajika's body, sucked in by a never-ending whirlpool of darkness and void, or at least, that was what it felt for him, as even his own cells rotted and turned to dust, chakra leaving from everywhere in his body.

Naruto Senju stood right there, his blue eyes, hidden from behind the shades, were actually glowing with light blue hue, as two fox like claws hovered at his back, two tails of blue fur swishing gently behind him, floating like leaves carried by the wind.

"Hey Raiga…what is your worst nightmare? Oh yes…to not be able to see…" the Raijin swiftly blocked the incoming Kibas, as the two fox hands from Naruto's back began going through hand seals, like they were a part of his body.

"You know, the technique I'm going to use on you is something that requires a lot of chakra," the grey haired man spoke with a chuckle, like he was playing, toying even, with the Anbu level Missing Nin from Kirigakure, "so don't worry if I claim it!" the blue tails that had hovered, till then, behind him, suddenly straightened up, like lances.

Then, as if struck by the string of a bow, they pushed themselves through the lines of the enemy shinobis, passing through them like they weren't corporeal, glowing purplish as more and more of them fell on the ground, because of chakra exhaustion. As if on cue, the tails returned to Naruto's back to attach themselves the where the end of his spine was.

The hands that had been with blue fur turned purplish, while the tails turned once more blue. With the final hand sign out of the way, Naruto whispered, to Raiga's dread, the name of the jutsu.

"Kokuangyo no Jutsu" when darkness descended on the man's eyes, the last semblance of sanity, if any was there, was lost.

"Ikazuchi no Kiba!" Both swords were raised into the air, not caring to defend himself against the incoming attack of the Raijin…he couldn't block it even if he wanted to, and he had no need for that…but he would bring that monster down with him!

"_Ranmaru! I will avenge you!"_ the lightning bolts struck down from the sky, turned cloudy only because of the jutsu used, and within seconds, the area was obliterated. The few shinobis still alive fell due to the incredible heat of the thunder, or because they were actually hit by it.

Hikaru, from his position, with a sprained ankle and a harsh breathing, tears in his eyes, watched as the onslaught came to an end, shaking his head in disbelief…that hadn't been a battle of men, but of monsters…

Both sides fought with the ferocity of beasts, slaughtering, killing, conjuring upon the very elements, and out of all of them, the scariest one was the most human. He shivered, as he looked at Naruto Senju, seemingly unscathed, emerging from the ashen grounds without as much as a wound on him, his blue eyes still shining, as he looked straight into the eyes of Hikaru. The fox like claws and tails disappeared from view, phasing out of existence, like they had never been there to begin with.

"Are there any other shinobis around here belonging to the enemy?"

"There is the village…it's been…"

"Destroyed, already been there," Naruto's reply only got a *oh* as a reply. Hikaru would have yelled something about it being impossible, had he not seen the strength of the man in question.

"Do you know why I won?" the grey haired man spoke quietly, turning to stare at the devastation behind him.

"Because you're strong?" Hikaru replied, "You left Chamu to die, you could have saved him too," the boy replied bitterly, sobs willing to come out, but his brain trying to prevent it, to avoid displaying weakness.

"Maybe, but not true…I won because Raiga Kurosuki didn't want to live anymore…he lived in fear," Naruto whispered, "And nobody can live in fear for long…strange huh? He wielded the Kibas, strong swords of Kirigakure, and yet…yet he feared me, from the time when I was but a Genin…Me, a Genin, bringing fear to an Anbu rank shinobi…" a small chuckle escaped Naruto's lips.

"Who are you?" Hikaru whispered, finally letting curiosity get the better of him.

"I am the Ghost Lance of Konoha, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, the Nidaime no Sairai, the Frozen Wave, as of soon, I hope, Jounin Ranked shinobi of Konohagakure, the clan head, as of recently, of the Senju clan, the one and only Naruto Senju, wielder of the Raijin no Ken…" after a moment of theatrical pause, he grinned, "And my nicknames keep piling up!"

"You…You're a strange guy," Hikaru muttered, before sniffling and turning to look for Chamu's body. The tiger's body however seemed to have disappeared. Naruto hadn't told him, but there had been a reason for it: he had kawarim'd himself with the tiger's corpse when the attacks had connected, and from there he had moved to get to the back of Kajika.

"Anyway, how could they track you without using the seal? Hell, how could they block my sensor abilities?" at the question, Hikaru sported surprise and perplexity.

"I don't know, really…"

"M…Me…" a voice whispered, a bit far away from their position.

Naruto turned around quickly, kunai in hand, only to come face to face with an eleven year old girl.

The girl had bright red hair that seemed ironically completely unscathed and furiously cleaned. Ironically, because the rest of her body was covered in grime, dried blood, and bruises, while her clothes were barely something considered to be decent, as they were in tatters and stripes. She had red eyes, who seemed to be squinting, like she was trying to put things to focus, but was unable to do so. She was holding herself against the bark of a nearby tree, and the only reason she had survived the blast was probably because she had been kept away from the battle.

Bite marks practically covered both of her arms, some were so vicious they seemed to have been done with the purpose of tearing apart chunks of her flesh, rather than to simply bite…while one had to ask why biting her arms was done in the first place.

She recoiled when Naruto whipped out the Kunai, but stood hesitantly there, anything was better than what awaited her anyway, so if she had to die, she'd better die at the hand of someone who could make it fast and painless.

The next moment, the grey haired man's eyes softened, as he placed his kunai back in its holster, and closed his eyes for a second.

"_Ku-chan, cut down the power please, I think she needs healing,"_ the thought ran in his head for a moment, before earning a small snort as a reply, more of somebody who was pissed at being awakened.

**Cutting it down…yawn…back to napping…thanks for the meal…**

Slowly, Naruto moved forward, both of his hands open wide to show he meant no harm.

"What's your name?" Naruto whispered, softly, as he got on one knee in front of the girl, who with clear signs of malnourishing wasn't taller than what a nine year old would be.

"K…Karin," she whispered, "Uzumaki Karin," she added, hopeful. Before Raiga had come to her village, killing everyone and taking her alive because *of her hair* that reminded him of someone's eyes, she had known from her mother that the Uzumaki family had cousins in the Senju clan, at least, her mother had. She was always loved to tell her that their family was close to the Hokage's family for the first two generations, even if it wasn't her merits, she still boasted them…Kusagakure had still been the place they had ended up, because her mother's husband, who was her father, was from there…she had felt the chakra signatures of Raiga's band arrive, but she had thought they were just…people, passing by.

She could have saved her family, maybe, had she spoken about it, but she never did: her mother had told her never, ever, to speak about her ability. It would make people hurt her, or harm her…and like a stupid idiot she had spoken about her blood healing ability when Raiga had menaced to make her scalp, since all he needed was her hair.

The next days, the next weeks, the next months, the next years…they had been the product of nightmares.

The only hope she had was that this person's chakra was indeed as kind as it seemed. It was wonderful to gaze at. Raiga's was spikey, moving, black and red with a never ending stream of zigzags and jaw-like forms in its ripples. This one was calm, straight lines, circular patterns, a clear sky blue color, it was…peaceful. Peaceful yet torn, some ripples were darker than others, and she could see some areas of a darker blue than others…but it didn't matter much, it was the best chakra she had seen since years, and she just had to try.

Beggars can't be choosers.

"Uzumaki you say? Well…" Naruto slowly let his right hand glow a light green, the medical jutsu ready, "would you like me to heal your wounds, huh? And maybe if you're hungry…"

"Hey! Shouldn't you be going to Shabadaba's location and kill him!? I paid you!" as Hikaru exclaimed that, Karin, due to the loud noise of the yell, had shivered backwards, like a deer that is frightened.

"Boy… that can wait…" Naruto growled slightly, looking at Hikaru with an annoyed gaze, "First I'll patch Karin-chan up, I can call you Karin-chan, right?" the grey haired man asked the red haired girl, who nodded, shocked, but didn't move as the Senju's head moved closer to her, his hand already set on healing the small cuts and lacerations on the girl's visible body parts.

"Your feet are a mess," Naruto whispered, before grabbing a hold of her, bridal style, and turning to look at Hikaru, "Well, we can go now: show me the way to the palace," with a light startled nod, Hikaru began walking forward, hesitantly leaving the clearing.

The twin swords, the Kibas, stood there, crossed one against the other, until Naruto picked them up, placing them, much like the Raijin did, on his back, where they magnetized themselves, and stayed there.

"I'm feeling more like a fridge stands to a magnet, than like a ninja stands to a sword," Naruto muttered, earning himself a light chuckle from Karin, who placed a hand in front of her mouth, looking with fright at the grey haired man, who simply smiled back at the girl.

"Don't worry, you have a nice laughter, I'm just sorry my armor is probably cold, but we aren't safe yet…there are probably still stragglers around," as Naruto pointed that out, Karin whispered back.

"It doesn't matter…your chakra is warm enough," with those words, she simply moved her head closer to Naruto's chest-guard, and went off to lightly snore, feeling, for once, perfectly safe in falling asleep.

Hikaru watched the scene in silence, before whispering.

"How are you going to enter the palace like that? Aren't you a bit tired at least?" at the question, Naruto raised an eyebrow, before chuckling.

"I'm kind of like a leech, boy, as long as I have chakra to feed upon, I'm never going to grow tired, actually, I'm more tired the more a battle drags on, but as soon as it ends, I start immediately feeling better," Naruto replied, before musing out a thought, "Because my chakra is constantly drained and at the same time replenishes itself, when my Jinchuuriki powers are stopped, the replenishment happen faster…I don't know how else to explain it…I'm a leech," he added, shrugging lightly, not wanting to disturb Karin's sleep.

"So you're a fast recharging leech?" Naruto nodded at the words…he just hoped *Leech of Konoha* didn't enter into his nicknames…it wasn't battle worthy!

"Still, isn't she going to be a weight?" at the question, Naruto chuckled.

"Boy, I just killed their leaders, the stragglers already know that there's someone in the island stronger than them, and with the Kibas on display on my back…they will cower away," Hikaru didn't know wherever to trust the man or not, "By the way, how good is your aim?"

"Pretty good, why?" the boy asked back.

"When the time comes, you will be the one to give the final blow to Shabadaba…it's your duty as the leader of the Island of the Moon, to show your people you have the strength to reclaim what is yours, and the will to defend your inhabitants by all harm," Naruto spoke quietly, as he looked with a kind smile at Karin…sucking her thumb while sleeping? It must have been a baby habit nobody broke her out from, and he wasn't going to start then.

*Island of the Moon Palace*

Shabadaba was having a really bad week. First, the brat had escaped a week prior. Second, Raiga had run off together with half the troops to attack a demon, or so he had said. Third, the three wandering ninjas had stopped sending him reports on the shore situation. Fourth, Getsugakure looked to have been demolished to the ground. Fifth, Kumo shinobis had been sighted pushing an attack from behind, no doubt hired by the brat. Probably some loyalist scum had managed to deliver a mission notice to the nearby nations. Sixth, voices of the Nidaime no Sairai actually being there was making his blood run cold: just how did Konoha know, months prior, of the situation?

Now he was faced with the remaining men cowering in front of a Kumogakure blond woman, with her nails elongated, a chakra cloak that sported two tails, a white haired and dark skinned man with a katana, a red haired and dark skinned woman with again another katana, and a big breasted blond woman that had a stern gaze on her. The four had managed to march straight through all of his defenses, and were now going on a killing spree inside his courtyard, while he, on top of the bastion's walls, was trying to reach another exit.

"Yugito! Get the bastard before he escapes!" Samui ordered, with an extremely cold voice, as Omoi muttered.

"What if he is not a bastard? Maybe his mother knew his father, so he should be…"

"Omoi, shut up!" Atsui yelled, beheading an incoming brigand. One would think they realized the difference in power…and one would think the red haired woman realized she was blocking the exit of the palace.

"On it!" Yugito ran, the weapons that attacked her bouncing off her chakra armor, as she jumped straight in front of Shabadaba, smiling as the man fell back on his ass. Her right hand extended a chakra claw, killing his two bodyguards with ease.

"Now you will die Shabadaba! Your reign of terrors ends at the hand of…" and an arrow pierced straight through the man's neck.

The body fell down with a thud.

Yugito narrowed her eyes, growling light curses.

"That was my spotlight! Damn it, who's the genius? Come on! Who shot the damn arrow!?" as the Nibi Jinchuuriki yelled that, her eyes suddenly opened in surprise, as a grey haired man with a blue armor stood on the side of the bastion's walls, holding a red haired girl within his arms, and a scrawny boy on his back, the author of the shot to Shabadaba.

"Well done Hikaru…" Naruto chuckled lightly, "Bonus points for stealing Kitty-Katty's scene," he added.

"Kitty…Katty…?" Yugito growled, her hair rising dangerously, before suddenly stopping, "Who are you?"

"What…you don't recognize me? Never looked at the Bingo Book?" in a moment, Yugito had at her side Omoi, Atsui and Samui, all in a defensive position, while Hikaru got down from Naruto's shoulders.

"You're the Ghost Lance of Konoha," Samui pointed out, "There's a twelve million ryo bounty on you," the woman added.

"What can I say…I do a lot of things," Naruto replied, "But if you know that…then you know who I am, right?"

"Come on! Who's he?" Yugito insisted.

"Naruto Senju, kitty! You don't remember me? A pity…" the man sported a sad face for a moment, making a set of loud sniffs, before recomposing himself.

"Anyway, I'm on an S-rank mission…but I think we're on the same side at the moment, right?"

"S-rank? You? Alone? You defeated me once! Years ago! You can't be doing S-rank missions solo already!" Yugito replied shocked, as Omoi barely whispered.

"Cool…" That Atsui had already knuckled him on the head.

"Well…we are on a B-rank mission: our objective was just to assassinate Shabadaba…" Samui replied sternly, "Which you just took from us, so I suppose the pay will go to you," she added.

"No, he did the kill: Hikaru Tsuki, the heir of the Island of the Moon, so there's no paying that one," Naruto replied with a chuckle, pointing at the boy with the bow, "Mine should be completed when I finish mopping up the stragglers," he added.

"Well…then we should leave," Samui added.

"That's not cool!" Omoi yelled.

"Samui-sensei!" Yugito snapped, "We did all this for nothing? Come on! At least fight for some pay! We did most of the job!"

"But you didn't finish the job, so no pay," Samui replied sternly.

"Well, excuse me…" Hikaru said, "But if you're willing to stick around for a while, and help Senju-san in cleaning the island of stragglers, I could pay you as an A-rank mission…"

"I like the boy already," Omoi declared.

"Can he do it?" Atsui asked, looking at Samui, who, strangely, looked at Naruto.

"What? I sensed her chakra from miles away, I knew you were on the island from the moment I landed," the grey haired man smiled, "so, when I got time to speak with Hikaru, I told him of what he could do as the new ruler…and he can do that: he owns the island and the money within it, if he wants to overcharge a mission, he can do it."

Samui nodded, before turning to face Hikaru.

"We will proceed to eliminate hostiles from the island, it won't take much," Naruto nodded back at the woman.

"There are practically little boats remaining: just check those and everything should be fine," the Kumogakure's kunoichi nodded, before opening her mouth to speak, only to be stopped by Yugito's snarl.

"I want a rematch of last time!" she exclaimed, "Last time you gave me the frights, but this time it will be different!"

"No," Naruto replied, "Now I have to take care of someone, later, maybe," with a nod from Hikaru's direction, he carefully moved Karin on his left shoulder, holding her there, while with his Raijin he moved inside the palace. Yells and screams soon followed, as some brigands ran out, or outright jumped from the windows.

"They don't do that with us," Omoi pointed out, just as Yugito gritted her teeth, her eyes murderous.

"Grr…I hate that man! Sensei! Let's get going!" and without a word, the Kumogakure's ninjas headed towards the docks.

*Konoha*

Anko dropped her trench coat on the clothes stand, and looked at the kitchen. No signs of his return…since when had she started to actually take to heart his presence? She had to admit, albeit she couldn't help but feel angry at herself by even thinking it, that the seduction mission had actually turned out into something she could live with. Eventually he would know the truth, she was sure of it…and that day she'd probably drink herself under the table and never come back up. She moved to the hidden compartment under the closet, where she left her sake stash, to find that, instead of the usual ten bottles, there were only two. Had she already drunk that much? It had been a while, and with Yumi over to her grandmother's house, she was sure she could drink in relative peace.

The window sill suddenly puffed some smoke, and Anko stopped dead on her track. There was a summoning seal there, which Naruto had placed to make sure he could send letters even when far away. That, and also because in case of death, a chameleon summon would come and deliver the news in his stead. She had kind of begged him *not* to do something like that, but she was sure he had done it never the less. So, silently, she moved over to the window, and grabbed for a chameleon, which was in the process of chumping down a couple of honey bees that were passing by, the small scroll.

_I'm fine. Prepare the guest room, please? _Always to the point…a Tick mark appeared on Anko's forehead. Just why couldn't he write something more? Like *I'm currently heading back* or, *The mission is over*? Muttering foul curses she dropped the sake bottle in the hands of the chameleon.

"Here, grab this and go," and within seconds, sake and chameleon puffed away.

"I'll head over to Yuhi-chan for once…we'll go drinking outside like old times," with a smile on her face, Anko Senju grabbed her trench coat once more, and left the house.

By the time she reached Kurenai's house, her smile had all but grown wider: yes, she could see that the red eyed woman was doing nothing more than reading a really boring scroll, probably a Genjutsu of sorts. So, without worrying, she knocked on her door, and nearly dragged the protesting woman to the nearest bar.

"So! How's it going?" Anko started with a light grin on her face, the saké cup in front of her.

"What?" Kurenai asked back, perplexed. She was just studying another theory on Genjutsu, and her friend, once more, had come and dragged her out.

When, in the beginning, she had heard of her *condition*, she had outright confronted Anko about it. She had expected the excuses, but while she had been extremely disappointed in the purple haired kunoichi, she had still stayed by her side. Maybe Anko needed some smoothing on her motherly skills, but her heart was in the right place, and so she had no qualms with the occasional drinking night.

"You and Asuma, the beard guy," Anko pointed out, with a teasing tone, "Reached all bases finally?"

"Anko! You're a mother for Kami's sake! Act like one!" Kurenai replied.

"No-uh, I was forced to wear a one piece dress for nine month, a kimono for a wedding, but I will not, never-ever, become one of those day mothers that go around speaking of bruises on knees and the best place to buy radish…that's my husband's job," the purple haired kunoichi grinned at that, as Kurenai sighed.

"If you keep piling up responsibilities on him alone, he's going to give up on you eventually, you know?"

"I doubt it…I do this thing with the tongue…"

"I don't want to know! Lalala!" as Kurenai brought both of her hands to her ears, Anko smiled. Yup, teasing Kurenai was a really fun pass time, especially during the drinking nights.

"Anyway, did he give you any news?" the Genjutsu mistress received a happy smile with a nod as a reply, and was thankful. No matter how tough Anko acted, she knew fully well that the Kunoichi in question was an extremely frail person: it took little to break her up. Once, Yumi had started sneezing. Nothing more than hay fever, and yet the T&I interrogator had to be yanked away from a medic Nin who she was threatening with her snakes to kill if he didn't heal *her baby*.

"He's fine…and that I have to prepare the guest room: on that note I don't know what to say, maybe he'll arrive at night with someone? Maybe he ended up making one of his stupid promises that he always keep," Anko muttered, eying the sake cup.

"Maybe they handed him over a child to take care of?" Kurenai replied thoughtfully, "You said he had to spend months abroad, so it could be a protection mission, maybe a pregnant woman?" Anko couldn't actually tell her what Naruto's S-rank mission was, she could know, because she was his wife, and because he was afraid of her when she got a knife in her hand. Still, it wasn't meant to be told around, so Anko didn't tell Kurenai about it.

"Nah, or he'd have told me to get a crib in the room. It has to be someone more adult," Anko replied.

"Maybe a ninja he met in another one of his missions? Or maybe it's Jiraiya-sama," at that, Anko winced, the pervert in her house? Never!

"I hope not," she muttered.

"Anyway, you're not the only one moping," Kurenai replied with a light giggle, "You know Hinata?"

"Oh, the pwetty eyes!" with the *W* as pronounced as possible, "What of her?"

"She told me Neji is basically in a bad mood, with the instructor he ended up with…"

"Who did he end up with?" Anko asked back.

"Maito Gai," at those words, somewhere, a green clad spandex man sneezed, before yelling to the fire of youth that yes, his students were all most youthful to name him in their praises!

On the other hand, Anko and Kurenai shivered.

"Well…except the…well the…and the…okay, he could have ended up better, but still, should I feel menaced?" as Anko said that, with a light smile, she pushed her breasts together for a moment, as Kurenai rolled her eyes.

"Typical Anko," she muttered.

"Typical Kurenai," Anko replied, imitating the tone as much as possible.

"Anyway, speaking of Hinata…please stop it," Kurenai actually turned to a pleading tone.

"But we were speaking of Neji," Anko retorted with a smirk.

"You know what I'm saying," the red haired Jounin pointed out.

"A bit of spunk won't harm the girl," the purple haired Kunoichi retorted.

"She's a Hyuga, you can't give her spunk!" Kurenai exclaimed, before quieting her tone down, "I admit you did her good, leaps and bounds too, in getting her out of her shell, but she started wearing a fishnet shirt! That's not good! Her father even asked ME if I knew who was corrupting his daughter," she nearly turned to pleading, "Please tone it down before she starts swearing like you."

"I don't swear!" Anko replied, faking offense.

"Because Naruto looks at you with a sad face when you do! And you'd do anything as long as it stops him being sad, right?" Kurenai replied with a light smile, as the Senju woman rolled her eyes…what could she do if her husband's teary eyes, even at sixteen, were one of the most fearsome Jutsus in circulation?

"Fine, I won't teach her how to swear…but she will learn how to fling kunais at bitchy elders!" Anko said, before gulping down another cup.

"I kind of wonder how Yumi will turn out in her teenagers years…her rebellion phase will be something to look forward to," Kurenai pointed out, with a smile.

"She's going to turn out all like her father, quiet, studious girl who can't harm a fly: except when she's in the T&I department, then she'll be a spunky and badass interrogator," as Anko grinned at said description, Kurenai rolled her eyes.

"Yes…all her father, huh?"

"The hair's mine you know?" the small talk kept going on for a couple of hours, before both women went their ways, each back to their respective houses.

As Anko lay in her bed, not wanting to go suffer the ire's of her mother in law about drinking, she smiled: it was such a pleasant life hers now…a bit boring, but filled with fun and happiness…if only it would keep being like that forever, frozen in time, it would have been perfect.

But perfection never lasts.

*Akatsuki Hideout*

"Gaara-kun, everything alright?" the voice was that of a worried woman, who looked at the red haired Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi with kindness in her eyes.

"I just…I don't know if it's right to go there with…with the intent to harm: what if they view it wrongly?" the boy spoke with a quiet voice, as he looked out of the window of the *school*.

The school was a five floors building made of scrapped metal, all brought up together with the aid of others like him, other Jinchuurikis. It was the proof that Jinchuuriki weren't weapon only meant to destroy, but that they could also be used to build.

The woman, with light purple hair and a green dress, smiled kindly at the boy.

"Itachi-san and Orochimaru-san told us that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is in hiding in Konoha, and the one outside is but a scapegoat…we must force Konoha to bring the Jinchuuriki out, or we won't be able to save him or her…"

"I know…but what if he…what if he or her doesn't want to come? What if he is…like I was?" at the question, Guren nodded slightly.

"That's why you will be going there alongside Kisame-san and Itachi-san, while Deidara-san will do all he can to attract the village's attention elsewhere, where there are fewer people…but there are going to be casualties, we have to force them to resort to the Jinchuuriki in the first place, so…" her voice was sad, but Gaara wasn't still convinced.

"Gaara-kun, you just need to speak to him or her…that's all, you won't be asked to kill, you know that, and if he is like you, then you will just need to help Kisame and Itachi subdue him or her," pointing that out, Gaara finally nodded.

"Hai Guren-san, I will do my best."

"Good, now go play with the other children, no moping in the corner, okay?" with a nod, the red haired boy moved closer to where other children from Amegakure were playing, and soon, he entered the fray of the game *Hand ball*.

Guren looked at the scene with a light smile. Years before, Gaara would have crushed everyone under his sand in an effort to prove his existence, and now he was there, playing with other kids…why couldn't the villages understand that Jinchuuriki weren't weapons, but simply human beings? It should have been their choice, wherever they wanted to become one or not…and not something to be forced on them.

**Author's notes**

**21K and Half of words.**

**Naruto & Anko fluff: Check.**

**Jounin rank mission: Check (Loved the old and new faces?)**

**Power level clarification: Naruto is on the similar level of Kakashi, albeit he is less on Taijutsu, and is more general rounded on Medical/Genjutsu/Suitons, with the Kaze no Yaiba as the signature technique. He kicks ass because he *is* the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki (at least, half of it)**

**Concerning the question that Naruto asked the Kyuubi, about "Hey, but then what is Katsumi?" you'll have to wait a following chapter. For why he's accusing Itachi and not Danzo, it's because the Kyuubi doesn't differentiate between Kotoamatsukami and a general Genjutsu: it's just foreign chakra to her.**

**For the missing of Minato or Kushina's scenes in this chapter: they're to come. With even a bit of Hiruzen and Danzo!**

**As always, I hope you enjoy!**

**(There is yet no pairing, because, as you obviously know, Naruto is going to receive a kick in the shins soon…*chuckles*)**

**Final notes:**

**I have never, ever, been one for the multiple wives thing. The *CRA* (Clan restoration act) which seems to be a *Canon* in fanfictions, is something I refuse to use to grant *Harem* chances.**

**Sasuke was *not* tortured. That's why he'll probably be less traumatized/shocked.**


	14. CD: Introducing

Chapter Fourteenth

Some time, life gives you hell in exchange for nothing. Other times, it gives you heaven for pretty much the same price. It's in the nature of life: ups and downs make it that. One moment you're in peace, the other you are holding the mangled corpse of your mother, who barely had enough time to push you out of the way of a falling building. Still, that wasn't what mattered at the moment, no, at the moment, what mattered that she was having a long bath with hot water.

It had taken a couple of hours, she had cleaned herself with cold water before, but right now, it didn't matter any longer. Even as she kept her arms wrapped in towels, not wanting to look at those marks, those bite marks that would probably never fade away, too much time has passed to treat them, she couldn't help but feel completely relaxed. The fact that she felt that familiar chakra aura in the next room was probably a part of it.

The man's name was Naruto, and, to her eyes at least, it was an angel in human's skin. There was no other way to describe his strength, his aura, and his kindness. The only problem was that she didn't know how much it would last. Eventually, he'd go his own way, and she'd have to go her own, right? She couldn't follow him, could she? As she moped over it, she decided to solve the problem once and for all. Blushing slightly, she moved to exit the bathroom, and reach the room in the palace Hikaru had been so kind to give her.

"The clothes are on the seat right next to you, don't come out naked," Naruto's words were enough to make her stop, catching her breath. Obviously he was a sensor, and obviously he seemed a pretty good one too…did he peak on her? Was that how he had realized…

"No, but I have an idea of what you are thinking, and it won't work…I'm avoiding you the embarrassment: just dress up and come here, dinner is going to get cold otherwise," with those simple words, Karin's face was already fully red, just like her eyes and her hair. She hurriedly put on the clothes, white shirt, light blue jacket, light white pants, male clothes, but her size, and better than the tatters she had before.

She hurriedly walked over, sitting in front of the man, where her plate, and food, was.

"I…I just…" she what? She didn't want him to leave?

"Eat…tomorrow we're leaving for Konoha, both of us that is," at those words, Karin's mouth opened in shock, her eyes showing the very same emotion, "You'd think I'd leave you here? I'm bringing you to Konoha, there's the Uzumaki clan matriarch there…and if she doesn't know what to do, or doesn't have a free room, the Senju's clan has so many empty houses and rooms it could house half of Konoha, without problems."

The next moment, the girl was hugging, in tears, Naruto.

"Hey…your dinner is going to get cold," he whispered back at her, gently patting her on the head, "now, now, no more tears," he added, gently.

"Why are you…so kind?" she whispered, trying to at least get back a semblance of recollecting herself.

"Because it's who I am," Naruto replied, before turning to his own dinner, letting Karin reach for hers.

In the next minutes, he looked at the red haired girl trying to get her fingers to work on the chopsticks, but it had been so long since the last time she had used any, that clearly she wouldn't be able to eat with them soon.

Naruto ate quietly, looking at the girl's face growing more and more distressed, until, finally, he smiled, and produced from his backpack a spoon for the rice, a knife and a fork, all in white plastic.

"Here…don't let anyone into this little secret of mine, but when you're running and eating canned food, to hell with chopsticks, spoon is the way," as he handed the utensils over with a light wink, Karin nodded, taking them before finally starting to eat.

Naruto watched the girl hesitate for a moment, after she had finished her own food, before whispering.

"You're a good guy, right?"

"I have blood on my hands, but I am not evil, if that was your question…albeit the definition of evil may vary on the circumstances applied to it," the grey haired boy pointed out, as Karin simply nodded at the *not evil*: she hadn't understood the rest.

"I…I have this thing, I can sense chakra, and I know what the person's…soul, is. And I…I can suppress this aura, making it impossible for ninjas to sense each other and…if somebody bites me he heals while I lose some blood…" at the mention, Naruto nodded, and Karin, once more, had to make sure this wasn't a dream. There was no outburst, no *prove it* or *don't believe you*, just a nod.

A simple gesture of *I get it*, nothing more, nothing less.

"Thank you for telling me, do you want me not to tell?" at the question, the sincerely asked question, Karin nodded, and Naruto simply smiled, "Then I won't tell: you have my word."

"Thank you," she whispered again, fidgeting once more, hesitantly.

"Maybe you should take some rest? Tomorrow is going to be a stressful day," at the mention of sleep, the Uzumaki girl nodded, before literally scampering to her futon. If she went to bed fast, then she'd wake up faster, and next morning, she'd be gone from that place, from that hell. On the other side, what if it was a dream of her mind? What if she woke up, once more, in Raiga's tend, her hair tightly held by his hand, the only thing clean, and yet so dirty in her mind, being yanked and pulled with strength?

No, she'd take her chances and die if that was the case, but it wasn't. She could feel the soft fabric of the futon…it was so real. She hoped, really, she truly hoped, that it was real.

Naruto waited, in his sitting position, until the breath of the red haired girl turned even, and then, slowly and silently, he stood up, moving to the window. Outside, the island was probably returning to normality, the few missing Nins that had avoided the first swipes would be hunted down and killed, without mercy, and he'd leave together with the girl.

Just how many boys and girls lived in her conditions, around the elemental countries? How many could he actually save? How many could he actually find, or know they existed?

"_You can't save them all… That's the excuse for the weak."_

**I concur. **The Kyuubi spoke softly, in a half asleep voice.

"_Hikaru seems to have a good head on his shoulder, I gave him some tips and advice, and he accepted to have a Tokubetsu Jounin from Konoha come over and help with the administration part, my job is done right now,"_ Naruto thought back, as he could see the Kyuubi sport a small smile.

**Yet something doesn't satisfy you, does it?**

"_This was a trap for me, but when…when will a trap for someone else come? When Yumi will be a Genin, will they try and hunt her down to get to me?"_ the thoughts drifted to Raiga, to his eyes, to his madness…paranoia brought to the extreme, and yet…the Raijin hummed, softly, once more, as Naruto turned to the side, his eyes narrowing.

"What brings a cat to stroll this high?" he whispered, looking at Yugito Nii, who was standing to the side of the palace's wall, looking at him from her position.

"You should knock your arrogance down a step," the Nibi Jinchuuriki replied, scoffing, "I'm older than you," she added.

"Age, power, blood and family, they mean nothing to me. My respect is earned, not taken lightly," he replied with a light glare.

"What's this hostility and taunting about? You can't still be mad at me for your teammate…I mean… it's been what, five years?" as Yugito said that back, she didn't actually expect the boy to…nod.

"You never said you were sorry to her, you know?" he replied rhetorically.

"Oh come on, it's not like you were married to one another!" that made Naruto wince, but the Nibi Jinchuuriki pressed on, "Do you really love your teammates so much? What happened to serious guy by the way? The Uchiha was way stronger than you last I recall," at that, Naruto's gaze turned murderous.

"Read your Bingo Book before I force you to feast upon its pages," he snarled, the tatami mat slightly cracking under the pressure of the air around the boy, the electricity of the Raijin sending sparks across, just for the Kiba to actually reply back, sending their own sparks all around the boy's body.

"Calm down, calm down, I only came to talk," Yugito raised her hands in a sign of surrender, just what had happened? Sure, she might have her head in a bag, like Atsui said when it didn't concern training, but really, what could have happened to have him go from taunting to ballistic?

"Then talk and leave swiftly," he hissed, turning his furious gaze to the ocean laying in front his view.

"You're really the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?" Yugito asked, serious in her tone.

The next moment, Naruto's eyes flickered with blue flames, in the night looking so eerily like those of a ghost, hands that resembled fox claws appeared to his sides, tails made of blue fur sprouted, gently floating in the air: two in number. As quickly as they appeared though, they disappeared, leaving behind no trace of their passage, except the slight trembling of Yugito, who had barely managed to grab the side of the terrace Naruto was on, her chakra abandoning her feet moments before.

She was shivering, as she stood on the terrace, right in front of the boy.

"What…Just what is…" the words never left her mouth, as Naruto whispered, cutting her off.

"I am the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki…albeit two tails is the maximum of my powers right now…is this proof enough?"

**Hollow. That power was hollow. Empty of life, filled with control, the monster he is…is worse than all of us…he is our death. Do not let him antagonize us! Mate with him immediately!**

"_Nibi! Stop it! I was willing to take you seriously, but this is just another one of your tricks! I am not in heat!"_ as Yugito recomposed herself from her shivers, she nodded.

"I'm sorry…it's just that the Nibi insisted you couldn't be one…you don't have as much chakra as we Jinchuuriki normally do, and your regeneration is…" Naruto shrugged, turning to look back at the room, where Karin was sleeping.

"So, once the mission is over, are you going to try and rake in the bounty on my head?" Naruto asked carefully.

"What if we are going to try?" Yugito asked back, a light smirk on her face.

"Try as much as you like…but wound her, and I'll be sure that the fear you felt during the chuunin exams, years ago, will seem like a walk in the park by the time I'll be finished," and with those words, Naruto entered his room once more, closing the terrace's window.

Yugito stood there, for a moment, before turning to leave…so he was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Yet Nibi had spoken of hollow power…she had to inform Nagato soon. Lightly touching her ring with the number Two, she bit her lip…later, maybe. Right now, she had to convince Atsui not to try anything rash then next day, because she wasn't sure she wanted to fight something even Matatabi didn't like.

*Konoha*

Minato looked at the report, neatly piled on his desk. Albeit *piled* would have been exaggeration, since there was only one page, that neatly skimmed throughout the details, to simply leave behind the notions of who had died, who hadn't, and the fact that an Uzumaki Karin was arriving in Konoha together with Naruto. The report had arrived at least a week before Naruto's return, meaning that, as of now, since seven days had passed, the man was bound to arrive in his office…eventually.

Slowly, he turned to look at the door that had opened without anyone knocking beforehand, meaning only it either was his daughter, Katsumi, his student, Kakashi, or his wife, Kushina. Neither of the three knocked when entering his office, albeit his ex-student used the window, so there wasn't much of a knocking to begin with. It turned out it was the latter of the three: Kushina.

"Kushina-hime?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I looked through the rosters of the Uzumaki clan, and there *is* an Uzumaki Akio. With the description he gave it's highly probable she's not lying," Kushina replied stiffly, before adding, "I saw Yumi-chan today too, she was at the park together with Tsunade…she called her Baa-chan."

"Well…I thought you told me once you'd never let any niece of yours call you Baa-chan to begin with, right?" Minato replied, hesitantly sporting a small smile.

"This and that are different," the red haired woman replied, snappishly, "Do you know if he intends to make her a Kunoichi or not?"

"No," Minato replied with a sigh, "I suppose he wouldn't answer any way, if I were to ask."

"Like he'd answer me," Kushina replied with a scoff, "He barely resisted the urge to kick me out at his own wedding, and didn't only for Katsumi-chan…she'd probably be the only one to ask the question and come out alive," she added with a sigh.

"Kushina-hime, you know that maybe we *could* have her eventually ask the question?" obviously, Katsumi and subtlety didn't work well together, but Minato was more than sure he could solve that problem by being subtle in her own place.

"How?" his wife, obviously, asked back at him narrowing her eyes.

"I'm sure Katsumi-chan, if she manages to get the bunshin right, will graduate easily next year: I could put her in his team," the Hokage's voice was quiet, and collected, as he spoke.

"He finished all the missions' requirements? Nobody ever did that, they usually got appointed sooner than that," Kushina replied, looking with a mixture of perplexity and worry.

"He didn't want to swear an oath of loyalty to me in person…he'd rather sign a document," Minato replied with a shrug, "The new Bingo Book came out too, and guess what? They increased his bounty to twenty millions…"

*At the gates*

Anko Senju stood at the gates of Konoha, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She had taken the free day, because she knew today Naruto would be back home with his mysterious *guest*. She also knew it was a female. Obviously a part of her knew there was no way he'd be bringing a lover back home, straight into the guest room, but then again Naruto was unpredictable. Still, it shouldn't have been her position to nag about it, but at the same time it should. On one side, she was the one lying through her teeth to Naruto every moment, so she actually shouldn't have been jealous. On the other, she had to act jealous, like any wife would be. On yet again another side, she was actually being jealous, when, precisely for the first side, she shouldn't be. Yet she was.

She pushed her hands through her hair, letting out a groan of frustration, how long was he going to make her wait? She knew it was today, the report had come in a week before, and flying hawks were fast, but not *that* fast. Furthermore, she had received another scroll telling her his possible date of arrival, and when Naruto said he'd probably be there then he most certainly would be. She had thought of going there in the afternoon, so that she could easily wait while taking, every now and then, a bite at a Dango stick, but now that the afternoon's sun was slowly turning to the five o'clock mark, she was starting to get nervous.

Finally, her eyes caught the sight of a familiar mass of glinting blue at the horizon that seemed to sport a strange red freckle on his back. Swiftly, she disappeared from her bench, and decided to initiate her usual *follow the husband* routine by looking at Naruto move closer, from her position on the rooftops.

The red freckle turned to be a, in her eyes, nine year old girl with red hair, that was probably the red freckle she had seen from far away. So he had found an orphan, probably, and he just *had* to take her in. Anko groaned, now she had to act the part of the bitch: sure, the girl could stay in the guest room for a while, but she should have to find a way to fend off for herself, and eventually, move out. There was no way she'd manage that conversation with Naruto present, however…she just knew he'd clamper down and actually adopt the girl. Like he had done with half the stray dog population of Konoha once, before the Inuzukas had done her a favor and taken them.

With a sigh, she finally took her moment, when the street was relatively empty, to try her new practiced entry: the throwing of two sets of twin kunais tied by a chain, in such a way that the scroll in the middle would open to reveal words.

Karin had been carried piggyback for practically most of the trip: on one side she was still too weak to actually walk long distances, and on the other, Naruto was simply faster than her, by a really great length. All in all, she was enjoying the relative peace of being near his chakra aura, at least until they had neared the village. She had tensed: there were so many chakra signatures all around it made her dizzy. All had different hues and colors, some swirled other twirled, some sparked and some instead hummed. Many had a light coloration, but some were dark, and a couple pitch black. She shivered slightly, closing her eyes and letting her face bury in the man's neck. She felt nervous.

Then the bang came and she looked up startled, to stare at a purple haired woman, wearing a fishnet shirt and a trench coat, the shirt actually having another, black one, underneath it, and a bit of a short skirt. The light hazel eyes of the woman seemed to flicker with a mixture of excitement, worry and…her chakra was strange. It was layered, for once. There was a layer of golden and black that looked nearly vile, but that was kept surrounded by a layer of pure blue chakra, much like the one Naruto had. Then there was a light purple external aura, with bits of pink, of lime yellow, and…a tinge of red. Why was she…jealous?

Karin blushed lightly, well, she had been holding her face on the man's neck, didn't she?

Was this…Naruto's girlfriend? But she looked older than him!

"Husband dear…" Anko muttered, forcing a smile, as the banner behind her read the words _"Congratulation on the Jounin Promotion!"_

"Yes?" Naruto replied with a light smile, and a hesitant chuckle. His chakra aura was literally showering with light blue glitters…happiness. There was a bit of a light green aura…nervousness…wait, did the woman call him husband? Just how old was he!?

"Explain," keeping her arms crossed over her chest, Anko took a deep breath, puffing her cheeks while tapping with her right leg on the ground.

"Right here?" Naruto asked back, "And you know I technically have to reach the Hokage's office and be dismissed, before saying anything."

"I can torture you," she replied with a shrug and a monotonous voice, a small smirk on her face, "Or I can torture the poor scrawny thing on your back…well?" she actually licked her lips, only for Naruto to roll his eyes, sigh, and move closer to her, giving her a peck on the cheek before moving to the Hokage's tower.

"See you at home! Try not scaring other people next time!"

Karin was shocked, first in fright at the strangely mad kunoichi, then in surprise, because it seemed some sort of game between the two…a bit morbid, but still…

She looked back at the woman's aura, seeing it turn a less degree of red and a stronger degree of pink. Inwardly, Karin cursed herself: the good ones were always taken.

It was with a bit of embarrassment that she was brought, still in piggy back, up to the Hokage's office. On second thoughts, without her being brought like that, and thus forced to stay in the same room, she would have probably run away in fear and fright.

The aura of Naruto had started to turn colder and colder with every step he had taken near the entrance of the tower, every step up the staircase, every step near the office…it had given her the chills. That's when she had realized just why Naruto's chakra was blue: it resembled the Ocean. There was the beautiful spark and glittering of the sun over the waves crashing on the beaches, and there was the deep crushing darkness of the darkest of depths. There was the relaxing noise of seagulls, and the ferocious snarl of the thunderstorms. There was the soothing changing of the tides, and the deep gurgling of the whirlpools. Right there and then, Naruto's aura was that of a cold indifference, a silent hatred, a storm brewing.

Karin nodded when she was called, and told, with a bit of hesitation, pieces of her story to the Hokage, the man seemed kind enough, with light blue eyes and blond spikey hair. His aura, however, was a different thing. It was torn and tattered, mixtures of blue and yellow coupled with the dark shades, and dull colors were predominant. A boiling dark red stood in a corner of his aura, a deep grief, while in another stood the purple of shame and guilt. Moments later, Karin finally tuned back to the words spoken.

"She should be doing a checkup in the hospital, Senju-san," Minato pointed out.

"I'm sure my mother can check her up far better, in the Senju compound, then any medic-nin at the hospital," the grey haired man replied.

"I will have to prepare a room in the Namikaze compound then, you can send her over when Tsunade-san has finished her check-up then," as the Hokage pointed that out, Naruto shook his head.

"She will probably need to rest from the journey: I already have a room prepared for her, I'm sure my mother will agree with me not to have her moved for a while."

The Hokage's aura showed guilt, once more, seething annoyance, but at the same time…fear?

"Fine then," and with that, Karin realized once more the difference between the two. The power of the Hokage was there, enormous, but tattered, broken by something deep and unrelenting…on the other side, Naruto's power was calm, collected…and there. Entire, complete, cold or warm didn't matter, because it was both and neither at the same time. She shivered slightly, because she hadn't been seeing a normal exchange of opinions and words, no, she had seen the Kage of a village bow metaphorically to the demands of someone else: Naruto.

The reason could have been tiredness, the lingering guilt, anything…but it had happened, and she had witnessed it. The reason she felt safe near Naruto was because she knew it, deep down, subconsciously, she knew that the grey haired man was a wide berth of power, completely focused on its objectives…and as long as he decided to protect her, she would be safe.

With a little stumbling on her part, she followed Naruto outside, only to be once more scooped in his arms the moment they were out of the office, and brought into the usual piggy back ride.

Albeit flustered, she didn't say a word about it: probably it was his quirk, a lot of bandits had theirs, and this *was* harmless and even *welcomed*.

The moment they left the Hokage's tower, the chakra warmed up, it eased itself, and Karin, unknowingly holding her breath till then, finally breathed in relaxation.

"I'm sorry, I should have asked for your opinion…" Naruto muttered, "But I got carried away."

"It's…It's fine," Karin replied in a whisper, "I wouldn't have known what to choose anyway…so I'd have gone with you," she added.

"Well, hungry for a snack?" he replied with a light smile, as for once, after all those months, Ichiraku ramen actually showed up completely devoid of Kunoichis in line. Probably had to do with the hour, it was five and a half in the afternoon, tea shops and cafés were filled, not Ramen Stalls.

"Yes!" the reply came cheerfully, extremely so. It was the obvious reply of people who had starved most of their life: when food came by there was no *no*, only happy acceptances. Even if most of the time it could turn out to be poisoned.

"Then we shall have you taste ramen for the first time," and with those words, he gently plopped her down on the stall's seat, before turning to smile and wave at the old man behind the counter, while the girl in question, a pretty light brown haired girl, looked at him with her eyes narrowed.

Ayame Ichiraku was wearing an apron with the words *Cooking-nin* embroiled on it, and her stare seemed slightly murderous. At the same time, it turned into a kind one with a smiling face when it looked over to Karin. The red-haired girl couldn't help but look at how that chakra was…boiling with anger? Jealousy? Rage? Scorn? Feelings of betrayal? A veritable whirlpool of dark emotions…and at the same time there was regret, sadness, and acceptance. She gulped hesitantly…maybe she didn't want to eat ramen after all.

"Oh poor thing!" she said, looking at Karin's face: clearly, years of malnutrition wouldn't leave her after mere months of travelling with someone who actually gave her food, but she didn't think it would be that bad.

"Teuchi-san, three pork ramen, with extra pork," Naruto replied, "And a Beef ramen to get Karin-chan accustomed to the wonders of ramen," he added, carefully.

For a moment, Karin thought it was strange that Naruto had been speaking to the old man, and not to the girl, but it seemed so…normal, to both of them, that it was probably a regular occurrence.

That's when her female sense kicked in, and she realized that something, probably, had been going on between the two, and, while not having ever in her life read a trashy novel, she was more than sure that it involved the purple haired woman.

"I'll get the beef ramen done," Ayame said, winking at Karin, "I'll make sure it's going to be extra-delicious, just for you!"

The ramen was good, truly, it was warm, and she loved warm food, but mostly it was filling, and a bit salty. The fact that the man next to her seemed to adore it, and had already gone through three bowls of it, only consolidated her opinion of it. She bit her lip, as she actually kind of wanted another one, but she couldn't stretch her…

"Another one for Karin, Beef again or you prefer trying something different?" just how did he manage that? Just how could he so easily read her like an open book? Did he have some sort of special power, some sort of secret jutsu to read into other's minds?

"No, I don't," Naruto replied with a chuckle, only making Karin look at him shocked.

"Answering my thoughts says you can," she retorted, looking at him with her red eyes, trying to find how he could do that without hand signs…it had to be a secret skill?

"I can't read thoughts…but I know what you're thinking: I went through it too, so I know about it," he replied, softly, as Teuchi sported a smile.

"You should listen to him," the ramen stall vendor said, gently lowering the second beef ramen in front of her, "He was in a situation even worse than yours years ago, and now he's one of the most respected Jounins in Konoha, they call him the Nidaime no Sairai, the second coming of the Second Hokage, and that's not an easy to achieve title."

"I think they simply looked at my awesome grey hair and wonderful blue armor and said: let's not be too original with the nicknames," Naruto replied with a light grin, as Karin looked with a bit of a puzzled look at both men, before turning to Ayame.

"What are they talking about?" she asked, perplexed, as Ayame bit her lip, before looking at Naruto, for once, actually, waiting for him to say something.

"Well, when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, years ago…Naruto was used as its jailor, however, instead of being treated like a hero, he was treated like if he was the Kyuubi himself, and people took their revenge on him, or treated him with scorn, calling him monster, or demon…" Ayame gave the girl the watered down version, but still, Karin's eyes opened for a moment in disbelief.

"But he's kind! He's got all this…kindness! He can't be a monster!" Ayame smiled lightly at that, before continuing her tale.

"But then he showed them all that he wasn't either a monster or a demon, but an extremely strong willed and good shinobi, and little by little the people of the village realized their mistakes, and came to their senses."

"Oh…so you were hungry too?" at the innocent question, asked to Naruto's face, the grey haired man nodded lightly.

"Starving actually, the reason there are no rabbits in Konoha's park any longer might be my fault," at those words, Ayame let out a startled gasp.

"You killed Mr Fluffy!" pointing her metal ladle at him, Naruto raised his hands.

"In my defense, he tasted horrible, had I known I wouldn't have," with those words, Karin took a moment to look again at the auras around her. Teuchi's was gentle and kind, a soothing beige color, Ayame's was now more light in color, albeit the regret was still there, and Naruto's…it was happy, once more. Like he had just gotten something again, something he had longed for, and unknown to Karin, that was precisely the thing. Ayame had finally talked to him again, even if it was petty bickering over a wild rabbit.

It was then, that something came crashing down behind them.

Naruto spun around quickly, and there, there Karin saw that aura shift like the entire mass of the ocean had decided to transform into a storm of epic proportions, only to become quiet moments later. The sight before her eyes was…something incredible, and…funny.

Two boys, one with raven hair and the other with long brown one, were entangled in what seemed like ninja wire, and both were being silently dragged away by a Chinese dressed girl with two hair buns on her head.

"Sensei! Please! Help me!" Neji nearly wailed.

"What the Hyuga said! Please!" Even Sasuke was on pleading terms…and that meant something was really bad.

"Now, now, you all should go and do your training with Gai-sensei," Tenten pointed out with a smile and a strangely diabolical laughter.

"He's mad I tell you! Mad! Sensei please! Get me out of here!" not being able to resist the laments of his most prized pupil, Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes as stood up, paying for the bill, and then smiling at Karin to follow him.

"Let's go see what this *Maito Gai* has to be so…scary," he replied with a snicker. He was a Jounin after all: it was due time he met everyone, since next year he'd probably be fighting shoulder to shoulder to get his pick for his students.

By the time they reached the training ground, Naruto knew Maito Gai. Now, he knew who Maito Gai was by the words Kakashi said to him in the arc of the years, he knew him because of his bingo book entry, he knew his face because of the Bingo Book picture…but he didn't actually Know Him, when he did, or at least, when he began hearing him, it was more than enough.

"YOSH! The fire of youth burns brightly in us all! A pleasure to meet my fellow Jounin! We should have a spar soon!" as the green clad man with enormous bushy brows exclaimed that, sporting his white smile that seemed to blind everyone in range, Tenten sported a slightly wicked smile.

"So sensei, when do I get to try live ammo on running people?" Oh, so *that* was the reason she had been so willingly to bring her teammates back to training, or at least, one of them. Naruto had no idea why Sasuke had ended up being captured too.

"Hey! Release me now! The Uchiha is too close for my personal tastes!" Neji retorted, only to have Tenten sigh and unbundle the two.

"Listen who's talking…You are too close for MY personal tastes," Sasuke retorted, getting back on his feet once he had been freed.

"Gai-sensei! Yosh! Who are you my pretty lady?" a mini-clone of Maito Gai suddenly sprouted from behind them, covered in sweat...and immediately went to ogling Karin.

Karin…Karin was taken aback by all of these auras…some were kind, other were happy, some determined, there was a hint of things being hidden and little bouts of jealousy but all in all these auras…she had never seen so many bright ones, for all her staying with the brigands. Just what was this place?

"I should be doing the presentations," Naruto replied, "This here is Karin Uzumaki. Karin, meet Sasuke and Neji, two really close friends," as he said that, he actually dared to raise his pinky finger, with a wide smirk and a chuckle.

"That's not true!" Neji yelled, before looking murderously at Lee, preventing him from saying anything, anything at all.

"Bullshit!" Sasuke replied, scowling and, if looks could kill, then Naruto would be dead already. Actually an Uchiha's look could kill, but only once the sharingan activated, and the Senju knew it all too well.

Still, in the midst of small talk, of being in the middle of smiles, of friendly talks, of speaking with people who didn't spit, yell, were drunk, or carried bloody weapons around, Karin felt at ease. She decided it then and there…it wouldn't matter what that man asked of her, she'd do it. He had saved her life, and given her a life, so even if such a debt could never be repaid, that didn't matter in the slightest: she'd repay it.

*Later, that night*

Karin was sleeping peacefully in the guestroom of Naruto's house, her light breathing being perfectly rhythmic, as the girl was sleeping in a bed for the first time in a while. Downstairs, in the kitchen, Naruto was feeling a light bout of tension going up in the air, but after all, it was to be expected.

On one side, there was a really pissed wife, as Anko Senju was in the process of sharpening, just so casually, a kunai.

On another, there was a frowning mother, namely Tsunade Senju, who was, even more casually, flipping through the pages of the medical chart she had been penning for a while, concerning Karin's health situation.

On the third side of the table stood Kushina Namikaze, who was silently sipping tea, tea that she had been offered during the time Karin was still awake, and that she was doing her best to sip as quietly as possible, and as long as possible, to delay the inevitable.

On the fourth side was obviously Naruto himself, who was simply trying his best to act as relaxed as possible, because it wouldn't do for him to go on a bout of anger and yelling while Yumi and Karin were both sleeping.

Not after it had taken hours to convince Yumi to let go of Karin's hair, especially with the red haired girl actually going on a panic streak, and falling on the ground shivering from that. Grabbing her hair seemed to have a recalling function of most of her past, and it wasn't a good recollection of memories, if her tears were any indication.

It had taken most of the remaining hours of daylight, and now that there was no longer a need for a checkup, and being it late, Karin had been gently asked to sleep, just like Naruto had foretold, in the guestroom, with Tsunade claiming she needed rest…and certainly not been carried around to meet Gai, of all people.

"So," Tsunade was the one to break the silence, "What do we do?"

"As an Uzumaki, it would be my pleasure to take care of her: the Namikaze mansion has a lot of free rooms," Kushina replied, just as Anko rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, a pity the girl's going to be shocked for a while, and an empty house filled with strangers is not going to help her," the purple haired Kunoichi pointed out. Truthfully, she just wanted to one-up the red haired whor…ehm, woman, sure, it was petty, but if she couldn't one-up the Hokage, nobody said anything on the wife. In the beginning, she had been reluctant, but had still welcomed the girl inside, at least for a night and a bath, the dinner was included because she looked scrawny, and probably, she blamed her motherly instincts, a breakfast too. Then she would have send her on her way, no second guessing, no second thoughts, a bit of worry maybe, but still that would be the motherly instincts.

Then Naruto had explained, and once he had, she had decided that no, she wasn't going to let the bitc…ehm, the Hokage's wife, get something from her husband ever. If Naruto wanted to protect the girl, for his always righteous principle of being kind, and in the meantime get one up on the red haired woman…she was game.

"The house is not empty, Katsumi-chan is nearly always around with Ebisu, who is a Tokubetsu Jounin, during her free time, and both the Hokage and I are in the village," Kushina replied, "while Senju-san's duties as a Jounin-sensei will eventually bring him to leave the village for long term missions, like the last one."

"When that happens, there would be Me, Shizune or Tsunade in the house, and Yumi-chan could use another babysitter too," Anko retorted.

"And you would trust someone you barely met for less than a couple of hours, most of which spent crying on the ground, with your daughter?" Kushina's voice was shocked, but the reply was so abrupt Naruto too stood startled.

"Better than trusting your own son to the villagers' concept of Hero," and with those words, both Kushina and Anko stared at each other with their eyes narrowed, both seething in rage.

Tsunade finished clipping together the medical charts, before looking to Naruto, and replying, in the most calm and collected voice she could.

"Well, Naru-chan, it's your call: technically, since she has no family, you can adopt her, if she wants to, that is, as a clan member. You could adopt her as a daughter too, but you can also simply adopt her as a clan, being you the clan head," at those words, Kushina replied immediately.

"I am her family: I can refuse your claims any moment, and you know it, Tsunade!"

"Actually no," Tsunade retorted, "We are not speaking about there being a clan or not, but the fact remains that Uzumaki is the mother side of the clan of Senju…meaning that a Senju can adopt any Uzumaki within its ranks, basically…you're the branch family."

"And since when?" Kushina muttered, her eyes showing disbelief.

"Since Hashirama married Mito Uzumaki," Naruto replied, nodding, "and since it was clear that the Uzumaki bloodline could hold Bijuus easier than any other Jinchuuriki, meaning any chosen to become Jinchuuriki would be adopted into the Hokage's clan, to keep them loyal to Konoha."

"You should know that, after adopting Naruto, I would have gone through every file possible to find more things to make it claim-proof," Tsunade replied with a light grin, "And this was one of these things."

"So…Will you adopt her or not?" Kushina muttered, looking at Naruto who, however, took a deep breath before looking at Anko in turn.

"Oh no, you don't," the purple haired Kunoichi recoiled, moving away from the table and standing up, crossing her arms around her chest, "don't you dare think about it."

"Pretty please?" he whispered, looking at her with pleading eyes, as what seemed like a silent dialogue of sort was going on between Anko's hazel eyes and Naruto's blue ones for a couple of extremely long minutes.

"Fine!" Anko sighed, raising her hands in defeat, "But you adopt her yourself!"

"So we've got another addition to the clan, I knew the Senjus would be returning strong by naming you clan head," Tsunade replied with a grin.

"You just wanted to get rid of the paperwork," Naruto retorted, before adding, "And the Senju clan reaches six members as of now, good, I'm on a roll," he added with a light chuckle.

"Six? You mean five, right?" Tsunade replied, as Anko, actually, whistled innocently.

"You are pregnant? Again?" the slug sannin looked at the purple haired kunoichi with shock, again!?

"No!" Anko replied vehemently, "But I did manage to convince Shizu-chan to join the Senju bandwagon…really, she just wanted you to do it, but since you never came around to…"

"Oh…that's why she was angry at me recently!" smacking her forehead, Tsunade shook her head in disbelief, while Kushina, instead, slowly rose to her feet.

"I'll be leaving then, did she…mention any bloodline?" at the question, Naruto shook his head.

"Nothing that I know of," he replied. He wasn't lying, just because the girl was an innate sensor, and her blood healed, it didn't mean it was a Kekkai Genkei, and he wasn't going to sell out her qualities, especially to the woman in question, who would probably find a way to force her into her clan once more, in some way, even by making a law pass about it.

He was sure, however, that by next week the laws concerning adoption between main clan and branch clan would be changed in such a way to be outlawed. It suited him just fine too.

With the Uzumaki Matriarch out of his kitchen, Naruto could finally relax, and start removing his armor. He had kept it on till then because, obviously, one never knows.

"Well, I'll be leaving for the night then…I'll probably apologize to Shizune in the morning about not adopting her sooner," with those words, Tsunade left the couple's house, and with that, the two remaining shinobi looked at each other.

Anko pouted, waiting for Naruto to remove his armor, before moving closer to him and grabbing his right arm, pulling him alongside her to the bedroom.

"I missed you," she whispered, as they both got in her room, "no more S-ranks for a while?" she asked, in a kind of pleading tone.

"No more S-rank for a while," Naruto replied, falling on the bed with a loud sigh, and closing his eyes. By the time Anko actually joined him in bed, the man was already asleep, probably tired from the journey and the day. The purple haired Kunoichi, without saying a word, laid her head on his chest, within his arms, and slept. Once more, she felt that safety all around her.

*One Year Later*

Katsumi Namikaze woke up, dashed out of her bed in a blur of speed, and made her way straight to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth, freshened up, applied a light perfume, and then finished dressing up, before leaving for academy by jumping out of the window.

That day, she had a meeting with destiny. She was going to pass the exam, become a Genin, enter a team with a kickass sensei, become a Chuunin, marry Sasuke, help him revive his clan, avenge it and kill his brother and finally soothe his heart. At least, that was her project of life. Her mother disapproved of her dieting, but Sasuke liked clearly skinny girls, and she had to remove the baby fat from her face! It wouldn't do to look just like her mother on the first day of school, she got nicknamed the Tomato for it…luckily Katsumi didn't get any nicknames.

Hinata Hyuga opened her eyes with a light groan, stretched her limbs, and dressed up in her fishnet shirt, white jacket kept open and short beige skirt, before yawning once more, and moving out of her room. As she walked alongside the corridor, she grinned, waving happily at any branch family member that passed her way, while flipping off at the same time every main family one. At least the branch family was less stogy and stoic…they were lesser asses, to be cruder about it.

She didn't even go to the dining hall, instead aiming directly for the kitchen, where the cooks knew her and obviously didn't mind her passing by and picking up her plate straight from their hands. She didn't care about that etiquette, or dieting. She rolled her pancakes in a single one, wrapping it around a piece of paper, before chewing it along her way to academy. She was twelve years old, she was a clear badass girl, and she was going to ace this test because yes, she was going to be in Naruto Senju's team, and force him to spend time with her.

Sakura Haruno woke up, letting the scroll fall down from her chest and into the ground. She groaned as she rubbed her eyelids, her green eyes darting around the room in search for her clothes. She had dropped them somewhere near, right? She sighed, standing up and aiming for at least a quick shower, before getting her dress up and ready, a one piece red dress, with an added extra of a pair of light beige shorts. She was going to pass the exam without a problem, but she just so hoped she'd end up with Kakashi's team: he was the one thousand technique ninja! He certainly would teach all of his jutsus, if she asked nicely.

Ino Yamanaka looked nervously at the posters in front of her, both plastered on the walls. Her two living gods looked back at her, one with a candid smile and the other with a less scowling scowl than normal, which was a miracle by itself. Obviously, she was staring at both Sasuke's and Naruto's posters, and she just couldn't decide which one of the two she'd dress in color that represented them to impress. What if she ended up as one of Senju-san's Genins? Would they bask in forbidden pleasures and relationships? What if instead she got with Sasuke and Senju-san? Would it be a forbidden three way triangle, that would then degenerate into…as blood came down her nostrils, she sported a really wide giggle that sounded even a bit perverted. Then, without much of a worry, she flipped a coin and smiling, picked the dark black of the Uchiha's hair as a setting color, and once dressed, ran out of the house. She didn't even take breakfast: it wouldn't do to eat and get fat, Sasuke didn't like fat girls!

Shino Aburame looked at his bugs, and his bugs looked back at him. Then, the Aburame heir looked at his father, who looked back at him. Then he looked at his father's bugs, who looked back at him, as he looked at them, knowing full well that they were looking at his own bugs who were looking at…in this contest of stares, of silent stares, a voice finally broke the silence.

"Ohi, Shino! Let's get going or Aniki is going to flail us alive if we flunk!" moments later, Kiba Inuzuka was already there. He had already been ruffled enough, his mother being extremely more violent than usual that morning, with him going to become a Genin, and thus had taken his way earlier, having thus enough time to go grab the Aburame.

After that chat about a Kikkaichu life span, and comparing it to dogs, the two had become actually good friends, at least, Shino was an okay guy, and while mostly silent, he at least understood of why Kiba smelled like a wet dog most of the time, and didn't complain about it.

"Father," Shino bowed his head slightly, and Shibi replied in the same way.

"Son," and with those words, the two Aburame parted, while Kiba looked a bit quizzical at the scene happening in the street, before shaking his head and commenting.

"For all I know you, you always manage to get weirder by the day, Shino," he said.

"And you always manage to smell like a wet dog, even in dry days," the Aburame replied, as the Inuzuka chuckled, before they both began walking towards the academy.

Shikamaru was flung down from his bed by a strong pull, dressed even when in his sleep, and suddenly found himself on Chouji's shoulders, being brought by the far bigger and stronger boy to the academy.

"Troublesome…" the Nara muttered, before going back to a low snore level.

"Ohi Shikamaru, who do you think we're going to end up with?" the Akimichi heir asked, with a light smile, as the Nara heir instead yawned, before muttering.

"Fine, I can walk…troublesome," being let down, to walk, he added then, "I think we are going to be in the same team as Ino…troublesome woman," he muttered.

"You sure?" Chouji asked back, wincing slightly.

"Pretty sure," Shikamaru replied, before adding, "Don't worry, if she acts mean, I'll stop her."

Sasuke Uchiha woke up to the humming sound of his mother, Mikoto, who was preparing breakfast for him. His mother had finally started smiling again and, much to his shock, seemed to have been having a flirt for some time with someone. Now he just needed to find out who he was, and then he could decide whether he was worthy of her or not. In the meantime, he washed up and dressed with the blue jacket sporting the Uchiha fan on the back, the white cargo pants, and looked at his eyes one last time.

"Sharingan! Sharingan!" he whispered, at the same moment widening his eyes, but getting nothing, they still were black, without the tomoes or the red sclera…well, he was already twelve years old, and no sharingan…Itachi was four years with it by his age, and already taking missions.

"_Do not compare! Never compare yourself to others, become your own legend, carve your own path!"_ the words ringed into his ears, the fact they came from Neji, of all people, made him recall them vividly. Albeit his talk was more on the fact that fate was bullshit, it still helped.

Five minutes later, he sat down eating his scrambled eggs, while looking at his mother humming a happy tune.

"Is he a Jounin at least?" Sasuke asked, hoping to get an answer. Hell, it could be anyone, even the fish vendor, and he wouldn't have left a fish vendor swoon his mother over…it was fish!

"Who is?" Mikoto Uchiha knew how to keep a secret…and he needed to avoid Sasuke flipping it out. Especially because it might not become anything more than a bit of a flirt, that much she knew too.

"The guy you are seeing," Sasuke replied broodily.

"I am not seeing anyone," Mikoto replied, "Now eat up and move, or you'll be late."

"_One day…One day I will find out who he is, and if I'll deem him unworthy, that day I'll show him the Thousand Years of Pain technique!"_ as Sasuke swore vengeance in his mind, through the use of the most dastardly invented technique ever, he found himself grabbing a last piece of toast before moving to the academy. He liked to eat his mother's cooking, and he kind of wondered why there were some idiotic girls who kept dieting: they were kunoichis for Kami's sake, not models!

Slowly, the academy's class filled, as Iruka took his place at the desk, looking with a smile at his charges, who would, the day after tomorrow, be either fully fledged genins or be right back behind the desks, taking remedial courses.

"Well, if everyone is here…" in a moment, the door clanked open, as a startled girl with bright red hair, and red eyes, panted heavily.

"I'm not late, right?" she asked, pushing her glasses back up the rim of her nose, looking hopefully at Iruka who nodded.

"Hai Karin-chan, just in time," with a nod, the red haired girl moved to her spot, right next to Sakura. When she had arrived midterm, in the last year of school, Iruka had thought Naruto had turned mad, the girl had never had any kunoichi training at all, she would have needed more time, certainly. Instead he had been surprised by the sheer amount of effort and willpower the girl had put through.

Karin Senju was just as gifted, if not more, than Naruto had been in his time, and that had shown time and time again. More importantly, however, she had also trained herself to the brink of exhaustion, as Naruto always spoke of her with pride, like she actually was a daughter of his, albeit the five years only of difference.

As much as Karin would have liked to point out that Anko Senju was no pushover when it came to training like hell, she never spoke a word. Especially because she knew all too well the reasons she had been trained that much. The day she had decided she wanted to become a kunoichi, to pay back Naruto for everything he had given her, Anko had taken her apart quietly, and had told her a simple yet effective sentence.

"_If you die, he will cry, and if he cries, I will be sad, and he will cry even more, so I will bring you back from the dead and kill you myself if that happens…therefore we have training to do, understood?"_

Half a year before, she wouldn't even know who the Nidaime was, or what was his favorite mark of sweet, that day, the day of the exam, she was perfectly able to mention all nine types of pastries ever eaten by the Second Hokage…probably because Naruto had actually found an excerpt on what Tobirama didn't stomach to eat.

Iruka called them one at the time, and brought them to another empty classroom, where they would perform the three basic jutsus to graduate from the academy. The written part was merely the average of all the previous tests done, idem for the Taijutsu part. Only those who would graduate earlier had to do everything on the same day.

Slowly, the class began to trickle down, until fewer and fewer persons remained, and more and more filled the courtyard of the academy, Konoha's forehead protectors on their head. Out there, waiting for their graduating children, were their own parents. Obviously it was a really important event, and it was meant for people to be there…but the majority seemed to dart their attention to a single couple, more specifically Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, and Kushina Namikaze, the wife of the Yellow Flash.

Those two were eagerly waiting, with the rest of the crow of parents, for their daughter to come out. Kushina was also holding a bento box within her hands, and a furious look on her face: Katsumi had left without even eating breakfast! Stupid dieting ideas from stupid fashion magazines…never mind she had done the same at her age.

Not too far, his back leaning against a tree, the Nidaime no Sairai stood in wait, his blue eyes piercing through the stream of students that were exiting, all with a Konoha Forehead protector in their hands, all with smiles on her face.

The exam was a formality. It was the Jounin's sensei test that mattered, that decided who passed and who didn't. It was obvious that the majority of the students would pass, only a complete idiot would fail it…yet he was nervous. He wasn't sure how Karin would take flunking her exam. She was a frail child, no matter how her *tough* acts had sprouted up: she still remained a cringing girl most of the time.

With a sigh of relief, he saw her coming out, the Konoha's forehead protector proudly displayed on her head. He smiled, waving at her, as she narrowed her red eyes around to look for him, maybe the glasses needed to be adjusted once more.

In a moment, she was already hurrying over, before looking around hesitantly for a second, fidgeting, bringing both of her hands behind her back, grasping them together. At the same time, she lowered her head sideways, biting her lower lip, while her left leg stood slightly behind her right one…waiting for praise, probably.

Naruto smiled at her, nodding, and the next moment the red haired girl was hugging him with a smile on her face.

"I did it! I'm a Kunoichi now!" she exclaimed, "And it was…so easy! They just asked us to do a Henge, a Kawarimi and a Bunshin!" she chattered vividly, before turning her gaze to the top of the tree.

"Aw…she found me out!" the voice made Karin shiver slightly, as Anko descended from her hiding position, a smile on her face, a wicked one at that, before giving her a wink with her right eye, "Good job Apple-chan."

With a flustered expression, Karin removed herself from hugging Naruto, who simply looked as dense as ever at the scene.

"Aw…she's so cute when she's flustered," Anko cooed, before looking with a more evil glint in her eyes, "What is it? Oh, I get it! Want to know about your graduation gift?" at the question, Karin's eyes lit up with interest.

"Anko…no corrupting the young, again," Naruto felt the need to stress the last part, especially when a Hinata, of all people, came marching by, stopping near them while bursting a bubble gum, and ignoring the shocked look in the branch family member who had to be her escort…who was kind of glad he hadn't yet been seen by the heiress in the crowd.

"Hi Anko-san, Naruto-san...Karin_-chan_," the last name came out slightly…stressed, but it was more healthy jealousy, at least, Karin knew that the girl's aura was a mixture of jealousy and resentment, but it was also vastly bright, like the Yamanaka's one: jealous, but not bullying, nor scorning.

She could live with having her *chan* stressed out.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto replied with a smile, "Good to see you passed too. If you end up with my daughter in your team, please keep an eye out on her, would you?"

"I will Naruto-san, you can count on it," Hinata replied, before smiling at Karin, "And if I end up with you as my sensei, can I come over to receive more help in training?"

"Don't you have something like, I dunno, an entire clan who'd be willing to help you?" Karin retorted, her eyes narrowing on the Hyuga heir, who simply smiled back at her.

"Neji-Niisan is stronger than most clan members because he trained away from the clan, and with Naruto-san of all people," Hinata replied.

"You know," Anko started with a smile, "You could go join Neji and Sasuke in their schemes of revenge on my husband dear," with that, she actually leaned closer to Naruto, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Obtaining the natural result of two flustered Kunoichis who looked away…with her chuckling at the scene.

"I could actually," Hinata mused, "Maybe I could try going through the seduction part of the mission," with those words she actually sent her hands to her chest that, while small, was well more developed than that of the other girls her age…barring Ino who was a bit behind, but not by much.

For a moment, however, Karin saw the aura of Anko suddenly flare a dark red, a dark purple, and an extremely wrong black and golden color, only for the blue one to jump in on the fray, and subdue them all, calming the otherwise tumultuous aura of the Kunoichi.

"I see, well…I'm sure you'd need bigger assets, he's used to mine after all," Anko replied with a wicked grin, grabbing Naruto's arm and hugging it, to let her soft breasts press against his armor.

"You know I have armor on…meaning I don't feel a thing for now, no matter how much your assets are, and I did ask you to stop corrupting minors," Naruto replied in a low tone, as Anko teasingly smiled at the man.

"You're no fun! Thank Kami I'm here to help," she replied with another smile.

"Fine," Naruto rolled his eyes, "Hinata-chan, don't worry: even if you are not placed in my Genin team, it doesn't mean you can't come to train together with Neji and Sasuke, understood?"

"Understood, I'll ask Neji-Niisan to know the hours of training, and I'll be there next time," she replied with a smile, "See you soon, Anko-san, Karin-chan," and with that, she left, quickly.

Karin was halfway through muttering foul curses, when Naruto coughed slightly, making her turn around, since he probably was looking to get her attention back for her *gift*.

"As a graduation gift, since I'm sure you're going to pass the Genin's examination, I picked something up for you…" the Senju's clan's head dropped a small package in the girl's hands, who slowly proceeded to open the wrapping paper of the gift, to reveal a slip of paper, with a summoning circle on it, written in red ink.

"It's a summoning jutsu for a chameleon, if you ever find yourself in trouble, just pour chakra into it, and tell the Summon your plight: he should be able to track me down relatively easy, and I'll be there as fast as possible."

"Thank you… Otou-san!" and with those words, she once more wrapped Naruto in a hug, only to get a visible pout from Anko, who crossed her arms over her chest.

"And nothing for me, huh? I was the one who suggested it, you know?"

"…I suppose…" she muttered, "Thank you for being concerned on my wellbeing, Anko-san," she added politely, before jumping backwards to avoid a joking lounge from Anko's hand.

"You little…" the purple haired Kunoichi muttered with a grin on her face, "Come here you!" as both females started running around the tree, like little kids, Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head…he had the nagging feeling that something *Was* a bit wrong…

A moment later, Kiba Inuzuka arrived running, Akamaru on his head.

"Aniki! I knew I would find you here!" at that, Naruto took the cue to grab Kiba by the shoulder, and move away from the tree while the two females were still on a hunt and a run.

"You passed too, huh? Congratulations," the grey haired man smiled, before turning his gaze to the crowd, "Nobody came to pick you up?" as he asked that Kiba simply stiffened for a moment, before nodding.

"Kaa-san was a bit busy with the dogs in the kennels, and Hana-Oneesan had to help her," he whispered, "So they told me to go back alone: I was just hanging around, waiting to see how the rest of our class went."

"Actually he was looking like a lost puppy, searching frantically for his Aniki, to show off his earned forehead protector," Shino replied as a matter of fact, earning a glare from Kiba.

"Shino!" the Inuzuka hissed, trying his best murderous glare.

"Well done to you too," Naruto added with a chuckle, "Your parents aren't here either?"

"No, they are present, yet I felt the need to help the lost puppy find his Aniki," the fact that the sentence had been said in a slightly monotonous and devoid of emotion way didn't mean that there wasn't kindness behind it. It was just that the Aburames tended to speak by portraying little emotions, to avoid sending their Kikkaichus into frenzy, or into acting erratically.

"And to answer your questions, no, I do not know who my Genin team will be: the assignments are to be made this afternoon," he pointed out, even before the two could actually speak.

"Got it Aniki! I hope we end up in the same team!" with that, Kiba turned to leave, waving at Naruto before disappearing through the crowd.

"Is something bothering you, Shino?" Naruto queried, looking at the Aburame who was standing there.

"Inuzuka train fiercely, correct?" the boy spoke quietly, his gaze, hidden behind his shades, looking at the grey haired man with identical set of sun glasses.

"Yes, I suppose they do, being a clan based on recon and ambushes, I suppose they need to train a lot in Taijutsu…why the question?"

"Nothing much, just a question: I thank you for your time…and I hope I will have you as my sensei," with those words, Shino bowed slightly, before returning to his parents.

Naruto turned back to stare at Anko and Karin…both still running around. A sigh and a light shaking of the head later, and he grabbed his wife by the shoulder, stopping her.

"Anko…stop harassing our daughter and let's get going," he added, with a chuckle, "Come on Karin, it's lunch time: we're going home, your grandmother has probably burned down the kitchen by now, but at least Shizune should be able to put down the fire…" at least, he hoped.

Karin swiftly moved in the middle of the couple, and without further pressuring, albeit Anko *did* pinch her cheek finally once she was in her grasp, they set off for home.

Little by little the crowd started reducing itself in numbers, until the only couple remaining turned out to be the Hokage and his wife.

They stood there, in wait, for at least another hour, before looking at each other with perplexed and slightly worried gazes.

"She should already be out, do you think she failed?" Minato queried, worriedly, his wife.

"It's not possible: she knew all the basic jutsus for the academy," Kushina replied, before starting to march in, soon followed by Minato. Both reached the hallway of the academy just as Iruka came out of there.

"Hokage-sama, Namikaze-san," the chuunin sensei bowed his head slightly at the two, "Is there something you need?"

"Well…how did Katsumi-chan go?" Minato asked.

"She didn't come…I thought you were here to tell me she was still sick," Iruka replied, before looking at both shocked faces of the Hokage and of his wife, and realizing the blunder, "Wait, she isn't sick?"

"No! We thought she was in school!" at the exclamation from Kushina, the Chuunin replied.

"But she did come to school," he pointed out, "Only, she got sick before her turn, stress maybe, and Mizuki brought her to the infirmary," he added.

"But that's not possible, Katsumi has never been sick once in all her life!" Minato retorted, narrowing his gaze, "Where is Mizuki now, Iruka-kun?"

"He…he already left, he had some business to attend to…why?" after a brief moment, Iruka's eyes opened wide, "You think he…with Iwa?"

"I'm not sure of it: I know we need to find her! Kushina, go give the general alarm and warn the Anbus, I'll Hiraishin around the village, Iruka, you go look for Mizuki," with that, the Yellow Flash of Konoha disappeared from there, a three pronged Kunai in his hand.

*Katsumi*

She had been told that the examination would be different, in her case, because she could easily skip Genin and already make Chuunin: her grades granted her that possibility. When Mizuki had proposed it to her, she had easily accepted the chance. As a Chuunin, she was sure she would be able to interest Sasuke, and maybe they would train together, become intimate together, and…a light blush crept on her face, as she looked once more at the forbidden sealing scroll, in which all hidden and dangerous Jutsus stood. She just couldn't wait! Her parents would be so proud of her! She'd make Chuunin at twelve! So there she was, in the clearing, waiting for Mizuki-sensei to arrive, to give her automatic passage, when she got bored.

She knew the scroll had to be a fake one, after all, it hadn't even been all *that* safely guarded, only a couple of Anbus who hadn't even tried to look for her! Probably Chuunins camouflaged as Anbus.

Since she was bored, she decided to open the scroll, just to have a look at what they had written on it, to know if there was something like another message, another trial, or another test.

"_Kage Bunshin? Wait, this *is* one of the forbidden Jutsus…but wouldn't that mean?"_ With a startled gasp, she closed the scroll. This was the real deal! This was really the forbidden sealing scroll!

"Oh Kami…" she whispered, she stood up, and, just then, a hail of shurikens flew through the air, hitting her on the chest and the side, and throwing her on the ground. Caught by surprise, Katsumi simply screamed in pain, before a couple of Kunais soon followed the shurikens, only to be parried, this time, by the girl's flaying around of the scroll, that still was thick and wide enough to be used as a sort of impromptu staff.

She slowly got up, panting, blood slowly flowing down her body that soon enough closed itself. Somebody was attacking her, but who was…and why?

"Who are you!?" she exclaimed, looking around, as the shurikens slowly dropped on the ground, her flesh mending and knitting together, removing the damage suffered.

Was the test actually this? Maybe she was to survive against an unknown enemy for a while? Or maybe it was punishment for looking into the scroll to begin with?

Another pair of kunais flew in the air, these ones, however, had explosive tags attached to them. In a moment, they touched the ground and the tags went off, the explosion rocking Katsumi against a tree, before a giant shuriken flew straight to her spot, probably a killing blow. Luckily, a wooden trunk was all the shuriken hit, as Katsumi had use a Kawarimi to get out of there.

Panting, and wincing from the pain in her ribs, Katsumi looked around worriedly, the forbidden scroll clutched tightly in her arms, as she tried to make her way back to Konoha. This was a bit of a test, if it was real.

Mizuki gritted his teeth, he was a chuunin, yet he couldn't kill the brat? The Yondaime's daughter had to die, those were the orders Orochimaru-sama had given him, and for that, he was more than willing to go to great lengths.

He removed some ninja wire from his pocket, and silently wrapped it around both of his arms, before jumping from tree branch to tree branch, until he was directly above her. Within a couple of moments, he jumped down, straight behind the girl.

Katsumi barely saw a blur behind her; Her hands clutched her throats immediately, something stopping her breath, as wire constricted her airways, blood seeping out from the broken skin. Her eyes began rolling to the back of her head, from the lack of Oxygen, and with that sight Mizuki smiled: forbidden scroll and death of the Yondaime's daughter, Orochimaru would be pleased.

*Mindscape*

As Katsumi lost consciousness, she found herself drifting into a sewer, a sewer that had water till her waist, and who seemed to have bars, iron bars, in front of her. The bars were corroded, some outright menacing to be destroyed in a second, while others sported deep gashes. Before the bars, stood chains, shackles, and talismans with the Kanjis for *seal*, hundreds of them adorned the iron poles and the walls of the sewer, and she couldn't help but feel intimidated, by the sight of what stood behind all of these…protections.

Two giant pair of eyes stared at her with hatred and disgust.

**WEAK** the voice boomed, without saying anything else, without even needing to say anything else, as fear and fright took over all the sense that Katsumi should have been able to know, and yet seemed so distant now.

**WEAKLING** it roared again, **WEAKNESS IS ERADICATED** it yelled again, his cruel eyes looking at her, deeply, as blazing and furious red chakra twirled straight through the seals, reaching her and making her gag under its foulness and bitterness.

**KILL OR BE KILLED** and with those words, Katsumi's eyes opened in a snap.

*Outside of the Mindscape*

Katsumi's eyes opened to reveal red ferocious slits, like those of a fierce animal. The next moment, vile red chakra poured out of her pores, snapping the wire and forcing Mizuki to let go of it.

Within seconds, the girl's hand, extending claws, turned to slash at the chuunin's sensei's chest, tearing wide chunks of flesh and liters of blood gushed out, spraying on the ground. Her sharp fang-like teeth set themselves on Mizuki's throat, tearing it apart with cruelty, and without remorse. Then her hands dug deeper into the already dead Chuunin's chest, and when they got to his heart, she bit onto it like it was normal, like it was something she should do, something that felt so right.

_**Eat their hearts. Eat their bodies. The weak die as you feast on them. Their death is your strength.**_

And then, in minutes, the red chakra disappeared, like a soundproof wall had just been pushed around a concert hall. It pressured down and dismissed itself, suppressed. Naruto Senju stood there, in front of her, his Raijin no Ken in hand, his cold blue eyes set on the sight of the girl covered in blood.

Seconds later, Minato Namikaze was already there, three pronged kunai in hand, followed by nearly an entire platoon of Anbu shinobis.

"What happened here!? Katsumi! Are you alright!?" the red haired girl didn't speak, trembling, tears in her eyes, as she looked at the half eaten heart within her hands. Blood was still coming out of her mouth, and there was little she could do, except stay there, in shock.

"It appears, she's in shock, Hokage-sama," an Anbu spoke quietly, probably a medic-nin, "we should remove her quickly from the scene, to avoid any lasting psychological trauma," with those words, Minato nodded, before turning to look at Naruto, fury in his eyes.

"What happened here?" at the question, Naruto was tempted to shrug, to yawn even, but then again, even he would have troubles against an Anbu platoon.

"I do not know, Hokage-sama: when I came here, this sight is what greeted me. I arrived just a couple of seconds earlier, and only because the Senju compound was near enough for me to sense the chakra coming from this spot in the forest…I assumed hostiles, due to the foulness."

What Naruto didn't say was that it had been Karin, to sense it. She had outright hugged to near death Anko, in fright, and that had been enough to force even the purple haired kunoichi to send him on his way.

Furthermore, another thing he didn't say was that he knew all too well what had happened: the Kyuubi half within Katsumi had come out for a bite, and he had to leech it away from her before the Hokage, or his Anbus, stumbled upon the scene. It wouldn't have done him good to be without a bargaining hand in the future, especially on mission assignments.

"Well…I won't keep you away from your family…it seems my daughter must have mastered some sort of forbidden Jutsu from the scroll, to kill so easily Mizuki…and I'll need to speak to her, to know more," with those hesitant words, Minato realized he knew perfectly well *what* had happened. He just didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to admit that his precious little girl was starting to have her seal leaking. He'd have to repair it, again.

Maybe he could manage to pull her off the shinobi program…but that wouldn't work. Keeping her down with the mission's risks would be better.

Naruto waved goodbye to the Anbus, and a couple actually nodded back to him, before being dismissed. The gesture didn't go unnoticed to the Hokage, but he kind of wondered *how* he knew who was behind the masks…and why the Anbus didn't see the need to feign *not* recognizing him. Seconds later, the clearing was now empty, devoid of life, except for two Anbus left behind to look at the damage, one whispering at the other.

"Kakashi…that chakra was just like…"

"Rin: Not. A. Word." The reply was swift, and then what remained was silent tension.

*Senju compound*

The *Lunch* had turned into an *afternoon* Lunch, since by the time they got back, Tsunade had actually managed to burn down *half* the edible food in the compound, forcing Anko to go and buy the lunch ingredients. Then, after Naruto had come back from the team assignments, Karin had decided she wanted to learn how to cook, for survival purposes, clearly…and not to pry who she had ended up with. So the afternoon had turned into night, and by the time dinner was already prepared, a feast, to make it up for the missed lunch, there had been that emanation that had sent Karin to hug like a boa constrictor Anko.

Thus, when Naruto entered the kitchen, that also was the dining room, and found that there was little more than scraps, he sported a nervous tick on his forehead... especially since there weren't even leftovers…but the dirty dishes had yet to be washed.

"One day, I'm going to go on a vacation for a couple of days, without saying anything…and then they will see what it's like to be without me," he mumbled, as it took him two hand signs to have the dishes cleaned…suiton affinity had more than one practical purpose, after all.

"Only because I can use a bit of water," he muttered again, looking for something to eat, in the fridge…and finding it empty.

"Oh for Kami's sake…" with a light whine, he decided to stumble into the library, walking straight to where the hidden seal was, and whisper, in the barely lit library, the words to activate it.

"I am second to no-one."

The next moment, Naruto Senju was in the secret laboratory, thinking room, and training room of Tobirama Senju, and from there, he moved to the Fuinjutsu scrolls scattered around, to the left side of the giant cavern.

"Now…" he muttered, grabbing an ink brush, while opening yet another book on the table, "where was I?"

Hours later, when he finally emerged from the room, he carefully removed his armor, putting it on the mannequin in the library, before heading to the upper floor, and to his room.

As soon as he entered it, and slowly crawled into his side of the bed, he realized there was one more head than expected: A red haired one.

Anko, from her side, gave him a narrowed and annoyed look, before rolling her eyes and finally going to sleep, after receiving a sheepish, and only mouthed, *sorry* from his lips. In the middle, Karin didn't stir in the slightest, not letting go of Anko's arm, like her very life depended on it.

*Next morning*

The classroom was once more filled with people. All of them sported the Konoha's headband, and all of them were happily chatting among themselves, hoping they'd end up with kind or nice senseis. It took a while, but when Iruka came in, Katsumi, her face completely washed of all colors, moved in too, the Konoha forehead protector tied to her right arm. She took a seat in silence, and Karin didn't need much to realize that she was feeling fear, worry and shock. Her aura was incredibly static, a sign of stiffness, apathy, of thoughts most deep.

The fact she didn't even bother to look at Sasuke made most of the class worried too. Usually the red haired girl would jump on the Uchiha heir without a second of thought, and yet she went without qualms to sit at the back of the class. Something was definitively wrong.

"Team Six will be composed of Karin Senju, Sai and Yakumo Kurama," Iruka spoke, "Their sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai," he added.

Karin winced, she knew who Yuhi Kurenai was…and she had a feeling she was going to be deeply, and regretfully, involved in her managing of her father's fan club. Still, she had a nice aura to her, so it wouldn't be that bad, but of the other two, she had no idea, neither seemed to be in the classroom, so maybe they were special students?

"Team seven, under Asuma Sarutobi, will be composed of Chouji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame," at that notion, the class winced, but Shikamaru was the one who sat back up straight, perplexed. That didn't…that wasn't possible. It wasn't the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, and it wasn't the normal two Shinobi and one Kunoichi formation, something *was* wrong in both fronts.

"Team Eight, under Hatake Kakashi, will be of Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno," at the mention, everyone turned to look at Sasuke, who had an absolutely terrorized face on him, while Ino was simply squealing in delight.

"Team Nine, under Naruto Senju, will be of Katsumi Namikaze, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka," a loud set of groans echoed through the class. Obviously the daughter of the Hokage and the heir of the Hyuga clan took the better senseis, while Kiba was looking slightly leering at the thought of having two girls in his team…he wasn't the heir, as Inuzuka Hana was the oldest, and thus the clan would be hers to rule once their mother stepped down. What surprised the class was Hinata's loud:

"HELL YEAH!" yelled as she raised her fist into the air, before making a victory sign, "In your faces bitches! In your face!"

"Hinata-chan!" Iruka yelled, extremely shocked, "Sit back down!"

"Sorry Iruka-sensei…I lost it for a moment," the Hyuga heir replied in a low murmur, before sitting back down.

As Iruka went on to announce the other teams, trying to forget that moment of crudeness, nobody paid much attention. The Chuunin-sensei then looked at the class with a warm smile, before saying.

"From today forward, you are proud shinobi and kunoichi of the Leaf: remember to treasure your bonds, and to help each other forward. I hope to see you all soon reaching my rank, and passing me by, there is nothing a teacher takes prides more than in seeing his students surpass them."

The door of the classroom slowly slid open, as Naruto Senju rolled in, first of the Jounin senseis to have arrived, his blue plated armor was still there, but the fur to the sides of his neck had been removed, to make place for the usual green collar of the Jounin's flak jacket. The collar was however made with reinforced plated mails, since there was no way Naruto would renounce the safety of his armor.

"Team Nine! Come with me!" as he said that with a light grin, he waved in the general direction of the classroom, before turning to leave it. He did, however, stop for a moment, to wink at Karin, before adding.

"And Karin-chan, don't be late for dinner!"

Swiftly, Kiba was already running down behind him, while Hinata, trying to maintain a little bit of decorum, stopped for a second, to look at Katsumi.

"You coming, Katsumi-chan?" she asked, waving a hand in front of the Namikaze, before finally snapping her fingers, bringing the girl out of her shock with a startled breath.

"Huh? What? Hinata-chan?"

"Katsumi-chan, we have to go follow our sensei, it's Naruto-san, you know? Come on! We're going to lose him if you stay here day-dreaming!" with that, the Hyuga grabbed Katsumi by the arm, and forcefully pulled her up, to follow her outside the classroom.

Once outside, however, the Hyuga heir realized that their sensei was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Kiba. Biting her lower lip, the dark haired girl whispered.

"Byakugan."

The world turned black and white, as flames of blue chakra wisped around to Hinata's eyes. For a moment, however, the Hyuga stopped, air leaving her lungs in shock. Katsumi's chakra seemed so…tenuous, to say the least, it looked like she was about to roll over and die. At least, those chakra levels shouldn't be something to grant movement to begin with! Yet there she was…maybe the reason she was so pale and out of her normal self was because of that? Still, she had to find their sensei. He'd know what to do.

He was moving outside of her range of view, and was currently in the schoolyard, already set for the village, in the general direction of…

"I know where he's going! Let's go Katsumi-chan!" with those words, Hinata once more grabbed Katsumi by her hand, and started to run, the red-haired Namikaze in tow.

The two Kunoichis soon reached Naruto, who was merely walking, and Kiba, who was trying to tell their sensei to stop and wait for them.

"Sensei! Come on! We have to…Oh," Kiba turned around to see the two Kunoichis reaching them, Katsumi sporting a light lack of breathing, while Hinata, instead, seemed at ease.

"Naruto-sensei!" Hinata exclaimed, with worry, immediately making Naruto turn around with a raised eye brow.

"Yes Hinata-chan?"

"Katsumi-chan's chakra is extremely low! We should bring her to…" but she was stopped by Naruto raising a hand, and dismissing the issue.

"I know: most of her chakra has been sealed away, as a precaution…for what, I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"Ah…but she…" at Hinata's insistence, Katsumi finally managed to speak.

"Hinata-chan…really, I'm fine," the red haired girl made a small smile, "I'm just going to tire a bit more often, but now I've got the same amount of chakra as everyone else…really."

"But yours is lower than normal!" Hinata retorted.

"No, it's on par…her chakra coils are larger than normal, Hinata-chan," Naruto replied, "Thus it seems she's on the verge of chakra exhaustion, but it isn't true."

Hinata nodded, albeit she didn't look quite convinced.

"Anyway, good job in finding me, following me, or understanding where I'm going," the Senju said, before whistling a happy tune and starting to move once more, soon the three Genins were behind him, following him like baby ducklings.

"Aniki as a sensei is great!" Kiba whispered, excited, "I mean, really, he's S-class! S-class shinobi!"

"Hai, Naruto-sensei is certainly a really good teacher: Neji-Niisan speaks highly of him every time," Hinata added.

"He…" Katsumi's words died in her mouth. "_He's my brother._" Those words would never be pronounced by her mouth. She no longer was the nine years old of before. She was Twelve now. She knew all the anger, the hatred, that Naruto had gone through…and last night…last night she had been told the truth.

She was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. She was and she hadn't been told. She was and nobody had told the village. She was the weapon of Konoha and her father had kept her hidden and safe…and he had sacrificed Naruto for her. Every time Naruto had taken a stone, a knife, an insult, would that have been the same, had she been the one to be sacrificed? Would she have grown up alone, in an orphanage, in an apartment? She couldn't forgive her mother. She couldn't forgive her father. Yet she had to understand them. Did she? Did she really have to understand what they did, how they did it? That was their version, what if it wasn't the truth? Taking all the blame, all the hate, the anger, transforming it into praise and glory and fame, Naruto wasn't just her brother, her half of Jinchuuriki, no…he was her guardian...Her hero.

He knew, and yet he had never been angry at her. Angry at her perfect life while he lived in misery, angry for crimes he hadn't committed and that yet were pushed against him…angry at her being guilty, and yet never punished.

She was probably the only one who knew what the team was, in truth: a trap. It was a golden jail, for her. For the Kyuubi that she harbored, to make sure the beast would never leave...to make sure she would be kept safe.

Hinata would warn Naruto every time her chakra was meant to go in disarray. Kiba would track her down every time it was needed…and the grey haired Jounin would be able to calm her down, suck away her chakra with his own powers, and let her live an apparently normal life…she was surrounded by jailors…

Naruto was the Hero that Jailed the Kyuubi…how ironic was it that, right then, he was actually the Jailor of yet another one?

The training ground three came into view, and with it, the three wooden poles, the river, the light forested area around it, the dirt clearing and, most importantly, three persons tied to the poles.

Mitarashi Anko and Ibiki Morino were both there, looking at each other without showing any emotion at all.

In front of each of the three persons tied to the pole, stood a kunai embedded on the ground.

Naruto stopped straight in front of the three tied individuals, before turning around to face his students.

"Well, this is the Jounin test to decide wherever you are fit to become a shinobi or not…grab the Kunai and kill those men: each of you gets one, so no need to be excited about it," and with those words, the three twelve years old gulped down.

Hinata was the first to look at the three, activating her Byakugan to try and understand if it was a fluke, a joke, something…instead no, each of them had different chakra pathways, meaning they weren't clones, and each of them seemed vaguely non-descriptive, albeit they were all knocked out. All three of them were males, and while two had dark brown hair, the third had raven one. All three had a light build, probably famished for a while, or not fed.

She slowly moved forward, looking nervously at the kunai and then at Naruto.

"W…What are their crimes?" at the question, Naruto shrugged.

"They disobeyed orders: they were tasked with bringing important information back to Konoha, but instead exchanged it for one of their teammates that had been captured by the enemy previously. Their treachery costs us twenty-seven good men and women of the Anbu corps, a really steep price to pay. The families want their blood, and you will be tasked to give it to them."

"That's the…test?" Kiba, not wanting to be taken for less, grabbed one of the remaining free kunais, albeit he too held it in his hand without much of a conviction: this was cold blood killing. He always thought his first kill would have been in the heat of battle, with adrenaline and…life risking situation. Not in cold blood.

Hinata was having pretty much the same thought, albeit she would be giving it with Juken strikes, and not with the use of a Kunai: a really well treated kunai that had really sharp edges and a really piercing tip.

"Yup Doggie boy," Anko said with a little chuckle, "These three suckers are going to get what they deserve, wherever you like it or not: if you can't stomach it, then it will be mine and Scarface's pleasure to kill them."

With those words, Katsumi gulped, before grabbing the remaining Kunai. What was it? She just had to kill them. Right? She just had to kill the man in front of her…she…the memory of Mizuki, of his chest being split open, entered her mind like a sledgehammer. She wobbled, for a moment, before taking a deep breath, and whispering.

"I can't do it…" she said, "I can't…"

"This is a team exercise," Naruto pointed out, "You either all pass or fail: there is no single *pass*…" with those words, both Hinata and Kiba turned their gaze to Katsumi.

"Katsumi! Come on! We have to do this together! I know you can do it! What happened to becoming a strong Kunoichi?" Hinata said, her eyes looking straight at Katsumi.

"I can't! Why don't you go first then!?" Katsumi retorted, dropping the Kunai on the ground, "You go first and I'll follow!" she added.

"I…fine! Kiba?" as the Hyuga heir turned to the Inuzuka, Kiba nodded.

"Well, I can't go back to my mother telling her I chickened out…right?" with a small, nervous smile, Kiba closed his eyes and dashed forward: if he did it with enough speed, then maybe the man wouldn't suffer and he wouldn't remember much of it: as long as he kept his eyes closed.

The Kunai came down on the man's face, and a loud yell tore the otherwise silent training ground. Kiba's eyes opened in disbelief and shock, as the man had awoken and was trashing around in pain, blood seeping out from his chest…keeping his eyes closed, the twelve years old had missed a lethal spot, meaning the criminal would die of blood loss, surely, but with time.

"Give him the killing blow, kid," Ibiki pointed out, "Quick hit to the neck, move it or you fail anyway."

Without a second of hesitation, Kiba gritted his teeth, while his kunai came back up, and then slashed to the side, blood gushing out of the wound and all over his clothes, his face, his nose and even on his trousers. He was covered in the crimson liquid…and Hinata took that moment to do the same, albeit she did keep her eyes open during the deal…and it wasn't anything as messy as Kiba's.

"Katsumi-chan," Hinata spoke, bile menacing to come out of her throat, "Your turn," the Hyuga added, before bringing both her hands in front of her mouth.

"NO retching on the corpses," Anko pointed out, grabbing the Hyuga and making her spin, to vomit away from the scene.

Katsumi's face was pale, her hands trembling, her breath ragged. Killers. Murderers. Assassins. Shinobis.

She was a Kunoichi? Was she? She killed. They killed too.

She was going to kill.

She just didn't want it to be this way.

Yet…

She had to.

She couldn't let her friends down.

Would a murderer be entitled friends?

They were murderers. Would she be their friend?

Was Naruto Senju a murderer too now?

Innocence was lost the precise moment her kunai split in half the skull of the last remaining man. The one she was tasked to kill.

Without a word, she dropped her kunai on the ground, covered in blood…and she began to cry.

Her cries echoed through the training ground, as Ibiki and Anko grabbed the three corpses, and carried them away, leaving only the puddles of blood, that was now drying, on the ground.

Naruto coughed lightly, to get their attentions.

"First off: You pass. Not with merit, but you pass. This test was three fold: You could have passed without killing anyone," at that, Kiba gasped, suddenly starting to turn green, "that is, if you had refused on the principle that the shinobis couldn't be faulted for helping their comrade escape, because *Those who abandon their teammates, are worse than trash*, would have made me accept it. You could have passed if you all simply would have refused it, on the ground that you didn't hear of said incident, and you could have called my bluff: in truth, the three that you killed weren't shinobis to begin with." Hinata took the moment to puke again. Her hands trembling: did they kill innocents? No, it wasn't possible that…

"Or if all three of you showed the guts and the support of one another to kill them: there is no need to worry…those three *were* criminals, murderers to be more precise, and with an execution sentence pending on them."

Hinata sighed slightly in relief, as Katsumi's stomach instead twirled.

"But aren't we murderers too now?" the red haired voice was cracked by the pressure, and Naruto couldn't help but smile, slightly, as he replied.

"Yes, a shinobi is a tool for murder…but that is true only if you decide to be one. No matter what one may say, each of us decides our own path: you can be a tool, or you can become a person who simply kills for money, or you can become a guardian, or anything you wish to become…each of you must carve your own path, but death will always accompany you, because you are shinobis."

"Aniki…how could we fail then? Was it a sure pass thing?" Kiba whispered, not understanding.

"You could have asked Anko to kill them for you, or Ibiki, or me. You could have run away, or any of you could have killed without convincing the others. This was an all or nothing: if you and Hinata hadn't convinced Katsumi, then it wouldn't have worked, and you would all have failed."

"So…what now?" Kiba asked again, still shivering slightly.

"Now? You go home, you take a shower, you go to bed…you survive the nightmares of the first kill, and tomorrow morning, at Seven A.M sharp, you show yourself in front of the Hokage's tower for the first mission of the day. Team Nine…DISMISSED!"

**Author's notes**

**Chapter done!**

**I'm on a roll, canon days are starting, the terrain for angst is being plowed, and darkness looms.**

**Did you see where Danzo made an appearance? No? Remember the team arrangements! **

**Evil lurks…*chuckles* But there was no Hiruzen time…well, next time! Maybe.**

**Oh and yes, Hinata and Sakura are a bit of OC, but it's because I'd rather see them like that, then like their usual self (admit it, fidgety Hinata is a bit boring after a while)**

**For the team assignments reasoning, it's next chapter with a light flashback! Don't worry!**


	15. CD: Training

Chapter Fifteenth

The scream pierced through the air. Their stares pierced through his body. The air pierced his lungs. The motion, the piercing: to pierce, passing through, to tear something apart. He recalled the metal tip of the Kunai flashing in the light of the midday sun. He remembered the heat that suddenly was no longer there. The warmth that suddenly turned cold. The blood, splattered on his jacket. He didn't remember the walk, without thoughts, back to his compound. He didn't even recall if anyone saw him. He didn't even care if that happened. He just remembered the order to wash and then go to bed. He did just that. It was four in the afternoon, but he went to bed. The curtains closed, the windows shut, the door locked. In utter silence the covers crept over his head, and he stayed there, Akamaru whining pitifully next to him. Had he really been this ignorant? Had he really been this naïf? He was going to be a shinobi like his aniki, yet he couldn't stomach a kill in cold blood? The thought sent him back to the kunai. He had closed his eyes and the man hadn't died immediately: he had screamed. He had screamed like his very life depended on it. Would he scream too? If the roles had been reversed, would he scream too? If it had happened to Akamaru, if Naruto had asked them to kill each other, would it have happened to them too?

He didn't know. The guts in him told of the impossibility of such a thing, but it could still happen. It happened somewhere, probably even then, someone died just in that moment? Was someone dying just now? Was someone being killed, murdered, assassinated? Would someone die while he slept? Would a life be taken while his eyes were closed?

He shivered in the room. Without the windows open the heat was oppressive, yet his sweat wasn't due to the heat. It was cold sweat. He began to weep in silence, Akamaru still there, nudging his wet nose against his cheek.

There was nothing he could do, could he? No. He had killed him. He had passed. His team had passed. Team nine was official. Naruto Senju was their sensei and they had passed his test. Now they had time to think over their actions. This was torture. This was hell. This was being a shinobi, being a cold blooded murderer for money.

But it wasn't the truth. Naruto had been clear, and he was always right, his aniki was always right. Everyone carves his own path, be it through blood or not, through hell or heaven, through darkness or light…he could stay there and rest, stay there and weep…but the dead would remain dead, the blood would remain in his hands. He didn't know if he fell asleep then, he didn't know. He knew it was dangerous. He couldn't fall asleep with his door closed. He shouldn't. Yet he did.

Maybe, deep down, he just hoped to finish his pathetical excuse of a life.

Maybe, deeper still, he just wanted her to care for him, maybe a bit.

Even deeper…he was the one who didn't care.

In another side of Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves, Hinata Hyuga sat in her room. She had taken a long bath. She had scrubbed her white skinned hands clean so much they had turned slightly red. She was staring at the picture of her mother, of her father, of her baby sister being born. She looked at another picture, portraying Naruto, her sensei now, holding her with one hand, during one of the many days he had been tasked with escorting her to the academy. He was still a Chuunin then. He was the reason school wasn't boring. School wasn't boring to begin with…at the time, it brought her away from her house, from the oppressive atmosphere, from the elders, from her father. Her gaze moved on to yet another picture, this time with Yuhi Kurenai, another one of her escorts, in the later years, when Naruto was away in missions. Further away on the bed desk, yet another picture, of her, Anko-san, and Yuhi, all three eating dangos, when she had started to open up drastically. Finally, one last picture depicted her in her current attire, and she was holding Yumi-chan's hands as she made her first steps: she still recalled it had been Anko to take the picture, and she had run off home and back to the dango shop, to show it.

She smiled a bit, recalling how sad Naruto had been, at not being there, but he was away on missions… missions to become a Jounin, missions to kill people.

Hinata had stopped believing in fairy tales since a long time. Maybe it had been when her mother had died. Maybe it had been when Naruto, the man she crushed on, put up a family. Maybe it had been during some of the training she had done with Anko. Maybe it had been one of her father's words, or something like that. Maybe it was the elders' gazes on her. She didn't know. She knew that fairytales had died, and that the only way to pull through was to become the top, the best of them all. There hadn't been a need of introductions, Naruto knew them. No, Sensei knew them all too well. The test was just to see if they were ready. It was to make them realize there were no fairytales, no dashingly beautiful shinobis, and no blood free hands. Grime was all they would get. Dirt, dust, mud, blood, tears, puke and wretched feelings…that was their future: could there be something else? Undoubtedly there could. Sensei was living proof of that. He wasn't mad, yet, or if he was he didn't show it. He was happy, was he? He killed for a living, and yet he was happy. Were they meant to be happy too? Were they meant to do this without saying anything? To take it on with stride? Were they meant to become emotionless machines, devoted only to death and survival? No…she stood up, discarding her bathroom towels and dressing up.

She wasn't going to mope in a corner. That was something the old Hinata would do. This Hinata wouldn't sit around. This Hinata wouldn't cry. This Hinata was the new Hinata, the better Hinata, and the stronger Hinata…and she was going out to train. No matter the time, no matter she had just washed herself up. She got out, and she began training. Her fists flew in the air, as her Byakugan activated, to train, to better herself, to become more deadly. She would no longer be weak, and once strength was there, she would get what she desired. She might have been nothing more than a kid going through basic, weak, motions. She might have been slower than her father, weaker than her father, but her eyes were as strong as, if not stronger than his: her determination shone through them.

From his spot, in his studio, Hiashi Hyuga simply nodded to himself. For him, and, in large part for the elders, it didn't matter how Hinata Hyuga dressed. As long as she was strong, and fierce, and loyal to the clan, she could parade around Konoha naked…but as a father, he would put down *that* as extreme.

Meanwhile, Katsumi Namikaze returned home with an utterly pale face. Her clear blue eyes were those of a haunted person. She didn't even say that she was back. She didn't even speak a word. When her mother came to the hallway, to look at who had entered, the Hokage's wife stopped her external ranting on etiquette. Worry crossed Kushina's face, and then her trained eyes darted straight to the blood splatters on Katsumi's orange dress.

"What happened?" she asked, carefully taking a step forward. As she did so, she realized that Katsumi's eyes were…they were watery, like she was about to cry and weep and say that something hurt. Only they were also haunted. Like hers had been the first time she had…no, did the girl, her little girl, her little tomato, kill again? But…

"Katsumi…speak to me, please?" she added, hesitantly. Her fingers wrapped themselves around Katsumi's shoulders, as she hugged her daughter. Katsumi, on her side, began to cry, letting out the tears she was keeping hidden, deep within herself.

Minutes later, her voice cringed and cracked, she managed to speak.

"We…We passed the test…" Katsumi cried, "We're Genins now...me and…Kiba…and Hinata…we're Genins now."

"What was the test about?" Kushina asked, "The bell test?" she queried. The bell test shouldn't have made someone bleed…right? "Did Naruto go all out with you?" or maybe did the Kyuubi break loose, and that was *his* blood on her daughter?

"No…He…He made us…kill," she whispered, before pushing her face even further in her mother's chest.

"Calm down, Katsumi," Kushina muttered, gently caressing the girl's red hair, before adding, "tell me everything, from the beginning, please."

And so Katsumi did. The red haired Namikaze girl, recently appointed Genin, spoke quietly, little by little, nudged by her mother to be as descriptive as possible, until finally, with trembling words, she reached the end of her tale.

"Your father will hear of this," Kushina said, a light growl in her voice, "You go wash up and go to bed…I'll come by later with some ramen, beef ramen: it makes all the problems go away."

Katsumi nodded, before slowly moving to the bathroom, upstairs, while Kushina went through the hand signs for a Kage Bunshin.

There wasn't a need for words, as the Namikaze woman dashed off, leaving the shadow clone in the house, in case of a potential relapse from Katsumi. She had to speak with Minato, probably he was just then briefing the Jounins about who passed and failed the test, and if that was the case, then she sure as hell wanted an explanation. Genins weren't meant to kill in their bell test! They were meant to be tested on team-exercises! Their first kill should have come by slowly, after a while of D-rank missions! Just how irresponsible could Naruto have become to do that!?

Maybe he had taken his revenge, and maybe he would keep taking his revenge out on Katsumi…she couldn't permit that. Or maybe he had a reason. He was pretty much loyal to Konoha…he just hated Minato, and her. But he wouldn't hate the village…he wouldn't hate Katsumi, right?

Kushina actually stormed into the office of Minato just as the Jounins assembled finished giving their quick report on who passed the tests or not, and as thirty pairs of eyes settled on her figure, her apron-clad kitchen figure, the red haired woman realized that going out with her home attire, and entering from the window *Wasn't* the impression she wanted to make. She still kept her cool, as everyone else kept silent, even Minato, who, however, had his mouth open in a perfect *o* of surprise.

Kushina's gaze went sternly to Naruto, and with a little hiss, she muttered.

"You," at the single word, the Senju rolled his eyes, before crossing his arms over his chest.

"What is the problem, Namikaze-san?" he asked carefully, as Minato's eyes settled on both parties, while the Jounins in between the two decided to move to the sides of the room. They hadn't been dismissed, and thus they preferred to stick around and watch the show unfold.

"Katsumi came back home in shock, and in tears…" Kushina started, "She told me what your test was…and you went over the line."

"I went over the line?" Naruto replied, raising a puzzled eyebrow, "Strange, I don't think so."

"Senju-san, would you please explain what your test was?" Minato's voice didn't falter, as he asked, his tone emotionless, his blue eyes settling on the Jounin.

"I gave them the murder test," the grey haired man shrugged, "It's a documented method, it's a used method, and it works."

"The Murder Test?" Minato asked, perplexed, as many jounins too voiced their perplexity, in low mutters at the side of the room.

"You tied three criminals to the poles in the training ground, and had freshly graduated students execute them!" Kushina hissed, "Don't you know the psychological damage you could cause them!?"

"You did what!? How's Katsumi now!?" as Minato asked that, in a shocked voice, the red haired woman replied quickly.

"She's fine, I hope. So, what have you to say for yourself? What's your excuse?"

"Excuse?" Naruto's single word looked more like a question, than a repeat of the last word, "Excuse. I need to make an excuse? Are you serious? Really? I need to excuse myself from having subjected my Genins, my soldiers, my team, to a test that truly means to *test* them? Hokage-sama, I have no excuses to give, because there is nothing to excuse."

"Certainly you can understand that having freshly minted Genin kill is a bit of a problem: they should be introduced to the concept of death first, and then…" as Minato spoke, swiftly he was interrupted by a loud chuckle, coming from the Senju's clan's head himself.

"Really? You think the bandits will stand still during one of their C-rank missions? You think the first kill is easy? Do you not remember your first one? Who, in this room," Naruto exclaimed, "Doesn't remember his first kill? Be it at war, in peace, in protecting someone, in assassinating someone, who doesn't remember his first time!?" his right hand raised, the Senju kept talking.

"And you all know fully well what happens afterwards: you froze, you might have moved out of harm's way but your brain stopped thinking. How many have you seen someone die because of that? How many Genins did you barely save from the enemy's blow because they were twelve or thirteen years old and yet to have their kill? How many suffered the trauma in the middle of nowhere, maybe with the corpse of one of their unlucky teammates nearby, to remind them of what just happened? Come on! Raise your hand!" as Naruto lowered his, he turned his gaze, his cold gaze, to both Minato and Kushina.

"Don't you dare say I was out of the line, because out of all the Genin teams tested, out of all the brats, mine have tasted blood in a secure environment, with families near them to look out for them, with people to talk to, and without risking their life during a battle by freezing on the spot, caught in their fears. So don't you dare: tomorrow morning, my team will be here to take their first D-rank mission. Maybe they'll paint a fence or maybe they'll weed the grass. Maybe they'll babysit someone. However, when the first C-rank mission will come, probably to grab a doll for someone, then, maybe, they won't freeze, forcing one of their teammates to use an explosive tag to tear apart a group of encroaching bandits. Maybe they won't be forced to see their teammates die, maybe, just maybe, they'll pull through with far more determination then they ever had before…blood is what we are, blood is what we give and take, so don't you dare…don't you damn fucking dare, say that I went out of the line…because I _am the line_." And without another word, Naruto stormed off.

Nobody dared to stop him. Nobody even dared to look up from the ground. Asuma's cigarette fell on the office's floor and stood there. Minato's eyes were shocked and silent. Kushina's were on the verge of tears. Kakashi's only visible eye was closed in silent understanding. Kurenai's red gaze was filled with sadness. Many others stood in a mixture of guilt and depression… because Naruto Senju was right.

And they wished he wasn't.

But they couldn't, no matter how much they wished he was wrong, how much they wanted to yell it wasn't right, it wasn't what really happened, it wasn't something that always happened...they couldn't.

Because the truth… that truth, hurt.

*Senju Compound*

Karin gasped slightly, before taking a quick and fast gulp. She nervously looked at Anko, before whispering.

"Otou-san is angry... really angry…really, really, angry."

Anko knew that Karin had these sort of *premonitions*, she could sense people from afar, and was naturally good at reading their gestures. Naruto had spent most of his free time teaching her how to sense people, and thus, when the red haired girl said that, Anko had no doubt something bad had happened.

Worse, she began sweating, thinking that the can of worms had been opened, thinking that Naruto was coming here to throw her out, or kill her. Maybe the latter would have been more merciful.

With a deep breath, she waited, and finally, Naruto entered the house. His eyes were deeply cold, and the fact that even Karin was shivering at his sight was more than enough reason to gulp down.

"K…Koi? Is… Is everything alright?" at the question, the grey haired man took a deep breath, before slumping down on the chair, his hands going through his hair.

"I…Damn…What a stupid thing I did," he added, "I just…I lost it…there. I talked down to the Hokage! Of all people! I just…" with a deep sigh, his hands went to cover his eyes, gently pressing around the eyelids.

"It's alright, it's alright," Anko spoke quickly, getting immediately to his side, and hugging him by the neck, "Everything's fine: guess what, Apple-chan passed her Genin test, she's now a Genin!"

"Otou-san?" Karin couldn't understand why, but Naruto's aura…the ocean was crying. The ocean was under a set of titanic storms and rains that seemed to move twirling in typhoons of unparalleled proportions…it was just…the sheer amount of emotions in his aura, in his being, in his very core. Something had torn him apart deeply, that day, and it was there. It was still damn there.

"Come on…I've got it," Anko exclaimed after a moment, pulling Naruto on his feet, "I'm taking you to bed: you need to rest, clearly…stress is bad for your health, you know? You pushed yourself too much lately, that's what it is. Karin-chan, Yumi-chan is sleeping right now, if she wakes up keep an eye out on her, okay?" without an answer, the purple haired Kunoichi pulled her husband all the way upstairs, before pushing against the wall of their room, and kissing him on the lips.

After a few minutes, in which Karin, downstairs, decided to stop prying and stop sensing around, Anko parted her lips from his, and looked at him straight in his eyes, removing the man's shades.

"What happened, Koibito? Was it about the test? It was perfectly legal, you know it: even the third Hokage said it was fine when you talked it over with him, last time."

"I know…but…the way she…the Hokage's wife came in his office, accusing me of having crossed the line, of having harmed her precious daughter, of having scarred her mentally for simply having her execute a criminal…I.." his voice died in his mouth, as Anko kissed him again, before letting go after, once more, a couple of minutes.

"I know, it's not fair, that's your thought, I understand it…it isn't, and I'm with you…no matter what, I'm with you, okay? I'm with you…so go back down in the kitchen, and smile to our daughter, and tell her everything is fine, and you're happy she passed her simple, kind, gentle, team-exercise test," her light hazel eyes then sparkled playfully, as the purple haired kunoichi whispered to Naruto's ear.

"Then, maybe, you could bring Karin and Yumi to be spoiled by their grandmother and aunt…and come back, obviously, to be spoiled by me," as she muttered that, gently nibbling at the grey haired boy's ear, the Senju head mellowed out, one last sigh escaping his lips.

"Fine…I'm sorry for before."

"Don't be sorry with me, go down to Apple-chan, and apologize," with those words, Naruto nodded, and headed downstairs. Minutes later, Anko could hear laughter and happy tones once more in the kitchen: the giggling of Karin and the chuckles of Naruto…that was good. Her heaven was still safe. Her perfection still there…for how much longer, however, would it last?

Forever was a dream that wouldn't last, like trying to catch a wisp of smoke…but maybe, maybe she could manage to convince him to stay, regardless of everything…to not have her leave, to not push her away?

She at least had to try.

*The Next day*

The next day, Naruto Senju walked towards the Hokage's tower in a strangely bright mood. His cold demeanor didn't appear, even as he stood straight outside the tower, waiting for his Genins. He had arrived earlier… apparently he couldn't wait to start the D-rank missions, again. Those were the fun stuff. He would never understand those idiots who wanted higher ranked missions. Sure, D-rank paid little, they were nothing more than chores…but those were paid chores, easy things, like painting a fence. Why bother higher ranked ones that took months to complete, having to go through mud and blood and tears, only to earn, in proportion, only a tad bit more?

It wasn't actually worth it. D-ranks were easy, quick and one could take double in a day, and have by the end of the week enough money to be comfortable for a while. Naruto, with ease and calm, however, would never admit that the real reason he was already out of the Senju compound was because Anko, since the night before, had been trying to raise the number of Senju members from six to seven…and the second child, he would have pretty much liked it to be a thought over thing.

So yes, he had escaped sexual molestation from his wife that had gone on for practically the entire night. Only a married man would know the difficulty of admitting said thing in public…albeit Naruto was sure he'd be killed, thrice, if he ever complained about something like that.

The first to arrive was Kiba, who sported a slightly limping right leg. The puzzled expression of the Senju's head was rewarded with a small smile from the Inuzuka, who muttered.

"I'm fine…training went bad for a moment, nothing broken, at all, just a muscle ache," the grey haired man nodded, as his right hand slowly glowed green. First, it settled itself on the boy's leg, but then it reached for his ribs, and finally for his left arm.

"Kiba," Naruto whispered, "Lie to me again, and I swear I'll make a pelt out of your skin, understood?"

Kiba winced, and was about to retort, when the eyes hidden behind the shades of Naruto actually glowed, making themselves visible even from the thick black screen.

"H-Hai sensei," he replied, hesitant to say anything else.

"Until you will tell me, I will not ask," Naruto replied, immediately easing the Inuzuka, who chuckled grimly, before pointing out.

"You're just like Shino…even the shades."

"But the moment I deem you need help, as my student, I will intervene," and with that, Kiba winced again.

"You're just scarier than Shino, and that says it all," the Inuzuka added, before staying quietly next to his sensei, until the next student arrived.

Hinata Hyuga had left the compound with quick paces, yet now she was slowing down. The more she neared the Hokage's tower, the more she started to think about how to break the ice. What did one say after the first kill? It was a refreshing night? No, it wasn't. Sure, she had killed the man quickly, but his face still was there, haunting her even. It would be like that for weeks? Maybe she just had to forget about it…if Naruto-sensei could, why couldn't she too? With a new found resolution of acting like nothing happened the day before, she waved at her sensei and at her teammate. She had arrived early in hope of being alone with Naruto, but as it turned out, the Inuzuka had been there before.

"Sensei! Kiba-kun! You're both early!" as the Hyuga exclaimed that, she was rewarded with a smile from both Naruto and Kiba.

"Early rise means early mission, and that means maybe, if you're all good, we can do two in a day," Naruto pointed out, as Kiba's eyes opened wide.

"We're going to be the Sairai of the fixer team? Hell yeah! It's going to be a walk in the park," at that, the Senju chuckled lightly.

"I hope not: you wouldn't learn anything if it was that easy," with those words, Naruto closed his eyes, humming happily as his two students began chatting about random things. The weather, the time, the mission's chance of being a secret S-rank mission that involved explosive and secret agents, things like that. Kid things, and yet, no matter how much they tried to hide it, both were also a bit stressed. Sure, they could act at ease, but they couldn't fool his own senses, his own ability to feel every drop of liquid that moved through their bodies, be it the blood, the sweat or anything similar. Nervous people tended to sweat, and he knew that slowly, the two students of his were beginning to get nervous. Sure, it wasn't visible, it was just the droplet of water that went down Kiba's back, or the one that fell alongside Hinata's inner jacket's arm…but it was there.

Widening his scope of search, he felt the water of the people near him, their liquids, their bloods, and there it was. A nervous rushing of blood, a nervous heartbeat, and a forehead covered in sweat. Opening his eyes once more, he looked at the sun: just in time.

Katsumi Namikaze was wearing a fitting dark red jacket, her hair cut in such a way that it barely reached her shoulders, in a casket-like form. She had underneath the red jacket a dark green shirt, tucked inside a pair of black cargo pants. A utility belt, filled with kunais and shurikens, probably, was at her stomach level.

While Kiba was dressed pretty much the same, as was Hinata, Katsumi seemed to have gone through a wardrobe change.

"Katsumi-chan? You look awesome!" Hinata said with a smile, as Kiba, instead, replied after a moment.

"Awesome? She looks kickass!" That actually made Katsumi blush slightly, before turning her blue eyes to Naruto, and, lightly bowing her head, speak.

"I'm sorry I'm late sensei…"

"Not a problem," Naruto dismissed the issue, "Now that we're all here, we can go take a mission."

The Genin trio followed quietly their sensei, since, after all, this was the first time they entered the Hokage's tower…for business and not with the academy or to see one's father.

The Chuunin guards stationed along the hallways were perplexed, at the lack of chilling air that usually made them stand to attention. Maybe having a team of Genin had soothed down the Nidaime's clone? A second later, Naruto's glowing blue eyes, hidden behind the shades, made the entire hallway stand to attention, in fright.

"I haven't lost my touch," he chuckled, before opening the doors of the mission assignments, for the D-rank and C-rank missions, after having been given the freeway by the secretary.

Iruka stood to the side of the long table, with a couple more chuunins to do bureaucracy, and the Hokage in the middle. A Kanji for the word *shinobi* stood on the ceiling, while hanging from the front of the table was a scroll that revealed the words: _"Do a Good Job, everyone!"_

Moments later, the temperature in the room dropped a hundred-fold, as Naruto took a step forward, and, in silence, looked straight into the eyes of the Hokage. The silence was actually deafening, it was so heavy, and the pressure so great, that Akamaru nearly decided to whine to make it stop.

Even Kiba was tense, while Hinata simply stared, her hands in her jacket's pocket, grasping at the inner folds of the cloth. Katsumi, on the other hand, looked worried. She had never seen her father and Naruto act like that, was that how he coped with everything? Shoving all his disgust and resentment straight into her father, through the mere gaze of his eyes?

The silence was finally interrupted by the Senju's words, which came out quiet, eerily polite, but extremely cold.

"I apologize for yesterday's outburst, Hokage-sama," Minato's mouth actually opened, to suck in air for his lungs, before daring to make a reply.

"And I apologize for my wife's actions…she shouldn't have questioned your judgment," at that, both Kiba and Hinata turned to Katsumi, who gave back a perplexed stare…she didn't know anything about it!

She'd ask her mother, eventually…right there and then, she just hoped the tension would diminish.

"I think my team can take this mission," as Naruto lightly tapped with his finger on a scroll, for a D-rank, the Hokage slowly grabbed it, unfolding it before giving a light nod, and handing it over to Iruka for confirmation. The Chuunin nearly let the scroll fall down, catching it in time, and giving back an apologetic smile.

With quick precise motions Team Nine was granted the important mission of…painting a fence.

Then Naruto turned to leave, and his genins followed, albeit hesitantly at first. Once the Senju's head was outside, the temperature in the room sky rocketed back to its normal levels, making many chuunin wince and start breathing raggedly, to compensate.

"H…Holy…" one of them muttered, "Can I open the window, Hokage-sama?"  
"Permission…granted," Minato replied in a mutter.

*Team Nine*

The fence belonged to a farmer in the outskirts of Konoha, one of those that, in exchange for a lower commission price on missions, gave a lower price too in the sale of their products to the hidden village. Leaving the safety of the walls of Konoha, Kiba whistled happily, before starting a run, with tumbles and jumps. Like a dog happy to be outside, playing in the sun.

Hinata looked at the scene with a sort of amused smirk, while Katsumi, instead, was actually fidgeting and staring, every now and then, at their sensei.

The Hyuga heir decided she had enough of this fidgeting crap, she had done more than enough fidgeting for all of Konoha, after all, when she was younger: she wasn't going to let others do it.

"Sensei, Katsumi-chan has a question!" Hinata exclaimed, "I'll go reach the mutt-boy, before he falls in a ditch and breaks a leg!" with those words, the pearly eyed girl dashed forward, leaving behind the two; the Senju and the Namikaze.

Naruto's gaze moved to his side, and lowered itself to the smaller form of the kunoichi. Katsumi, instead, decided that the dirt on the road was far more interesting than anything else, in that moment.

"Katsumi-chan?" Naruto asked, tentatively.

"Do you hate otou-san?" the red haired girl blurted out, without even thinking much about it.

"You are asking a shinobi of Konoha if he hates his Hokage, girl…I don't think I'm going to answer that," Naruto replied with a light chuckle.

"Ah…" the girl's eyes shot open in shock, "Do you…do you ever remember all the persons you killed, sensei?"

"Now that is a good question," Naruto replied, "But I'm afraid the answer is no…except the first, at least, the first two: explosive tags make for messy first kills, you know? But still…after a while the faces merge, the body swap, and you don't even care any longer. It becomes a routine, a job, nothing more…"

"Is that the same for you Sensei?" Katsumi asked again.

"No Katsumi-chan," Naruto sighed, letting his right hand pass through his hair, "When I kill, I always wonder if I could have avoided it, maybe if I had been stronger, or something like that…ironic, coming from someone who had a great share of assassination missions under his belt…"

Katsumi said nothing more, simply nodding, before letting her blue gaze settle on the road ahead of her.

"Sensei…why were the teams made this way?" there, she had asked the question. The doubt was now going to either turn into truth, or into smoke…she would know of her jail, or of the reason behind this.

"My daughter's team contained the special cases: she, Sai and Yakumo are both either Genins who have entered later, or have special permissions to become one without passing through the academy, that's why Kurenai-san was in charge of them. She's kind of motherly, and is the best for making the three of them produce *acceptable* results," Naruto pointed out.

"Shikamaru, Chouji and Shino are three persons that can work very well together as they are an effective wall against possible offensive actions: stalling, crushing and draining. On the other hand, Kakashi, who is as lazy as lazy can go, has been given a team with Sasuke, since he might need sharingan training, and the copy-cat nin is the only one with the sharingan left, and two kunoichis who might become someone, or who simply might not become anything more…basically, drop-outs that passed by luck," at the notion, Katsumi's eyes closed, as a deep gut wrenching feeling settled in her. Sakura was her friend…she was no drop-out!

"Finally, our team is composed of attackers," Naruto pointed out, "Kiba gets the single enemy, Hinata gets the general bunch, and you crush the majority. Your high chakra reserves are essential for that, and albeit now they are sealed, with time, we will make sure you're able to use more and more. Kiba with the Gatsuuga of his clan can become a fierce one-shot killer, and Hinata can use the Jyuken to capture some shinobi…if we need them alive, that is…"

"So…you made us kill because…" at the understanding, Katsumi didn't know what was worse: the fact that she had been wrong, or the fact that she *was* in a team that was made with the sole purpose of attacking and slaughtering.

That kill, in the training ground, wasn't going to be the last one…she feared.

"Kiba! Come back here! Hinata, you too!" as Naruto yelled the order, both Genins resumed their normal composure, and ran straight back in line.

"Now, let's assume a formal formation that formalizes the formalities for form practice," the grey haired Senju spoke with a light grin, as Hinata barely managed to repress a grin, while Kiba was in shock…

"That was so…so horrible!" a knuckle to the head later, and Kiba was pitifully whining about being stuck in the middle between Hinata and Katsumi, and no able to run ahead, nor increase his pace.

Behind the three Genins, Naruto Senju walked on the dirt road, looking at the back of all three of his students.

He hadn't lied when he had told Katsumi why he had chosen the teams…because in truth, he had been the one to take his own, and basically had forced the others to take theirs. Little by little, he was wrestling the position of Hokage out of Katsumi's father…and while he had doubts that Minato knew of it…he didn't seem to be doing anything to change it.

He was walking a difficult line, his outburst, in the Hokage's office, had more than a meaning…he was the line. He was the line between light and darkness, he was the perfect blend of Danzo and Hiruzen, he was the correct dose of stern and layback attitude. He was a teacher, an assassin, a shinobi. He was more than a Hokage in the making…he was practically already made. Now he just needed to wrestle the position. Soon, probably, everything would fall in place.

The Chuunin exams, later that year, would topple the scales: it would be a giant gamble, but it would be his giant gamble.

He just hoped he would ready.

The farm came into view half an hour later. The wooden fence, that actually covered the entire outskirt of the farm, was longer than two miles, and would take practically the entire day to paint over.

"Well, the cans of paint are over there," Naruto said, gesturing at a small pile of tin cans and paint brushes, "Remember: double passing, and the job must be completed before the sun sets, good luck."

"You're not helping, Aniki?" Kiba asked pitifully, with a little whine in his voice, as he pinched his nose. The acrylic smell coming from the cans was something horrendous, for his highly sensible smell sense.

"Me? Nope. It's your job. You were the happy one, Sairai of the fixer team and all, right? So on with it you three!" as he said that, he gave a small chuckle, before tucking in his mouth a grain stalk, and lying down on a comfortable ball of hay that was nearby. He'd nap a bit, leaving the kids to their work.

Yes, D-rank missions were easy.

Kiba looked at the long and seemingly infinite amount of the fence, before turning to look at Katsumi and Hinata, who, they too, were taking their time to decide how to work on it.

"We should pass them twice like this: If Kiba-kun goes from one side, and you Katsumi-chan go from the other, I can go halfway and start painting one and one. Then by the time you both reach me, you double-paint mine while I go back to the beginning and repeat the motion, while you walk back through painting each other's side…sounds like a deal?" as Hinata's careful analysis yielded a sort of *equal* ground in painting, both Kiba and Katsumi nodded.

Naruto slightly grinned from his place in the hay ball…the kids were good: Kakashi would be giving an arm for them…he was sure of it.

*Kakashi's team (Day Before)*

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino's squeal of delight turned to horror, as the Uchiha heir had just decided he had enough, of the entire ordeal, and had placed the blond haired girl under a light Genjutsu: to scare her off.

"Please Kami let her stop," he muttered, his raven eyes looking to the ceiling, the prayer seemingly going unheard. A moment later, Sakura, grabbing a closed scroll, bonked it on the head of the blond haired girl, waking her up from the Genjutsu.

"Genjutsu, stop hugging the chair," the pink haired kunoichi muttered, before shaking her head and going back to her scroll, the open on in front of her. Really, when would the girl learn?

Sasuke actually took that moment to realize that there hadn't been two squeals of delight, at his name in the team, but only one. That was why he was looking with a mixture of surprise, shock and…awe, at the pink haired girl that wasn't screaming, wasn't hugging him with tears in her eyes and wasn't even giving him a split second of attention.

Maybe not the entire team was bad. She was studying Jutsu scrolls after all, so at least she had some sort of…fervor, to it?

And maybe, just maybe, when his sharingan awakened he could use her skills to copy her jutsus. It wouldn't be that bad, would it?

Still, right now, she wasn't in his *worthy of being considered* list, for the mere fact that the blond haired banshee was once more set upon his body. Clinging to him and being utterly scared of it.

"Sasuke-kun I was so scared! Really, I saw…" if rambling was to be made a national sport, then, certainly, the blue eyed blond pony-tailed girl would win it…repeatedly…and with little effort.

Finally, his right hand crashed against the desk, shocking the girl into silence.

"How can you ignore her!?" he yelled, directed at the pink haired girl who, probably only then, turned around, removing two earplugs from her ears.

"Said something?" it was enough. Sasuke nearly snarled ferociously in rage, and decided to do the only possible thing he could do: stand up and move to leave. Damn their sensei and his being late!

Damn even the pink haired girl! Damn the silver haired guy that looked like a Jounin that had just opened the door.

Pointing his finger at the figure, he literally howled.

"YOU'RE THREE HOURS DAMN LATE!" at that, the Jounin winced with his only visible eye, before replying, clearly letting the sarcasm to seep through his words.

"My first impression of you guys…is that you're noisy," at that, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine, as the pink haired girl looked at him with sparkles, really shining sparkles, in her jade green eyes.

"Kakashi-sama? The Copy-cat ninja? Kami thank you," she whispered, looking with a mouth-splitting smile at the copy-cat ninja. It was a moment, but Kakashi began thinking that maybe, just maybe, he could go back to Anbu. The next moment, he managed to add, regaining his bearings.

"Meet me in training ground seven, and don't be late," with those words, he disappeared into a puff of smoke.

After a second of startled silence, Sasuke was already running out of the classroom, without even waiting for his two teammates. Ino followed quickly, passing from the door, while Sakura, on the other hand, decided to leap from the window.

Kakashi had expected Sasuke to arrive there first. He had actually expected that because of his training with Naruto and Neji, and because Sasuke was, after all, the rookie of the year. He didn't expect, his back against the tree, to see the pink haired girl arriving there first, nor did he expect to be fawned upon…he was reading Icha Icha Forbidden Sins! Nobody should have fawned over him like that!

"When will we start Jutsu training sensei? Is it true you know over a thousand ones? Is it…" as Sakura's eyes sparkled, Kakashi realized it wasn't adoration for him…but for his jutsus and his knowledge. He was already reassessing the kunoichi…maybe he could actually work with the team, and not with only Sasuke as an apprentice.

"How did you get here so fast?" Kakashi asked, deciding to close his book to receive an answer.

"Travelled on the rooftops," Sakura replied, wheezing lightly.

"Did you use chakra?" he asked again, carefully.

"Yes. I enhanced my leg muscles to run faster and get here in time," she added, with a small smile, "I'm just that awesome, shannaro!"

"Shannaro?" at the question, the pink haired girl blushed slightly, fidgeting with her air.

"Well…it's a slip of the tongue, it happens!" she exclaimed, before averting her gaze to the ground. Kakashi decided not to pry, and as he waited for the rest of his students, he mentally noted he had to speak with Naruto, eventually.

Sasuke arrived in the clearing minutes later, looking surprised at not being the first. With careful and deliberate movements, he started to exercise his muscles, since there was no need to calm down: the test was probably going to be something physical of sorts.

"Sasuke-kun!" the piercing wail of the blond haired banshee ruptured through the air, making Kakashi wince.

"Earplugs?" Sakura offered to the silver haired Jounin, only to have him eye-smile at her.

"Do you have an extra pair?" Sasuke's tone was even pleading, albeit his eyes did their best to maintain a resemblance of seriousness.

"Nope," the kunoichi's reply came gingerly, just as a final wail of *Sasuke-kun!* brought Ino to tackle the Uchiha. Or at least to try, only to be kept at distance, at arm's length, by Sasuke's use of his right hand on the girl's forehead.

"Control yourself Ino!" Sasuke snapped, forcing the girl to have her eyes go in heart-shape, while she brought both of her hands together to coo on her…*Sasuke-kun*.

"Well…let's get to know each other, before we pass to the test," Kakashi pointed out, glad that it was already two in the afternoon, and thus he could get on with the bell test by having them at a lunch-empty stomach.

"First off, present yourself, your likes, dislikes, dreams, and things like that," as the silver haired Jounin pointed that out, Sakura's eyes sparkled as she raised her hand.

"Can I go first!? Me first!" with a light nod of Kakashi's head, the pink haired kunoichi spoke with a happy tone.

"My name is Sakura Haruno, I like jutsus, anything jutsu related, and anything that can help me learn more jutsus, I dislike people who spit on other's hard work, and people who steal other's efforts," Kakashi winced, oh she was in for a rude awakening soon enough, "my dream is to memorize the entire jutsu library of Konoha, the surrounding villages, and acquire all the knowledge on jutsu that is possible to achieve!"

For a brief instant, Kakashi was reminded of Orochimaru. A bubbly pink haired Orochimaru…and female…the sheer thought made him shiver even more.

"Well…that's a big dream," Kakashi admitted, before turning to the other Kunoichi, who quite quickly took the word.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka, I like Sasuke-kun, tomatoes just like Sasuke-kun," the raven haired boy's eyes were just then turning a murderous tint on the blond haired girl, "I dislike Sashimi, people who offend me because they think I'm an airhead," three sweatdrops occurred near her, but she didn't see them, "and my dream is to become Ino Uchiha and have hundreds of babies with Sasuke-kun!"

"Ehm…yes…I suppose…" Kakashi would have just liked to turn around and leave, then grab Naruto, and bring him here to take on *this* team. The problem was that, knowing him, he'd turn this into the best team possible in the blink of a second.

"You last, assassin wannabe," the silver haired Jounin said with a teasing tone, something that actually made the Uchiha scowl.

"Stop it…Kashi-chan," with a knuckle to the head later, and a *ow* of pain, Sasuke muttered, "Fine, Kashi-sensei."

"Much better," the Jounin said with a light nod of the head.

"You know each other already?" Sakura asked, perplexed at such an exchange.

"Maybe you should present yourself first, Kashi-sensei," Sasuke smiled wickedly, earning himself a scowl, this time from the Jounin.

"Maybe I'll go last: come on, I'm pulling rank here, present yourself."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I like my mother's cooking, tomatoes," the squeal from Ino made him just so casually put his hand at the handle of his kunai, "I utterly dislike blond haired harpies who can't shut up for the sake of Kami," as he stared hard in Ino's direction, the girl gave him a slightly perplexed face, "and my dream…my dream is to be on the team that will track down and capture my brother, to bring him back to Konoha to explain his reasons."

With a nod of understanding, Kakashi stopped leaning against the tree, grabbing two bells and putting them to his belt.

"Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi, I am known as the copy-cat ninja because I copied over a thousand jutsus without studying them, at all, thanks to my sharingan," at those words, Sakura's face drenched itself of color…she should have read the fine print about her idol, "I have many likes and dislikes, and currently, my dream is to have you become a team that can at least rival Naruto's and Gai's…that is, if you pass the test."

"You're a fraud!" Sakura finally yelled, angrily, "You're a damn fraud!"

"Sakura! Now is not the time!" Sasuke replied, as Kakashi, true to his words, smiled before dismissing himself in a twirling of leaves.

"You have one hour to take a bell. You fail: you go back to the academy…"

*Team Nine (present days)*

Naruto still recalled the vivid depiction of how the three hadn't managed to get a bell, but had, instead, managed to give the silver haired Jounin a terrible headache. On one side, every punch of his was accompanied by the shrieks of the blond haired kunoichi. On the other, Sakura Haruno actually knew some pretty nasty fire jutsus. Not uncommon, but lacking the chakra reserves to actually use them to its full potential, she had resolved to modified…and nasty, versions. Small rolling fireballs, scattered caltrops that burst into flames on touch, things like that…nasty…and extremely dangerous to his prized literature work.

Sasuke had done his job, obviously. Both he and Sakura already knew what the bell test was about, with one being a, now ex, fan of the silver haired Jounin, and the other having already trained with Naruto, under the same assumptions.

It was how the Uchiha and the Hyuga had become to see…*eye to eye*.

Then the Hokage had obviously asked the report, and then his wife had barged in.

Keeping his eyes closed, letting the gentle breeze that had just then begun to blow hit his face, he wasn't at all surprised when he saw that Katsumi had stopped midway, and was now taking a breather. On the other side, Kiba was going forward furiously, but leaving dry marks, and some wooden ones hadn't been touched, probably by mistake. The Inuzuka had to be enthusiastic about the idea of doing more than one D-rank mission in a day. Well, he did however have to train the three…and he didn't know if they'd like the gift he had prepared for their first successfully completed mission.

He realized that out of all of them, Hinata was the one doing a precise and meticulous job. He hadn't chosen fence painting for nothing: it was a way to prove one's own patience, and precision. Katsumi could probably have kept on painting sloppily, at an even higher pace than Kiba, hadn't she most of her chakra sealed. However, since she now had to afford to take breaks every now and then, she could go back to her previous handiwork, and close the still left unpainted gaps in the fence.

Kiba, on the other hand, had actually asked Akamaru's help after a moment, and the white furred puppy had actually grabbed a paint brush, and had started using it to paint the lower part of the fence.

They would probably finish the job by mid-afternoon. Still, he kind of wondered when they'd realize there was no lunch involved.

Opening his eyes, he was glad for the shades, but at the same time, he felt a little twinge at the base of his guts. It couldn't be.

It couldn't possibly be.

A Hunch? Right there? Right then? After all those years?

It had been years! He dodged to the side, jumping away from the hay ball as a hand, made of sand, dropped down on it, crushing it neatly.

Turning his gaze to the source, he gritted his teeth. He hadn't sensed the boy till then…why?

The boy was a red haired kid, not more than twelve. A Genin that controlled sand however was unknown to him. Around his eyes, he held black circles that seemed painted, instead of being eye-bags.

"Greetings," the boy spoke quietly, and within a second, another hunch forced Naruto to sidestep an incoming hail of…crystal shurikens?

Just what was going on, to fool his senses?

The kunoichi behind him had a fiery red lipstick on her lips, her hair, tied into a pineapple like way, vaguely recalled the same hair style of Anko, but with a light blue color, and two bangs descending from the sides of her face. She had dark eyes, and seemed to be sporting a slightly mischievous grin, as both her hands descended on the ground.

"Shōton: Suishō Meikyū no Jutsu!"

Naruto mentally swore to himself, that the next time a Hunch would come his way, never mind how many years would pass, he would do all that he could to follow it.

Around them, a circular arena of red crystals sprouted in an instant, enclosing the three of them within, and forcing reflections to appear. The crystals seemed to be able to repel chakra pulses, to send them back, or to absorb them, without a pattern.

"The Shōton: Suishō Kyō generates a mirror that reflects off even the Byakugan's eyes, while at the same time the Shoton release can absorb chakra. Whatever happens in here will not be seen or heard, and since it reflects chakra waves, not even the Hiraishin or the summoning Jutsus will work. This labyrinth is a sphere, not a semisphere, so no luck digging your way out," the woman spoke quietly, her voice echoing through the entire structure.

"It's not like I can ask *why* you're doing this?" he queried, perplexed.

"We want to test a theory," the boy spoke, "I am sorry for any harm I am going to cause you, Senju-san, but I need to make sure, before Na…Leader-san takes the necessary steps."

Biting his lower lip, Naruto found himself simply closing moving his hand to his hip, where the Raijin was. He could trust on what he felt with his hands, but not on what he saw or felt with his chakra. Unless he found a way to avoid the refraction…a way that he knew of.

His right hand's fingers touched the ground, and with careful ease, filaments of chakra sprouted throughout the earth, using the humidity to generate a small stream of water, that impacted against the crystal in a known pattern, thus showing him *where* it refracted, and where it didn't.

Leave it to Tobirama, to find out solutions to problems that didn't even exist in his times.

"_The principle that water is everywhere is fine and dandy, but one must also realize, much to my dismay, since I'm the only one who can pull off this technique, that sometimes…ninjas are just resourceful._

_Let's say that you take your chakra sensing through the air. A Futon user can easily swipe the area with wind chakra, meaning you get nothing easily retraceable back to a source. And what about another Suiton user? The trick is not to work with what is there and what isn't there…but to work with both. It reflects? There's something. Sure, it might be a jutsu, might be a mirror, but is it only there? And then, *how* does it reflects? Conical shape? Semi-circle? Line? Now, albeit the semantics of point of arrival and point of deduction are boring, the purpose of this scroll is to simply say, clearly and concisely, that sensing through water works. As long as you find you way around everything that might be in your way. Even a scorching desert has water: you. And every type of water has its own specific recognition. Just trace a map if you get lost in a house of mirrors. Obviously you then have to run from pissed off mothers and scared to death children, but really, the solution to all problems come from within oneself, from within one's Body, Mind, and Technique. _

_And if you can't pull it through…hey, the scrolls are here for the next one! By the way, if, by any chance, one ends up in the desert without having *at least* two or three storage scrolls with suntan and water, what the hell is he doing in the desert to begin with? And antivenom, especially great quantities of anti-venom. Suna's puppeteers are nasty! Really, really, nasty! They've taken a children's toy and turned it into a lethal concoction of poisons and secret blades. Sheesh, I hate puppets. They don't have water in them, and most of the time I have to double check. I know I'm going to die to a puppet. A puppet or a Raiton user…it would be…shocking to die otherwise._

_Yes, I made a pun, live with it, whoever you are, probably my son/daughter/nephew or whoever it is that had the luck to don my armor and enter my secret training grounds…albeit I could probably be the one to have guided you in there to begin with, then, if I actually *did* that, do hand over this scroll to myself of the future, so that I can salute him. _

_Hey me of the future, how are you doing? Everything's fine? You holding up as awesome as ever? You managed to land yourself a nice girl? Any kids? Well, obviously if your kid is the one who delivered this scroll to myself of the future the answer isn't in need of a reply. On the other hand it could pretty much be a pupil, in that case please do notice that if it's you, Saru, and you're covering in dung the scroll while handing it over to me, I'm throwing you into the waterfall…" _

"Damn," Naruto rolled to the side, avoiding a blast of sand that seemed to have *concentrated* and then exploded, where he had stood a moment before. The sand, however, seemed to have been moving out of its own accord, as it swiftly transformed into a lance of sort, that headed straight for Naruto's chest.

The Senju tried to dodge to the side, but was blocked by the crystal's wall. Thus he did the only thing he could do in that short amount of time.

He pushed his feet against the crystal, to be flung the other side. He avoided the sand lance, but his face impacted against another crystal wall, that reflected his image.

"I'm starting to hate this place," he groaned, as he realized that his stream of underground water was being blocked all around. The crystals were still growing and moving, meaning he was in a house of mirrors…that had moving mirrors too.

"One tail," Naruto muttered, "You'd better hope all I need is one tail, because Ku-chan's angry when she wakes up," as the man's mouth showed protruding canines, his face became more feral, a single blue tail materializing straight from the nothingness, behind him.

The sand rose to attack once more, but the tail moved, swishing straight at the mass of grains, and scattering it, as it began turning a little greenish color.

"So your chakra is golden, huh?" Naruto mused the thought out loud, "Who do you harbor, kid? What **are the tails yours to command?"**

"I…I'm the one tail," he replied, "And I'm sorry…we just wanted to make sure…Shukaku says you're not…complete…what does it mean?"

"**Secrets lies in silence, whelp of a Tanuki, raccoon of the sand, stop this foolishness or become devoured by my jaws!"**

"_Ku-chan, that was scary,"_ Naruto mulled the thought, as he could feel a light chuckle in the back of his head.

"Guren-san! Please drop down my side of the crystals! I'm going to talk with him!" as the voice rang once more through the labyrinth, a reply was heard from everywhere, and nowhere at the same time.

"Are you sure Gaara-kun?" and with that, Naruto's mind finally clicked who the boy was.

"Sabaku no Gaara, Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi: your father has reported your kidnapping years ago. What are you doing here, in Konoha? And what business do you have with me?"

The Raijin hummed gently, as the thunder blade was removed from his belt and activated, to reveal the pure yellow of the sword of the thunder god.

Suddenly, on one side, a set of crystal walls slowly caved, descending into the ground to reveal the red-haired boy that seemed to wield a gourd on his back. Sand was twirling around him, as the Kanji for *Love* had been inscribed on his forehead on a red color.

"We of the Akatsuki," Gaara spoke quietly, "Are an organization that seeks to make an everlasting peace in the world," he added, "And we would like to extend our invitation to you, as a Jinchuuriki."

"So…let me get this straight: you attacked me in the middle of a mission, with my Genin team, all to get to me? Why not speak first and attack later?" as Naruto narrowed his eyes, still trying to get a hang of where the woman, Guren, was, the Ichibi Jinchuuriki nodded. He probably nodded to himself, since, after a moment, he replied.

"We had various reports, of you being the Jinchuuriki, and various others, clashing, of you not being one. We concluded that something must have happened, and so we had to verify…" the red haired boy replied, "So with Shukaku claiming you are half…I wonder and ponder…where is the other?"

Naruto gritted his teeth, elongated into canines, as the second tail was swiftly formed.

"Even your formation of tails is bizarre, to say the least: there is no chakra involved that forms it," with those words, Gaara's own chakra, a light golden color, started to bubble over the surface, covering him in a chakra cloak, "And yet there's…what…" his very own chakra was twirling, that much was true. At the same time, however, it was also moving away from him: like it was attracted to Naruto's body, to his tails.

"Oh please, keep on speaking," Naruto replied with a light grin, "You know the saying? The bid bad that talks gives the hero time for the rescue?"

"We are not evil…we merely wished to…stop taking my chakra!" as a ball of sand suddenly formed around Naruto, it also quickly fell on the ground, unresponsive.

The look on Gaara's face was priceless, his sand, his very own sand, was nothing more than…dirt on the ground. How could he…

"Everything has chakra within him, her, or it…" Naruto mused the thought out loud, "Every jutsu is made of chakra and nature manipulation. More on one side, less on the other, or vice-versa, but in any case…even your sand has chakra, because it needs it in order to move…and if I'm barely scrapping your chakra away from you, what do you think happens to those I have in close range?"

With a snap of Naruto's fingers, the crystal walls that were in his immediate proximity began cracking, before crashing down, looking nothing more than broken glass.

"Gaara!" at the worried expression of the woman, the red haired Jinchuuriki bit his lip, before yelling back at Naruto.

"We just want to talk! Don't you seek peace in the world too!? Why are you so keen on defending people who hate you!?" at the question, Naruto…he chuckled.

"You think running away is the solution, brat?" the Senju's clan's head replied, "You think peace can be achieved, so, pray tell, how?"

"The Akatsuki will bound together all high rank missing Nins and Jinchuuriki, and form a village with the sole purpose of peace!" Gaara replied, excitedly.

"Oh…and what then?" Naruto queried back, "What will happen with all these missing Nins and Jinchuuriki tightly packed in a single area, when peace will arrive?"

"They will live in peace under the rule of Leader-sama!" Gaara exclaimed, loudly.

"And when he'll be dead they will collapse on themselves, destroying each other and the peace together with them," Naruto retorted, his tails swishing around violently, as more and more cracks appeared around the crystal prison.

"Gaara! I can't hold it up much longer!" Guren's voice even sounded a bit worried.

"So, will you not join us for peace?" Gaara queried.

"Your way is wrong," the grey haired man spoke back, "It's not like I'm going to let you leave that easily, however," and with those words, in a blur of speed, Naruto was already on Gaara.

The Raijin hummed and sparks flew, as its blade of thunder cut through the entirety of the Jinchuuriki's body, only for it to disperse into sand. The fine yellow dust had even bits of glass in it, in the spots that the Raijin had touched.

"Sand clone? Obviously," _"If you have a clone technique, and you don't use it, you're an idiot."_ Naruto muttered and thought, as he turned his gaze behind him, where, fair enough, on a small sand island in the air, both Guren and Gaara stood.

"We will find if the other half of you wishes to join us, will you stop us if we do get an answer?" at the question Naruto simply smiled.

"Obviously," and with that, sand began to simply rise from the very ground, the dirt being grinded into the finer grains by other sand, until, in the end, the upper levels of the crystal sphere were made but by sand.

"Then I am sorry…" the voice actually seemed cracked with guilt, "Please, forgive me…Sabaku Ro."

The immense island of sand came crashing down, all aimed at Naruto's location. Even if he did take the chakra away from the sand, the mere weight of it falling down would have been more than enough to kill him.

It was then, that the water collected into the small stream beneath the dirt came to shine. Naruto had collected it down below, and within moments, he smiled, going through five hand signs, instead of the normal forty-four, to yell.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" The water dragon that emerged from that small and insignificant puddle of water was in truth as big as a normal sized one, like he had been on a stream, a real big stream, or a river, or on a lake.

"Now you will know why I'm nicknamed the frozen wave!" Naruto smiled, as the dragon soared forward, drenching at the incoming sand…and just when he did impact, Naruto slammed both of his hands together, and the water dragon turned to a veritable column of ice. Wind chakra poured through the water dragon, lowering its temperature to the point of freezing, but as it did that, the water swirling upwards, towards the beast's face brought the cold liquid to touch and frost on the sand's surface. The mass of fine yellow grain turned crystal white in ice, and as the ice formed a halt for the incoming attack, the Senju couldn't help but grin. The tails behind him, swiftly launched themselves away from him, piercing through the crystal's domes sides, and granting him the passage out of there he sought. The chakra then flew within his system, as he jumped outside of the labyrinth of red and purple crystals, to stare at the retreating mass, above him, of a small sand isle with the two enemies above it.

With a light groan, he moved his tails to sweep the area of the chakra enhanced sand, the crystal dome and his own ice column…on second thoughts, not of the ice column.

Hinata had just finished her lower side, when both Katsumi and Kiba had reached her. Now they were meant to go for the second part of the painting, but still, the Inuzuka's stomach had taken that moment to start whining about food.

Thus the three Genins, on their first D-rank mission, decided to head back to their sensei together, and ask about lunch.

The moment they arrived, they shivered slightly, taking into their sight the presence of a Naruto Senju, decked in his full armor, with three of his blue Kyuubi tails removing what appeared to be red crimson crystals and sand from a…battle ground? Wasn't that meant to be the courtyard of the farm?

Even the farmer, a certain Okito, was staring at the scene dumbfounded, but relatively calm.

"Ehm…what happened here?" Hinata queried, perplexed, letting her pearly white eyes settle on the farmer, who, taking a little breather, replied.

"Senju-san has a gift, or a curse, depending on the circumstance…and I'm not referring to him being a Jinchuuriki," the farmer pointed out, swiftly avoiding any misunderstandings with the three Genins.

"And what is it then?" Kiba exclaimed, curious.

"Every mission he starts has a random chance to turn messy, or to increase in difficulty. I still recall last time…it was years ago. They just had to pluck carrots out of my fields: bad case of backache, you know? Well, anyway, this giant boar comes into view, charging straight through the field. D-rank, turns out they battled the damn thing with explosive kunais to even dent his skin," Okito replied, before taking out his pipe and pouring some tobacco in it.

"Your sensei is a really kind person…but life seems to hate his guts," he added, before taking a puff of smoke, "I think I still have some seasoned boar ham, if you want some for lunch."

"And what happened here?" Hinata insisted, as Katsumi was paling and clenching her stomach, at the sight of the three blue tails suddenly disappearing, one at the time, but still…only the ice column remained, in the end.

"Dunno," Okito replied with a shrug, "Crystal shards and all: didn't see a thing…but I admit it was kind of pretty from outside."

"You're pretty lax for being a farmer, shouldn't you be scampering around worried?" Kiba queried, perplexed at such layback attitude.

"No need to: as I said before, your sensei is a kind person, and a really good one. Last time something happened, he and his team handed over the boar to me for reparation…and let me tell you that the boy, back then, was so scrawny that *he* was the one who should have needed some meat on his bones…and they weren't even obliged to do so, but he convinced them…" a little sigh, "That kindness of his is going to get him killed, just like the Nidaime."

"You knew the second Hokage?" Katsumi spoke, after a moment of silence, looking straight into the eyes of the farmer with perplexity.

"Well, I *am* that old, you know how he died, right?" Okito replied, looking with a small sad smile at the three Genins.

"He sacrificed himself to let his team escape the Kinkaku force from Kumogakure," Hinata replied, earning herself a nod from the farmer.

"Precisely…he was really young too, and yet he gave it away, the life he could have, the Hokage's title, everything, just to save his team…that's kindness, not just honorable sacrifice."

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, turning his gaze to his three Genins, "Okito-san, can you get something to grate the ice and a couple of lemons? If my students want and if you're fine with it…we can have lemon shaved ice!"

"I'm on to it, Hokage-sama," Okito replied with a light smile, not even catching his own blunder, as he turned to get the required the fruits.

Naruto chuckled, before moving closer to his Genins, with Katsumi actually looking at him perplexed.

"You're not going to correct him?" Katsumi asked, looking at Naruto sheepishly scratching the back of his head, just like her father did…

"Even if I did, he'd repeat the mistake again: he's a retired Chuunin, was one of the Nidaime's secretary…"

"Neh Aniki-sensei, when are we going to train?" Kiba queried, "If we do two missions a day how are we going to get stronger?"

"First comes the Body, then the Mind and finally the Technique, Kiba," Naruto replied, "So, you will complete this assignment without eating lunch, to learn to stave off hunger," as he pointed that out, Kiba's face turned pale.

"But…" Naruto dismissed the issue while raising his right hand.

"No buts: you can't expect to always have food at hand, and while hunting for food is fine, you *must* learn to control hunger and thirst."

"Hai Sensei," Hinata replied, "If I may…what happened here?" this time, light worry took the better of her voice, as Naruto simply shrugged.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with…It's personal stuff…" as he pointed that out, he could see the Hyuga's eyes lower themselves a bit, probably in sadness over…not being able to help out, yes, probably that.

The shaved ice with lemon was a trick. A really horrible trick that came to haunt the three terrorized Genins by the time they actually finished. The smell of the acrylic paint in their noses, the sweat of a prolonged work, the sourness of the lemon in their mouth…a nightmare, by the time they finished, time was already a good way in the afternoon hours, and they were destroyed.

"Good! Now off we march back to Konoha," Naruto replied, while waving goodbye to the farmer, a thing that his three Genins would have done, had they not been so utterly destroyed by fatigue, hunger and thirst, to forget even the most basic of courtesy.

"Sensei…water…" Kiba muttered, as Akamaru was whining on top of the boy's head.

"Sure," and with a snap of Naruto's fingers, three small waterfalls poured down on his three Genins, drenching them to the bones.

"SENSEI!?" the loud yell of the three Genins made Naruto chuckle, especially when Akamaru, wet as he was, jumped down from Kiba's head to dry himself off by shaking his sides.

"What? You asked for water. Come on: the Body must be toned. I advise you all start running from here till home, while I go report in our mission's success. Afterwards, I want you to read something: anything that is in your house will do, for the next two hours. Finally you will meet me at Ichiraku's ramen. Warn your families you will not be coming back home till later, because when the sun goes down…I'll start the real training," with a light grin, as he finished his words, the three Genins shuddered.

Still, they decided not to push their lucks, and dashed straight ahead, for their homes. Their muscles, albeit yelling their frustration with pain, didn't seem to be paining as much as before, at least, that was their impression.

*Hokage's office*

Minato was just about to finish his paperwork for the day, when the door opened.

Since there hadn't been a knock, he had expected it to be Kushina, Katsumi or Kakashi.

He had obviously supposed that Naruto *would* have knocked, even in his anger. That was why he didn't realize who the person in the room was, until he peered up from his document, and made a little, perfect, *O* with his mouth.

"Danzo-san? What brings you here?" actually, there *were* four people who didn't knock…but usually Danzo simply appeared out of nowhere, and disappeared out of nowhere. His futon affinity granted him that much quickness of feet, even in his old age.

"Hokage-sama…I received disturbing reports about two missing Ninjas, of great danger, that have been sighted in the outskirts of Konoha…Sabaku no Gaara and Guren of Otogakure, both a B-rank and A-rank missing Nin, and both known to be related to Akatsuki," with a little nod from Minato's head, Danzo took the cue to continue his speech, "It appears their target was Naruto-san."

Wait. Since when did Danzo actually use a name when referring to an individual? Usually it was *Senju-san* or *Namikaze-san* or something like that…Naruto-san? The only one the war hawk ever called by name was Hiruzen and his teammates, meaning that, whatever Naruto had done, he had managed to worm his way inside the impossibly thick shell of Danzo. It was unpredictable...but what was worse, was that Danzo was giving away said attachment, at least, said notion, to him.

"I am still waiting his report on their first D-rank mission, but still, I would like to know how they reported…" the knock at the door was more than enough to make both Danzo and Minato silent.

In a couple of seconds, Naruto Senju was granted entrance, and with the door closed behind him, he stood, unscathed and perfectly healthy, in front of the Yami of Shinobis and the Yellow flash.

"The D-rank mission was a success, Hokage-sama," the grey haired man spoke quietly, as he moved closer, "Danzo-san," he added, nodding with a hint of a smile to the old war hawk, who actually returned it.

"Anything… Unusual, happened?" at the query, Naruto nodded.

"I was approached by the Akatsuki, it seems they are in the process of recruiting all possible Jinchuurikis and missing Nins too, I refused, obviously," the Senju shrugged, "But I can even understand how they'd manage to get people on their sides: Jinchuurikis, especially."

"And how would that be?" Danzo queried, his voice monotone, but clearly hinting at his curiosity.

"They offer them something most shinobi villages refute to even think of," Naruto replied, and, while doing so, his gaze just so casually fell on the Fourth Hokage, who was slightly shivering, "They offer them acceptance. By not seeing them as mere weapons, tools to be used and discarded, they buy them over to their cause of peace. And many Missing Nins would pay with their blood, in exchange of a safe haven to rest, that much is sure."

"That is a fool's dream," Danzo replied, as Naruto, actually, nodded.

"Indeed it is, however it works to trap the fools, incredibly powerful fools too, who can't help but fall for it…since, after all, they want it to be true," at the extremely cold reply from the Senju's clan's head, Minato barely held in his breath. There was a distinct presence of Danzo in Naruto, it was like seeing him in that man…and it could be dangerous if this kept up.

"I see, well…I will advise you to be extra cautious, from now on," Minato replied, "But I am sure, as the Ghost Lance of Konoha, that you should have no problem in keeping up with the teaching of your students."

"My students will pass by tomorrow to retrieve their pay checks for this mission," Naruto replied, "in any event, Hiruzen-san asked me to warn you, Danzo-san, that he won't be able to come, tomorrow night…unless he already managed to warn you?"

"No, he did not. Thank you for the warning…he must be getting old, to forget things like these," Danzo replied, before turning to leave, soon followed by Naruto.

As Minato heard them chatter while leaving his office, his mouth, open in shock, had just then closed.

Did…Did he just see that?

Did he just manage to see Naruto Senju speak with Danzo on friendly terms? It was…no, not impossible but…it was like Danzo liked the boy. And that was impossible, because Danzo never liked anyone.

Danzo was a war hawk, he wanted control, and for Konoha to be pushed towards a new era of militarization. Minato wanted peace. The two ideas clashed on the how. The fact that Naruto was still on friendly terms with Hiruzen, too, was something strange.

"Just what…what is he playing at?" Minato whispered to himself…a tinge of pain shooting through his heart.

And, on another note…did he really want to know?

"_I just hope that, when the kunai comes…it comes clear and painless_," he mulled the morbid thoughts in his mouth for a moment, but didn't dare to make them public.

After all, Minato Namikaze was never a good Hokage…he couldn't sacrifice his family for the village, and right then, he was paying the price of it…but as long as his family was safe, there was nothing to worry about.

*Akatsuki*

The cave held a statue with its hands raised upwards, fingers holding above themselves ghastly figures shrouded in cloaks.

"I'm sorry, I failed to get Naruto-san to our side," the ghastly figure of Gaara spoke quietly, the kanji for *one* inscribed on the finger of the statue.

"It doesn't matter, Gaara-kun," the quiet voice of Itachi stood on the kanji with the number *Nine*, "Kisame-san and I will be taking care of him, while Deidara-san causes chaos…that was the plan, will you and Guren manage your objective?"

"Yes, but abducting children…" at Gaara's hesitation, another voice spoke quietly.

"I'll be there with my Genin team, I could take over that objective," the voice was female, and stood above the finger with the Kanji for *Two*.

"Nii-san, there will be no need to give away your position," the man that spoke next stood atop the kanji for *Four*, "I could reach Konoha in time: I'm at the Suna's border cave currently."

"Ah shush it Roshi, the moment the kids see you arriving, they'll start running in panic," the voice spoke like metal grinding against hissed vapors, as a really tall ghastly figure stood atop the Kanji for *five*.

"Gaara-kun," the voice that spoke quietly belonged to the man atop the sixth finger, with the kanji for *six* on it, "You're the one who can capture them quietly, and without fault…you know that Konoha will do everything, to save its future…and with the Chuunin's exams coming nearer…just lay low till then."

"I understand…I will do it," Gaara replied, with a light nod, "If Konoha doesn't comply…" as he started that, the head of the statue, that held atop it a tenth ghastly figure, replied, its eyes sporting concentric rings.

"Then the kids will be brought to Amegakure, to become our future. No harm will befall them. Now our purpose is finding out the other half of the Kyuubi. If one half was left to walk the light, then the other *must* have been hidden in the darkness…we must save him, or her…and then bring forth peace. Dismissed."

With those words, the connection was interrupted.

*Ichiraku's ramen*

The ramen, once eaten, nestled with an astounding warmth and goodness within the stomach of the three Genins, and, needless to say, they all had more than one bowl.

Katsumi won, albeit by a little margin, the bowl battle, standing at a marvelous thirteen bowls of ramen ingested. Behind her was Naruto, at twelve, but the man had admitted to have taken a snack at home, before coming to meet them. Then came, surprisingly, Hinata, who was a six bowls…something that would have sent the Hyuga clan in shock over such scandal, but which didn't matter to the heiress, who released a loud burp... only to cover it later with a napkin, and muttering an apology.

Kiba instead was the last, at three bowls, and seemed to be strangely downtrodden for some reason.

Naruto had paid for them all, and was now waiting eagerly for them to follow him, in the night. Not an easy feat, because, while the Senju could see in the dark, and had simply removed his shades, his three Genins couldn't. Still, they didn't have a hard time following the eerily ghostly glow of Naruto's blue eyes that even seemed to leave behind a light trail, when he turned his head around quickly.

The training grounds, at night, seemed to be even more deserted than during the day.

"Now, I want you three to sit down," Naruto replied, "And tell me, one at the time, what you read during your two hours…Katsumi-chan, you go first."

"I…I started reading Tales of a Gutsy Ninja, I reached the part where the evil guy blows up the house where the Gutsy ninja lives, and the Gutsy Ninja escapes with barely a toothbrush and a pair of boxers," the red haired girl spoke, feeling a bit drowsy from the food ingested, and from the general tiredness.

"Do you think he could have done something differently?" Naruto queried.

"I don't…I don't understand the question sensei," Katsumi replied, perplexed.

"While you read, didn't it ever occur to you to ask yourself: Why is he doing this? Why is he not, instead, grabbing a kunai, a sword, or some armor? Why is he grabbing a toothbrush and a pair of boxers?"

"Well…because he wasn't prepared for the occurrence, he didn't have them on his person…so, I suppose he should have been more prepared?" at the rhetoric question, Naruto nodded.

"He *could* have been more prepared. Tales of a Gutsy Ninja is a really profound work, but only if you look at it with the right light. It is filled with circumstances that ninjas *must* avoid performing. Like being caught unprepared…that said, Hinata-chan?"

With a light blush on her cheeks, the Hyuga heir murmured.

"I started reading Icha Icha Makeout Tactics, sensei…it was a gift from your wife and I still had to…"

"I understand: what part did you reach?" Naruto queried back, seemingly unfazed, as Katsumi was instead sporting a blush. Kiba, instead, looked even gloomier.

"Chapter two…" Hinata replied, before giving herself a mental slap, and replying, with more determination in her voice, "When the absolutely wonderful white mane protagonist engages in steamy afternoon copulation with the pig tailed blond woman that holds a giant chest," at the mention of that, Naruto was kind of glad it was Jiraiya, the real one, who had written that volume. After all the man was dead, because otherwise, had Tsunade ever *read* it, he would have died later on…

"Was there anything that you felt was wrong, or that could have been done in a different way?" Naruto queried.

"Well…" Hinata muttered, "It seemed too raunchy…there was little character development…the man simply enters the bathrooms, yells he loves the woman, and they swiftly go into intercourse…no words of prior knowing each other, nothing…just…graphic scenes."

"Your turn now, Kiba," at the mention, the Inuzuka took a deep breath.

"Poncho the Dog, I did finish it, however," at the mention of the title, Katsumi's eyes shot up in surprise, before blurting out from her mouth.

"That's a kid's story!"

"Yeah, so what?" Kiba replied, visibly offended, "I just liked it! And it was there and…"

"It's fine," Naruto replied, "I know," he added in an understanding tone, that seemingly calmed down Kiba, "Go on, tell me if there was any scene you would have done differently."

"Well…when Poncho speaks to his father…and tells him not to come back, because he doesn't realize that his father only attacked for his good…I just…I kind of want Poncho to realize it, and maybe change things, so that they can be together far more time…and not just in the last chapter…and…"

"Kiba, it's fine. Well," the Senju's head took a deep breath, before replying, "At night, when tiredness kicks in, it is difficult to lie, to hide things, and it just becomes easier to speak one's own mind. Usually, I would have gone with the drunken route, but while I know you know you can drink alcohol, I truly did not want to hear about it tomorrow morning," Naruto pointed out, before speaking up once more, "the purpose of reading was to train your Mind, and the purpose of your resume was to hear your Technique in relying information. Our program, from now and until we will upgrade ourselves to C-rank missions, will be a D-rank in the morning, that goes until the afternoon, two hours of reading, dinner, referring to me what you read, and finally sparring. You will get used to the darkness around you, and to fighting in the dark. As shinobis, remember that you will fight in the dark. You will fight in the shadows. You will fight, kill, bleed, where no-one else will see you. You will sacrifice yourself for people who will not even know you exist, and you will do so willingly, because it is your duty, it is what you decided. That said…I will not tolerate clan crapping around," the Senju spoke harshly, eying the three Genins pretty badly.

"I do not care what the hell your clans tell you, I am your Jounin-sensei, I overrule anyone and anything that comes to order you around unless the order comes from the Hokage himself. You are my team and if any of you will, in any one moment, put your clan above your teammates, I will know, and pray to Kami this never happens…because you don't want to see the consequences, do you!?"

Strangely, for once, nobody complained.

"Good, from now on, if you have any question, any doubt, anything at all concerning training, and you don't understand, come and look for me, and I'll answer your questions. I am here to make sure you survive into the shinobi world: that is my duty as sensei, as your sensei…and you can rest assured that, by the time the Chuunin exams come around, you three will ace through them with little to no effort."

"Sensei…" Kiba asked, raising his hand, "Do we get free weekends?"

"Sundays, because otherwise Anko would kill me," Naruto replied, "And Saturdays will only have morning trainings. By the way, from tomorrow, it's at ten o'clock in front of the Hokage's tower for the assignment."

"What if one of us gets sick?" Katsumi asked, wistfully hoping it could work as a once in a while excuse.

"I know for sure that you have never been sick in your life, Katsumi-chan," the Senju retorted, "For Hinata and Kiba: I'm a medic-nin, trained privately by Tsunade of the sannins herself, trust me when I tell you that, whatever you end up with, I'll take care of it…even cracked ribs and broken legs."

Kiba winced at the implication, but said nothing.

"Sensei…when will we start on element affinity?" Hinata asked carefully, her voice betraying interest.

"Want to set the world on fire like your cousin, Hinata-chan?" the grey haired man asked playfully, as, this time, the Hyuga heiress couldn't help but barely repress a blush. It was true that Neji was maybe the only one of the Hyugas who knew elemental jutsus. Stuck up with the superiority of the gentle fist, they never learned Ninjutsus, and thus…when Neji had demonstrated a Katon, one day, it had made her all the more decisive on taking Naruto as her sensei.

The man could bend the rules, and the Hyuga couldn't even lift a finger. She still recalled the moment Naruto had barged into the Hyuga compound, demanding the punishment for having menaced his apprentice. With Neji cleared shown as his, he had challenged, and brutally maimed and demolished, the offending brat…and his father, who had intervened in the duel.

It had actually made her father smile, a bit, when the rest of the elders had decided, among themselves, to *overlook* the *eccentricities* of Neji's fighting style.

There was something about a Naruto Senju wielding a Raijin, that even the Hyuga's elders didn't want to test their *superiority* on the matter.

Katsumi, however, voiced a complaint.

"Sensei…but won't the clans be angry at you?" at the question, Naruto raised a puzzled eyebrow, before turning to stare at both Hinata and Kiba.

"Would you two be angry at me?" he asked, only to receive two perplexed looks, before they soon turned into shaking heads of *no*.

"Problem solved," the Senju replied.

"But they're not clan head!" Katsumi retorted, "And with your schedule, they won't be able to learn clan techniques so quickly!"

"Why not?" Naruto moved his head to the side.

"You do realize that," the Senju explained carefully, "if the D-rank mission takes but one hour, then they will have until dinner to read for two hours? Meaning that, in between, they can train as long as they like with their clans?"

"Well…no, I didn't realize," with those words, Katsumi simply cursed, in her mind, at her ignorance.

"Anyway, I'm not expecting you to stay awake much longer, by staying down on the ground, so let's spar: come at me!"

And with that final exclamation, the three Genins began their spars.

*Somewhere*

The figure, slowly creeping in the dark, reached for the archives, where the missions were stored. With careful hands, she began to look around the folders, until the one she was looking for came into view. Moments later, the noise of papers being torn and destroyed attracted the attention of the Chuunin guard stationed outside, but, by the time they reached into the most secure, and usually inaccessible areas of the Hokage's Tower, all they could find was the burning remains of an entire archive session.

The folders that ranged from G to M were nothing more than smoldering ashes, by the time the fire was doused out.

The figure, meanwhile, clutched a single slip of paper within her hands. A single thought crossing through her mind.

"_I'll tell him. On my deathbed I'll tell him."_

**Author's notes**

**Another chapter coming out! Straight from the oven of my mind, mysterious figures lurks, and training strikes, plots unfolds and twirling masses of sadness and angst twirl in the horizon. **

**Next chapter, the unforgiving and dastardly horrendously abused mission to Wave turns into something completely different!**

**(Yeah, you should have expected that!)**

**Only sad note: Not enough fluff to warrant heart wrenching moments in the chapters to come. Can't have everything in life)**

**On with the questions:**

**Katsumi liked Sasuke as a childhood crush, that's pretty much all there was. And since Naruto is her *brother* who suffered for her, she can't come to *adore* him like a fangirl.**

**Koi= means Love, at least, that's what I understood from it.**

**That said, neither Guren, Gaara or Naruto were actually *fighting* to the death. The three of them were just testing the waters, and Gaara was reluctant to actually Kill Naruto to begin with. This is to say that the reason Gaara is B-ranked is only because he lay low, and did little to nothing since his escape (which means he *is* B rank only because he's a Jinchuuriki, same reason Naruto is S-ranked is partially because he *is* a jinchuuriki too. More caution with Jinchuurikis) **

**Yeah, I always so Kiba like a sort of Naruto *equal* in acting rashly to hide terrible pains…pains that I'm so going to inflict him, and that you will read of! *Chuckles evilly at the angst that is forming and looming***

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Ps:**

**(To the anonymous flamers) Thanks. Even though I obviously am not letting simple trashy comments make their way without a registered username to back them, I still thank you never the less for showing me that the story is well received, and read. Especially when you decide to review the *last* chapter, it means you simply read till there…so I'll take the anonymous *I liked it, but I'm too shy to admit it* thing.**

**(To everyone who pms/comments) Thanks! If, in any moment, you want to comment or simply pm or review about how I write, how the grammar mistakes are coming up, or how I'm *trying* to reduce the number of commas per single sentence (It's hard! It's a force of habit!), then please do so. Finally, thanks for taking your time in reading my story too!**

**As always, any question you have that are *not* answered in one of the following chapters, I will reply. For those that *do* receive an answer in upcoming chapters, as always, I can't ruin the surprise!**


	16. CD: Salvaging

Chapter Sixteenth

The sun's rays barely filtered through the thick canopy of leaves of Konoha's lush park trees. For the runaway, it was a moment of distraction that declared his capture. One of its soft paws took a single step on a twig, snapping it, and the next moment, hell broke loose.

"Futon: Daitoppa!" the forest's leaves that had fallen from their branches suddenly left the ground, scattered by a powerful wind gale, that sent them flying straight into the face of the cat. Blinded, a white blur tackled him on the ground, all for a hand, this one smelling fiercely of dog, to grab him by the collar. Then a white eyed girl hit him in the belly, and all Tora the Nineteenth, the cat that survived, saw, from there on, was nightmares of him being smothered by the fierce and lethal wife of the Daimyo.

Then, it was all cut short when his brown haired jailor looked at him, and said, without possibility of misunderstanding, in a set of low hisses and growls.

"If you escape again, I'm barbequing you, you damn bag of fur," Kiba's murderous tone was enough to make the cat meow in reply, and swiftly turn into the most adorable and fluffy bag of potatoes ever to be carried by a Genin.

He even purred excessively when he was delivered straight into the waiting hands of the Daimyo's wife, who, strangely, was looking with a mixture of joy and trepidation at the fact that the cat was, indeed, alive and meowing…and even a bit excessively cuddly.

The three Genins, with Naruto behind them, smiled as they received their pay, before turning to stand in front of their sensei, once more.

"Well then, seems that, after two months, you have comfortably entered the Fixer's team's routine, huh?" Minato spoke quietly, with a small smile, as Kiba grinned widely.

"You can bet on it Hokage-sama!" the Inuzuka's normal jacket had been removed, to lay the place for what looked like dark black and green armguards kunais tied to them, a sleeveless brown shirt, short dark green trousers, and his clan markings sported a noticeable change in color, from red to dark green. Akamaru stood on his head, as always, but the white dog now had a little Konoha's forehead protector.

"Kiba-kun, stop being so rude," Hinata retorted, her own jacket, normally white, was now a mottled ensemble of dark blue and dark brown, the fishnet, black in color, still there, and her trousers having a black tint. Katsumi was the only one who still had her dark red attire.

"Well, since you completed the mission so quickly," Minato spoke, "There is another one, just waiting to be taken care of, there is a potato batch that…"

"C-rank!" Katsumi yelled, "Sends us on a C-rank mission Otou-san! We're ready for it! These D-ranks are getting boring!"

Iruka's forehead sported a tick mark, but he couldn't say anything, since, after all, it was the Hokage's daughter that had spoken.

"Katsumi-chan, C-ranks, in this period, are…" as Minato began speaking, Katsumi's pout turned into a light scowl.

"You already sent Sakura-chan and her team on a C-rank! What is it? It was the Uchiha's rant huh? Why can't you send us too!?" the Hokage winced, before looking at the pile of papers, and then, carefully, grabbing one.

"Escort mission, C-rank, a paranoid bridge builder wants an escort to reach Wave: there should be little to no contact with enemies, but it's at least a week or more away from the village, is that enough excitement for you?" as Katsumi was about to retort, Naruto swiftly pushed his right hand in front of the red haired girl's mouth, silencing her.

"It is. We will take that mission," and after a really bad stare at Katsumi, who silenced herself, Naruto grabbed the scroll with the details of the mission.

"So, tomorrow at six in the morning, in front of the gate, we will meet our escort objective. Good enough," with a little nod to himself, mostly, the Senju's gaze settled on the three, "You have the day off. We will depart tomorrow. If you arrive earlier, look for a certain Tazuna-san, he is the person we must protect during this mission."

Then, when they left the Hokage's tower, everyone went their own way. The Genins went to warn their parents, or families, and Naruto went his usual way, towards home.

As he walked, careful of the road ahead of him, a small smile plastered on his face, he came to a stop in front of the cemetery of Konoha, where a silver haired Jounin was paying his respects to the cenotaph.

"Welcome back to Konoha, Kashi-chan," Naruto chuckled, standing to the side of the Jounin, who turned around just to eye smile at Naruto, before returning to gaze at the monument for the fallen in battle.

"The team you saddled me with is giving me a permanent headache…I should be angry at you, but I can't," the copy-cat ninja spoke quietly, "but you actually had me break a little girl's dream…you're a cruel, cruel man."

"So spoke the man that created the thousand years of death technique," Naruto replied with a small smile, "That technique should be forbidden, in the entire world."

"Sasuke can't seem to stand one of his teammates," Kakashi pointed out, "While the other one seems to hate my guts…the Jutsu maniac one."

"Oh, Sakura-chan? She's a nice girl…I think me and…" Itachi, it was him, they usually did those jutsus together, didn't they? "my team, back in the old days, are to blame…partially that is: we always used those Jutsus in the park during cleaning duty, and the girl…well, she was a bit of a loner, other kids picked on her for her forehead except Katsumi-chan, so I suppose she just wanted to become *cool* like us, and avoid the shame any longer."

"What about Ino?" Kakashi queried, once more. He had just then realized that Naruto had actually been the chuunin sensei of his team, for at least three years…he was bound to know them, their quirks, and how to get to them. He should have had this chat earlier on: really earlier on.

"Ino…she doesn't want to prove herself as a Yamanaka, sure, she might act bubbly and stupid but…she just doesn't want to be a Yamanaka," the grey haired man looked to the silver haired one, before explaining more clearly, "She wants to be considered a sort of failure, to marry into another clan, and have to stop entering people's minds…if you believed her fan girl acts, then you lost your edge," as Naruto clarified that, Kakashi deadpanned.

"So she's not a fan girl?"

"Well…she is, but not to the extremes I'm sure she's showing you," the Senju ratified, "Probably a bit of swooning, but really, she doesn't like reading in people minds, and doesn't want to be forced to learn it."

"Why wouldn't she?" Kakashi queried back, curious.

"I promised not to tell," Naruto replied, eying the stone, "Just…when you see a bright fence…you never suspect the darkness hidden behind it, do you?"

"She…" Kakashi's words were caught in his throat, as Naruto kept going.

"She's a prodigy, trust me on this: she was really young when she learned to enter people's minds…sometimes, friends are just that on the exterior, and sometimes, all it takes is a trauma, to send someone in denial."

"You are telling me the story behind this, you realize?" Kakashi pointed out, as Naruto, instead, shook his head.

"Nope, I'm explaining random facts that are actually true on the general scope of the population."

"Yes…well, do you mind if I send Sakura your mother's way? She has excellent chakra control and could…" at the mention of it, Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"You're out of luck: she went on a gambling spree for her birthday…her twenty-fifth birthday," the Senju replied with a light chuckle, "I gave her a gold card with some ryos in it, when it's gone… she'll have to come back."

"And you're sure she'll do that because…" as Kakashi trailed his sentence off, the clan's head replied.

"Because she wouldn't miss her granddaughter's birthday, would she?"

"No, I suppose she wouldn't," the silver haired Jounin conceded, "It's in three weeks, right? June the twenty-third?"

"Yes, she grows up so fast…I can't believe it feels like yesterday that she was in the cradle, being sang to sleep," Naruto replied with his eyes fixed in the distance.

"Well, do you think I should wait another hour, before going to the team training?" Kakashi queried.

"You really hate them that much?" the Senju replied.

"You try staving off a headache from a shrieking harpy…I'll try looking into the Yamanaka, maybe call in a favor with Rin for Sakura," Kakashi replied.

"Oh, when you two decide to marry, I expect best man's honors, and if that's taken, I formally take dibs on being the godfather," with a light grin, Naruto turned to leave.

"Naruto…" the silver haired Jounin spoke quietly, turning around to look at the man's back, who had stopped there, "be careful not to let the darkness swallow you whole."

"Don't worry…" Naruto replied, raising his hand in a last wave…_ "I'm used to these risks."_

As the Senju disappeared into a twirling of leaves, Kakashi soon followed too: he had a team to change.

It took mere minutes for Naruto to actually reach into the Senju's compound, and as he walked towards the wooden door of his cottage, he felt the familiar shiver, a familiar shiver, that made him stop, on his tracks, without making a single move.

"I spoke with Kakashi-Oniisan just a minute ago," Naruto whispered, carefully, "He thinks it's his fault, you turning rogue," he added, "You know…" the Senju whispered, "I'm not an idiot."

There were no replies, but silently, just as the feeling had arrived, it was gone, and Naruto could breathe once more, and he could open the door. Entering, he closed it behind him, before looking at the utterly adorable face of his first born, Yumi, who was waving her tiny hands at him from the pen.

"Where's your big sister?" Naruto queried, moving closer to Yumi, to take her in his arms. The nearly three years old raised its arms, helping her father to grab her, and lift her.

"Up with Ya'u-mo," as the girl giggled, before making a little cute frown, and trying again, once more, to pronounce the name, "Ya…Yakumo," Naruto simply sighed in relief.

Then he set to walking upstairs, just as he saw both Karin and a girl he had never seen before descend in a hurry.

"Ops…" Karin whispered, looking sideways and then settling her eyes to gaze at the floor, as the hazel haired girl with light brown eyes behind her instead looked in awe at the Senju's clan's head.

"Ops?" Naruto queried, curious, "What, pray tell, is *ops*?"

"I shouldn't have left her downstairs…but I thought it would only take a minute…we got a bit stuck up on dress choosing and…" Karin's excuse rang through Naruto's ears as true, and he couldn't actually fault a teenager girl for acting like one, at least…it was good she did something like a normal teenager, and not like some sort of happily tail-waggling dog every time he smiled at her. Some minor rebellious phase was welcomed…but not without Tsunade in the house.

"Your Grandmother, Karin-chan, isn't in the compound, and won't probably be for the next weeks…so tell me, why weren't you keeping an eye out on your sister?" there was no anger in Naruto's voice, but the simple grieving look in Karin's eyes was just as bad as if he had hit her with the Raijin.

"I…I'm sorry…It's…" Naruto sighed, before slightly shaking his head and receiving what seemed like a slap to the face. That, however, was just a poke to the side of his cheek.

"You made Oneesan cry!" Yumi accused, her gaze, while not murderous, was trying to look *bad*, with enough frowning in it resemble some sort of angry mini-Anko.

"No hitting your parents, Yumi," Naruto replied, before raising a finger to poke at the girl's forehead, "It's bad education. Never hit someone, unless their enemies."

Then he moved closer to the already watery eyes Karin, and hugged her with his free left arm, being extremely careful not to touch her hair.

"It's alright…now, how about you make the presentations?" the red haired Senju wiped away her tears, as she meekly nodded, before speaking.

"Yakumo-chan, this is my father, Naruto-Otousan," and with those words, she stood still as Yakumo simply bowed her head, repeatedly, before muttering in embarrassment.

"I'm really, really, like really, sorry Senju-sama, I shouldn't have, like, really, and really, taken so much time with Karin in choosing a dress, but there was this really and really, like, really important thing with sensei about trying to change the wardrobe and there was a need to really try and…" Naruto merely shrugged, before handing Yumi back into the hands of Karin.

"Well, anyway, Karin: tomorrow I'll be going on a C-rank mission with my little Genins, while I'm out, and if you're not here nor is Shizune, please do hire Gai-san's team to babysit Yumi-chan…or Kashi-chan's one," at that mention, Yumi's eyes lit up, as the little girl exclaimed in happy giggles.

"Kashi-chan! Kashi-chan! Kashiiii!" the reason for such strange love derived from Yumi's love for strange things, and the fact that the recent edition of the Icha-Icha volumes had a red colored cover…adding to that was the fact that Kakashi's silver hair defied gravity, and was thus always cause of interest for the toddler.

And the mask too, it made Yumi go on incredible rants in toddler-language about how it was annoying.

"Seems she's set on a team, Neji-kun is going to be heart broken," Naruto chuckled, grimly, before moving upstairs, "I'll be sleeping, don't make too much of a noise."

With those final parting words, Naruto Senju reached for his room, where he closed the door behind him, before turning around, to look at the red clouds sewed on a black cloak, and a man he recognized all too well with little difficulty.

"Itachi…" Naruto's whispered word was more than enough for the Uchiha's heir's face to crack a small smile. He had the gull to smile, him? After what he did to Anko, what he did to him, what he did to his clan, his family, what he did to Sasuke…after all that, he still had the guts to smile? That smile was soon going to be wiped out of his face…if only his daughters weren't downstairs. He should have sent them to Shizune, or maybe someplace safer…he decided, in that moment, that he'd need more than a couple of guards for the compound. The Aburame's honey bees weren't cutting it, it seemed.

"Naruto," the Uchiha replied, the cloak lightly fluttering for the wind that was coming in from the open window.

"Why are you here?" The grey haired boy spoke quietly, the light seething anger in him kept in check, as he couldn't attack there, then…Karin and Yumi were downstairs…how could the man pass through her sensing ability?

"Tell me who the Kyuubi's other half is," Itachi replied, "Or I will have to kill your daughters in front of you..." there was no hidden meaning in his words, it was spoken plain and simple, to be easily understood.

"Except the Hokage, I'm the only one who knows: kill my daughters…and I will die together with that knowledge," the Senju's reply came icily cold, before the grey haired man added, "Your sharingan will no longer work with me," Naruto's reply was just then starting to show the first hints of anger that was menacing to come out as a waterfall, the Senju's fists being clenched hard.

"I thought you would train your eyes for the Genjutsus, but you remember Amaterasu…don't you?" Itachi's not at all subtle menace, and memory, was more than enough for Naruto to grit his teeth.

"What is your purpose, Itachi?" Naruto asked back, "Are you still going around, testing your strength?"

"Answer my question, Naruto-kun," Itachi's voice was monotonous, yet straight to the point, "Now."

"I will not," the Senju's reply brought silence into the room, before the Uchiha's sharingan flared into view, only for Naruto's eyes to ignore it, since they had been closed from the beginning of the discussion. Blue furred claws materialized from the sides of the Senju, pushing themselves forward like wicked arrows, as the Akatsuki's member took the hit, dissolving into a murder of crows.

"I will come back later, then," the Uchiha replied, his voice ringing in Naruto's ears, albeit he couldn't sense him any longer in the room, "but first…a gift from a friend of mine, who was swallowed by the darkness..."

And then he was gone. Naruto could no longer hear his voice, nor could he sense him, but if even Karin hadn't been able to, what chance did he have? Well, Karin had the bloodline but not yet the experience needed; he had the experience but not the bloodline…Finally, he opened his eyes. The thing that greeted him, sitting calmly within a small glass vase…was an eye.

Floating gently, in a sickening green fluid was an eye with a red pupil, and a black iris deformed to resemble something else. It was a sharingan's eyes, but it wasn't normal.

It was…kind of familiar…where did he see one beforehand? But then, why leave it there?

First, however, he had more pressing concerns. How did Itachi reach the house? How could he actually move unnoticed and hear Kakashi and his discussion? And were his daughters alright? And finally, what was the reason for such blatant actions, in the middle of the day, in his house, like that?

He grabbed the glass container, deciding to check on the situation immediately, while pouring a Genjutsu over the glass to make it look like it wasn't even there to begin with, and then dashing downstairs, where Karin, Yakumo, and Yumi, were happily discussing about…teenager's stuff, like dresses and fashion. Something his brain automatically synched out.

"Karin? Did you sense anyone come near the house, recently?" At the question, Karin stopped her discussion on purple and yellow being two *not so okay* colors, to turn a worried gaze to her father.

"Otou-san? Weren't you sleeping? Did we wake you up? I'm…" but Naruto dismissed the issue with a hand gesture, replying quickly.

"Not important, did you feel anyone near the house?"

"Well…yes, but…"

"But what?" the reply came as a snap, something that Naruto didn't actually want for it to come out. Itachi Uchiha, the slaughterer of his entire clan, had been waltzing near here and Karin hadn't felt the need to do anything about it!?

"He said he was a friend," Karin replied, her eyes starting to water at the thought of having done something wrong, usually her father was never this snappish, or angry…was it because she had invited Yakumo over without asking permission? Anko had said it was fine…"And I felt it was right to trust him," at the added words, Naruto's brain decided to freeze to a stop for a moment.

Truly, Karin couldn't have said that. She shouldn't have done that to begin with. She could sense people's auras, she could tell when people were truthful or not, and she could decide immediately if someone was *evil* or not by looking at the dark or bright side of the auras. She had told him that much and that was why he usually asked her opinion, eventually.

He had dismissed Anko's guilt, when it had come up, as nothing more than the secret sake intake she still insisted on drinking. He had dismissed Danzo's evilness, Minato's tattered soul, everything, as nothing much important.

He had dismissed a lot of things, all for his dream of becoming Hokage. He had dismissed, refuted even, to see some things that were utterly strange. Like Anko's face portraying worry, every time he just so casually spoke of becoming Hokage, the fear and the sadness in her eyes.

He had…he had no doubts, whereas he should, instead, have at least _something_.

"I…See…" pale as a ghost, Naruto Senju trudged silently to the library. First, he'd drop the eye in the secret laboratory, and then…then he'd…

"I should go and speak with Anko," he muttered. Unknown to him, the sharingan eye had slowly kept on spinning for a while, in the foul green liquid…

*T&I Interrogation Office*

"And that's what worries me," the receptionist, an eighteen year old female chuunin, spoke quietly, "I mean, it's not normal, how come every now and then Senju-san receives packages in the middle of the night? What is she doing here in the middle of the night to begin with? Shouldn't she…just runt with that morsel of a husband she has? Is she having a fling with Ibiki?"

"I say you're growing paranoid, Maiko, go get some sleep or something," the retort came straight out of an Anbu masked man. The T&I department stood underground, beneath miles and miles of stone, and was usually without clocks. Meaning that shifts had to work on an internal clock system, or when someone came from above to change the personnel, or something like that. The Monkey masked individual stood quiet, as the elevator's doors opened with a *ding*, to reveal the blue colored armor of Naruto Senju, with the man in question obviously donning it.

Subtly, the Monkey-mask Anbu tensed. The Nidaime no Sairai? In there? He swiftly rubbed the seal, the Root seal, in his right arm, and then stood quiet as the receptionist took the man's interest.

"Is my wife busy? I need to talk to her about something important, and…" as the Senju trailed his sentence off, the receptionist, Maiko, nodded, while looking at the various papers on her desk.

"She should be free in a couple of minutes…would you like to wait for her in her office? It's down the corridor…seventh door to the right," with a little smile and a *thank you* of reply, Naruto's steps echoed down the corridor, as he left the two behind.

"You know, I think it's the first time I have seen Anko's husband coming down here," Maiko pointed out, "Actually, I thought he hated T&I for some reason," she added.

"As I said before, Maiko…go get some sleep, I'll cover up for you," Monkey-mask muttered, this time, however, a hand sign was added to his words.

"Yeah, you're right…cover me for a while, okay?" as the receptionist, with dulled eyes, moved to the personnel's sleeping room, the Anbu stood quietly in her place. Until a familiar black cloaked individual with a bandage over his right side entered the interrogation department.

"Danzo-sama, he is in room seven," a small nod of the Yami of the Shinobis, and then, without a single noise from his footsteps, he was gone, down the corridor.

In the office, a non-descriptive white walled office with a simple wooden desk, without any pictures, wall frames or anything at all, Naruto stood silently mulling over his thoughts.

It was the first time he entered Anko's office, wasn't it?

"_You don't have to force yourself…we could sleep in separate beds,"_ what was that?

"_Maybe you need some time for yourself?"_ where was that coming from?

"_I'm saying that maybe there's something worrying you…I'm here to help."_

"_Really Anko, did someone force you into this marriage?"_

"_The Kyuubi warned me…"_

"_Huh? Ku-chan? When did I tell you about…"_

"_What's going on in here!?"_

"_Anko! Have you seen Yumi?"_

"_Anko? Hey…why are you…"_

"_Is that…"_

"_Are you…"_

"_What…"_

"_Sharingan!?"_

"_Danzo."_

And then, the door opened.

*The Next Day*

"So, are the three of you ready?" Naruto's question hang in the morning air, making the three Genins wince. Neither of them had slept at all, for various reasons.

Hinata had spent the entire day before at preparing herself for her mission. She had double checked that everything was alright, she had made sure that her storage scroll, the precious gift of her sensei, was loaded with everything needed, and she had triple checked the clean underwear.

She had packed on dangos for the sad moment's treat, and she had received an earful from her father a five in the morning, when she had loudly proclaimed in the middle of the Hyuga's training grounds that she would succeed in her first C-rank mission. The earful *had* been thrown at her while she was already running towards the Konoha's gate's direction, so she hadn't actually heard it all.

Something about being the heir and not having to yell in the morning or things like that.

Katsumi, instead, had been smothered like a toddler. She had barely said C-rank, that Kushina had already began preparing for her a giant backpack, which had then been sealed into a scroll, before she had started another backpack, and had repeated the feat until she had been forced to seal all the scrolls into a single other scroll.

Then she had been forced to gulp down vitamin juice, orange juice, fruit juice, vegetable juice, and any type of healthy concoction created by man. She had actually exited her house in silence, from the rear door, and with only the sheer essentials that hadn't already been sealed: she wasn't going to look like some sort of cloistered princess. Not to her teammates, and not to her sensei. She had to show him her worth.

Kiba…Kiba was securing to his back a small backpack, which seemed to have seen ages of life, and was a bit torn to the sides too. He had just that, and nobody had yelled or said anything to him. Well, no, someone had been awake just to tell him a couple of words…but it didn't matter: they had sensei, so those words weren't going to become reality any time soon.

"Hai Sensei!" the three Genins chorused, as the bridge builder, a certain Tazuna, took a deep gulp of his sake bottle, before muttering.

"Three kids to protect super important me while I go build a super bridge? Can they do their job?" he said, "Especially the little runt over there with the fleabag on him."

"Hey! Don't you dare offend Akamaru! He's a ninken dog!" Kiba snapped back, ferociously even.

"Kiba! No killing the customer," Naruto replied, "Now, since this is the first C-rank mission, and it's an escort…just think like an assassin, and then come up with countermeasures, while moving."

"I hope you'll be able to protect my skin, I'm super important, you know? I am the great bridge builder Tazuna, after all," the man grumbled, as they set a leisurely pace outside of the village.

Just as they walked out of the village's gates, Kiba slightly took an accelerated walk, but not before having turned his gaze back to Konoha, to the general direction of where his compound was.

"Come on mutt-boy, the sooner we finish the sooner we get back home: already missing your mother?" Katsumi teased, only for Kiba to clench his fist, but then assume a smirk.

"Yeah, like you can talk about it, spoiled princess."

"I am not spoiled!" Katsumi replied; the heat in her words and the slight blush on her face more than enough reason to actually disprove her exclamation.

"I think you are: what are you going to do about it? Going to cry on your mother's lap?" Kiba retorted, the smirk going into a full out grin.

"I am not a crybaby!" Katsumi yelled back at him, "And you're the stupid one who reads kiddie stories!"

"Ohi! Those are wonderful stories!" the Inuzuka's reply was cut short by Hinata's following words.

"If you two don't shut up, I'll stick five Juken strikes where the sun doesn't shine, on both of you," the cold words, muttered with pearly white eyes to display seriousness, were more than enough to make the little bicker die down immediately. To be replaced by a nervous silence.

Tazuna decided *not* to mess with the dark blue haired Hyuga, just to be on the safe side, and instead concentrate on the other two, if he ever felt the need to rant in his *excusable* state of drunkenness.

Naruto, albeit his mind was lost in thoughts, didn't miss the puddle along the street. With a light smile, he decided to test his Genins…see if training was working on them or not.

Subtly, he prepared his Kawarimi, and then, applying a little Genjutsu, let his team handle the battle.

Within moments, Akamaru barked, attracting Kiba's attention. The Inuzuka spun around just in time to see two figures emerge from a puddle nearby, a puddle, after no raining for more than a week? Still, he couldn't let the alarm come out in time, because as the chains wrapped themselves around their Sensei. Naruto Senju was torn apart in a gory mess of blood and chunks of flesh.

The startled cry of the Inuzuka died in his throat, as Hinata swiftly spun around, her Byakugan already activated. The dark blue haired girl saw the two figures, attached one to the other by a metallic chain that ended with their gauntlets, try and reach for her. She nimbly ducked under the chain, letting her fingers coated with chakra connect with the right side of one and the left side of the other, closing off a Tenketsu point in the strike. Before the two could regain their bearings, a fierce roar echoed on the dirt road.

"Tsuga!" Kiba's entire body was twisting, his arms stretched forward, as a veritable hurricane of claws and fangs soar through the air, impacting against the missing Nin on the right side, sending him to crash against a nearby tree. The enemy's ribcage, to Hinata's Byakugan, appeared clearly shattered. The man wouldn't stand up again.

The other one let out an angry snarl.

"Meizu! You bastards will p…" and then, Hinata was on him, her fists connecting on every single one of his Tenketsu points.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! I never managed to confess to him!" the Hyuga heiress fists pummeled the internal organs of the remaining Missing Nin to a fine paste, and even after the shinobi had clearly died, that didn't stop Hinata from staying atop his corpse…to fling more and more fists inside his body.

Tazuna the bridge builder made a really, really clear note never, ever, to piss off the girl.

Katsumi, in the meantime, was frozen in fear, she had barely held out a kunai, but hadn't moved, even for a second, from her position. She justified it as her being the one to guard Tazuna, thus the reason she had to stay in front of him…but she couldn't help but think that, had any of the two dashed forward…she probably would have shivered in fear. She had sparred with Naruto, she had sparred with Kiba, she had sparred with Hinata…but she had never fought for her life.

Even her only kill was nothing more than an execution.

So she stood there, in wait, looking at the Hyuga's brutal disposal of a corpse, and at Kiba's scowling face, hardened face, and saddened face.

Moments later, the chunks of meat of their sensei broke down into wooden blocks, showcasing a Kawarimi successfully pulled off.

From a nearby tree, Naruto Senju came out with a light smile and waving.

"Well, you did an excellent job," at the mention of that, Hinata's face suddenly drenched itself of colors. Did he hear anything? Did he actually hear her…well, maybe she could play it off as…something else. In the meantime, she decided to switch to *pissed off* and angry mode.

"Sensei! What is the meaning of this!?" she literally snapped back at Naruto, who winced, taking a step back.

"Yeah Aniki! That wasn't fun at all! I mean! That was some sick shit you made us go through! I thought you were dead!" even Kiba decided to go on the offensive, as Naruto raised both of his hands, trying a calming motion, while displaying a small smile.

"Now, now, let us calm down, and let me explain…" as the Senju spoke, he moved closer to Tazuna, where, crossing his arms at the incredibly pale and nervous bridge builder, he queried.

"Tazuna-san…we need to talk."

"Well…you know…they could have been after the girl," Tazuna retorted.

"Ehi!" Katsumi exclaimed.

"That would have been possible," Naruto replied, "If they had been from Iwa," he added.

"Great," Katsumi muttered, kicking a stone to the side, feeling completely ignored from the conversation, and just so casually used as a scapegoat.

"Then…I dunno?" Tazuna replied with a little hesitant smile.

"You have a choice, Mister Tazuna," Naruto pointed out, raising his index finger, "You tell me everything, and I don't send you back to an overly mother hen Hokage who would clearly have you fined enormously for having put his precious daughter into trouble…and that is all the choice you have. I won't have a *no* as an answer."

"Well…do you know who Gatou is?" the bridge builder spoke in a low voice, his eyes looking around for a brief moment, like he was afraid he was being spied.

"Yes," Naruto replied. He had heard of Gatou, during one of the bi-weekly dinners at Danzo's house. The businessman controlled the underground, the drug rings and prostitution houses around the land of waves…but it never stretched out of there, for fear.

"Then you know just how much money, and power, he wields…he acquired all the shipping companies around the land of wave, and then slowly choked our economy…people are dying in the streets from hunger and thirst, the bridge that I'm building is going to save our country…but he doesn't want it built. That's why I hired a group of ninja to escort me back…" Tazuna's voice kind of turned piteous, "If…if you won't help me, then I'll probably die, and my daughter will forever hate Konoha's ninjas, and my grandson will probably cry and…"

"We have all the right to refuse, sensei," Katsumi pointed out, albeit her face showed concern, "But I think we should go on."

"Well, if you do nothing but freeze, I suppose you'd have no problems," Hinata replied with a light smirk, "Anyway, I too think we can go on, sensei!"

"Aniki, we're ready, and we aren't going to fail our first C-rank!" at the words from Kiba, Naruto sighed.

"This is actually B-rank, as of now: Gozu and Meizu are chuunin rank from Kirigakure, missing Nins…one dead, and one…" walking towards Meizu, whose breathing was ragged and arrhythmic, Naruto beckoned Hinata to come closer.

"Activate your Byakugan and watch, Hinata," the Senju stated, as his right hand glowed a bright green, before it began hovering over the man's chest.

"Sensei…you're fixing his ribs?" Hinata asked, hesitant.

"As a Juken practitioner, I'm sure your chakra control is top notch…with your byakugan, furthermore, you can actually see the wounds, without the need of a Diagnostic Jutsus that requires more chakra…basically, I'm you will be specializing in medic-ninjutsu, or, to be more precise, field healing, and I'm sure you're going to excel on it," Naruto explained carefully, looking at the white eyes of Hinata opening a bit more, as a light blush covered her cheeks.

"Kiba, get over here, you have something to do too," the Senju said, as he stopped the glowing and beckoned the Inuzuka closer.

"Hai Aniki?"

"Torture and Interrogation: first lesson," the grey haired man held a kunai at the throat of the Kirigakure chuunin, "Always ensure you can terminate the target while asking questions."

Kiba nodded, looking at the Kirigakure shinobi slowly groaning, and opening his eyes.

"I won't talk," as soon as Gozu said that, Naruto smiled.

"Lesson number two: if the enemy doesn't commit suicide, then he *will* talk," then, a fist rocked straight against Gozu's face, sending him to hit the back of his head against the tree's bark.

"Lesson number three: dose your strength, do not kill or tickle, but maim," he added, as the broken nose of the Kirigakure's shinobi seemed to be dripping blood.

"I…felt...nothing!" Gozu retorted, once more.

"Lesson number four: If it takes more than physical intimidation, then terminate the target and try with another one," and with those words, the kunai moved straight against Gozu's throat, who let out a startled, and croaked.

"Wait!" as he managed to squeak, Naruto's kunai stopped, leaving a faint trace of red seeping down from the man's throat.

"Who hired you? How many missing Nins are there?" Naruto queried.

"Gatou, he wants the bridge builder dead," Gozu muttered, "He hired Zabuza, the demon of the mist, and us…please let me…"

Then, Naruto eyed Kiba, and with a silent nodding, removed the kunai, passing the handle to the Inuzuka, who, clenching it tightly drove it straight through the Missing Nin's head.

"Lesson number five: lie with you actions, if you want to get them to loosen up, not with your words," and with that, Naruto stood up, as a strangely green Katsumi watched the scene.

"Katsumi-chan, I'll teach you more on chakra control…you'll never reach my level, but you should be able to manage walking on water, by the time we're done," which meant a lot, considering the girl's chakra reserves were simply…enormous, titanic, too big to explain in mere words.

Katsumi couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. Hinata got medic ninjutsus, Kiba interrogation tactics…and she got water walking? Something the other two would obviously learn too? Why couldn't she learn interrogation? Clenching her fist, she merely nodded.

"Now, we will keep going on the mission, however, when, and if, Zabuza will make his appearance, neither of you three will confront him, understood? This is an A-rank mission as of now, and I hope it will remain that way," Naruto's words were harsh and stern, but most importantly, the tone made it clear there were no second opinions: it would be his fight.

"Sensei…who's this Zabuza guy?" Kiba asked, perplexed.

"The demon of the mist…he was the Kirigakure representative during the Konoha's chuunin exams when I gave them; he is one of the swordsmen of the mist, and thus is on a rank apart Anbu or Jounin. Do not engage him. Really, I don't know why I'm stressing or repeating it…but Do. Not. Engage."

"H-Hai sensei," the three nodded, and as they began walking once more, Naruto mulled a thought.

"_This is actually an A-rank now…isn't it?"_

As his thoughts drifted to the road ahead of them, a nagging feeling, of having forgotten something important, settled down. He had a mission to do: first came the mission, and then came the rest. Doubt wasn't something needed in the shinobi world.

They actually had to take a boat, since the land of wave was to be connected to the mainland thanks to the bridge, and not vice-versa. In silence, under the heavy cover of the fog and the mangrove trees that grew spontaneously around them, they walked through the silent air around them. Tension filled the minds of the three Genins, as a certain Hyuga heiress was lost in thoughts about whether her sensei would call her on her…actions, or whether he wouldn't. Meanwhile, the Inuzuka was gripping tightly his backpack, thoughts running to their enemies…

Was an A-rank ninja the one that had killed his father, years before?

"_I just hope you die! You liar!"_ wincing at the thought, he didn't know if this was how he felt, battling his enemies…was it like that, for him too?

"_C-rank, pup? Hope you die."_ Those three words stung clearly, yet he didn't let it come to him. He was sure they were waiting for him back home. Well, maybe they'd show it with some extra training, but probably they would…yeah, wait for him, or his corpse, before selling his stuff or emptying his room. Maybe if he did actually die Hana would get that storage room she so much wanted… not that she didn't already store things in his room; after all, it wasn't even his to begin with: it belonged to the clan. Like his jutsus, and Akamaru, and his jacket, and the things in his backpack. The backpack was the only thing his, it was a gift. A gift from a person he had yelled at to die, and that had died.

With a light tapping of his cheeks, he concentrated once more, carefully sniffing around, feeling the wildlife's smell, their furs, their excrements, the sap of the trees, a light smell of flowers. He smelled the coppery aroma of blood, the cold metallic feel in the back of his throat of greased metal, the marsh of the water.

As they descended from the boat, and walked barely a couple of meters, Kiba Inuzuka carefully heard the rustling of a bush nearby, only for Katsumi to beat him on time, and fling a kunai that way.

"There's an enemy there!" Katsumi's exclamation was cut short, when a white fluffy bunny was brought back from Akamaru's teeth, the kunai embedded deeply within the animal's body.

"The ferocious killer bunny of the land of the Wave! How could I not sense it!" Kiba replied with fake shock, as Hinata, however, activated her Byakugan.

"Sensei," she whispered, "the bunny's fur is…"

"Wrong, I know…Majin formation!" Naruto snapped, as the fog decided to lift itself higher and denser than before. In a moment, Hinata stood to the right side of Tazuna, in a defensive posture, while the same happened on the left side with Katsumi, and on the front with Kiba.

"Do not move Tazuna-san, we'll protect you!" Katsumi exclaimed, "And I told you there was an enemy there!" she added to Kiba, who decided not to retort, for the moment.

Hyuga Hinata was, obviously, the possessor of the Byakugan: the eye that could see far away in the distance. The eye that could see at three hundred and sixty degrees and that had no weakness or weak spots, but that instead granted the Hyugas the Juken style, to close Tenketsu points. Some claimed it also enabled to see through Genjutsus, but the truth was that, since it enabled the user to see chakra pathways, illusions didn't have one. Placing a Hyuga under a more convincing illusion, with the Byakugan active, would help. So, when Hinata Hyuga looked around her, she muttered a curse.

She muttered a curse because she couldn't see anything. She couldn't see and yet she could, because her eyes were still there. There stood a man, his face bandaged, and wearing a Kirigakure's forehead protector with a horizontal slash on it. A massive sword stood unsheathed and on his back. She could see him, but then why couldn't she see his chakra pathways? Was it an illusion?

"You're the shrimp from the chuunin exams," Zabuza muttered, as the mist parted lightly, to show his face.

"And you're the Demon of the Mist," Naruto replied, "By the way, I have the Kibas with me…so, Raijin or Kibas?" the question, that seemed so casual, was actually giving him an underlying threat that was missed by the three Genins.

"I did hear you got Kurosuki's head…but he was a bit of a mad guy to begin with…even when he was still sane," Zabuza replied, swinging his Kubikiribōchō, "But no, I will kindly kill you even if you were to use all three swords together…and then, I'll take Tazuna's head…"

"My, what did I ever do to you," Naruto replied, as his Raijin sprang to life, the thunder blade crackling, releasing small bursts that seemed to clear away the fog, at least near its user.

"Becoming a visible target is appreciated," was all that Zabuza added, before the mist suddenly increased in intensity.

Hinata's eyes took her surroundings into view. There was the demon of the mist, advancing towards her sensei, who, however, seemed to no longer possess chakra pathways, meaning he was a Mizu Bunshin, probably. Then, another Zabuza, this one too missing the pathways, suddenly appeared in the middle of them.

"You left your team wide open!" Zabuza exclaimed, as his massive sword began to swing, only to be abruptly cut in its movement by Naruto's own Raijin that parried against the cleaver.

Sparks flew in the air, as Hinata, probably the only one who could see in the fog, moved closer to Tazuna, taking position near him.

Kiba, with his keen senses, managed to maneuver himself in such a way to be, once more, in formation.

Katsumi, on the other hand, went through a specific set of hand signs.

"Futon: Daitoppa!" as the strong gale of wind dashed through the mist, it seemingly generated more trouble than it solved. The mist that exited the boundaries turned to nothing more than water vapor, and the one that was already there recreated itself as long as Zabuza would supply chakra to it.

The Raijin no Ken hummed in gleeful fury, as electricity cackled against the cleaver of the Kiri shinobi, but in a contest of strength, and not of skills, Zabuza's arms came down, on the parry, forcing Naruto to jump slightly back, only for the man to press his advantage.

The cleaver swung his way in a crescent arc, dirt flying in the air, aiming straight at the Nidaime no Sairai's face, only to be stopped by the movement of the Raijin. As the Thunder sword moved to the side, however, Zabuza's cleaver came crashing down on Naruto from behind, neatly cutting him in half, and revealing its water clone status.

That's when an explosive tag detonated on the spot the Mizu bunshin had been, taking out the water bunshin of Zabuza that had attacked him from behind.

As silence echoed in the clearing, interrupted only by the gentle noise of the waves hitting the shore, the remaining water bunshin, at least in Hinata's eyes, turned to stare, with a light smirk, as the fog dissipated.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Kids from the academy…recently graduated too? Let me guess…did you have to perform only a Bunshin to pass? Pathetical," and then, with a light chuckle, he was already at point blank on Kiba's location. Only for the Inuzuka to raise both of his armguards, and end up impacting against Katsumi's back from the blow, the girl that had tried, that being the key verb, to launch yet another jutsu.

Since Zabuza was obviously going to follow up on his attack with another swing, Hinata had no choice but to bring it close and personal. Her fists flew forward, hoping that a single good hit would be enough to force the Bunshin to destroy itself.

Instead her fists met a light crystal surface.

For a second, Hinata gasped. She was going to die. She hadn't seen his chakra pathways because something had stopped her Byakugan sight. That one in front of them was the real Zabuza. A Zabuza who had just then kicked her in the stomach, and flung her back a couple of meters, to spew blood and wince in pain, her ribs bent slightly. It had hurt…hell, it was still hurting.

Wincing in pain, the Hyuga Heiress carefully moved her right hand to within her jacket's inner left pocket, and then extracted something she knew would have come in handy.

Namely, it was an explosive tag.

It was a personal explosive tag that her sensei had given, in bulk, to each of them, as a safety precaution in case an enemy really went too near…or in case you needed a painful breather.

As soon as it touched her hand, she activated it, throwing it straight ahead, at the man who, with a smirk, jumped to the side avoiding it. Normally, it would have worked. The explosive tag would have exploded upon contact with the ground, after a couple of seconds.

These however, were made to explode after a two second short fuse, and release a dome of water in a three hundred and sixty area with enough pressure to stagger a boar.

By the time Zabuza had jumped to the side, the tag had gone off, sending the Demon of the mist to take a couple of extra steps to regain his balance, water flowing down his armor.

"Not shivering like a baby, huh?" Zabuza grinned. He had just a vague idea where the Senju was, but it didn't matter: he'd slaughter the man's kiddies and then move to him.

"Please, I'm not a whiny spoiled princess," Hinata replied, a small driblet of blood coming down one side of her lips. So, maybe, a rib had deformed a bit badly…it still didn't matter.

"Yeah, and neither am I," Kiba replied, as he got on all fours, wincing, however, as the parried attack with his armguards had cost him: namely, two neatly broken arms. Luckily for him, Akamaru had taken Hinata's distraction to gulp down a soldier pill, revealing his red colored fur, before transforming into a perfect replica of the Inuzuka.

"Gatsūga!" as both users spun around ferociously, Hinata barely managed to let a startled exclamation out, before Kiba clashed…or better yet, crashed, against the cleaver sword of the demon of the mist, flinging the Inuzuka backwards, to fall on the ground, holding both of his arms in pain, twisted beyond normal. Akamaru, in his Kiba form, growled viciously as the chuckling Demon of the Mist.

"Well… What about the girly over there? Miss *red is such a nice color*," as Zabuza locked his gaze on Katsumi, the red haired girl gritted her teeth. It wasn't her fault someone had to guard Tazuna! She had been doing the most important thing!

"I have to guard Tazuna-san!" she retorted, as the man, behind her, sheepishly spoke.

"You know…since I am the one to blame for this, you should fight together with your teammates to your heart's content:I can manage staying out of the fight…" at those words, Katsumi bit her lower lip. Now she had no excuses, did she? Now she could actually fight.

Yet why was it so difficult to move? Why was it so difficult to actually take a single step?

Unknown to everyone, unknown maybe even to her very own parents, Katsumi Namikaze was a coward by heart. A loud, boisterous girl, a spoiled princess, a tampered priceless jewel, but a weakling when it came to battling for her life: training was training, killing others was killing others…but fighting for her life…she couldn't.

She wanted to, but she couldn't.

So, when Zabuza, the demon of the mist, realized that, he immediately understood the weak link, and without a second of hesitation, pressed forward his advantage.

Sure, he had been toying around. Having Guren grant him a crystal armor that would absorb most hits and defect the Byakugan's ability to close Tenketsu points had given him time to play. The fact that Haku was near to give support when needed was helping him too…but still, right then, he was trying to decide if Naruto had swapped places with the man, Tazuna, or was underground. It had to be one of the two, right?

Within moments, he'd have his reply. The sword came crashing down straight in a vertical swing, aiming to bisect the red haired girl from the neck to the base of her spine. Instead it was replaced by a dull thud, as Katsumi's presence was immediately swapped with that of Naruto, wielding the Raijin in horizontal, to stop the Demon's blade from terminating its move.

"Giving away your cover?" Zabuza grinned.

"I have to ask…are you kidding me, or are you toying because you're bored?" at those words, Naruto's eyes glowed a brief blue light, before Zabuza jumped back, a lot back, to end with his feet on the water.

Naruto swiftly followed, hitting the water's surface with his feet just as a sphere of water rose to surround him, and entrap him.

"Suirō no Jutsu." A water sphere rose from the surface of the sea, trapping within Naruto, who seemed completely unfazed by such a turn of events.

However, in the moment that it did trap him, Hinata's Byakugan stopped perceiving her sensei, just as a thick fog, once more, covered the area.

In the complete obscurity, or ignorance, Hinata dashed towards Kiba's location, knocking him unconscious, to prevent him from further damaging himself by flailing around broken arms. Carefully, she closed her eyes, letting the noise of the battle, hidden from their view, reach her. Their sensei had to have freed himself, someway: there had been the crackling of electricity, the breaking of something solid, like glass, the sparks, the movements and the noises of a fought battle…

And then the scream, Naruto-sensei's scream, that pierced the air as the fog dispersed once more.

Hinata's eyes finally jolted open, as Katsumi just then reappeared, white as a ghost, from the nearby mangrove forest, her lower half completely drenched in water, like she had been moved inside the sea till waist length, and her eyes looking haunted.

"Katsumi-chan, Kiba-kun is…" Hinata's words died in her throat, as she swiftly turned to see her sensei's still form on the water of the lake, an icy javelin emerging from one side of his face, covered in frozen blood.

On the other side, a masked hunter-nin was carrying away the wounded body of Zabuza, who, him too, seemed to have his own wounds covered in frost.

"Sensei!" Katsumi could but run towards her brother, as Hinata stayed near Kiba, with Tazuna moving closer to the two. Katsumi had to swim to actually reach her sensei's still body, and then she had to swim back, to get him on shore. The Raijin no Ken stood broken, the handle cracked and Naruto's right hand lightly charred. Was Zabuza really that strong to reduce their sensei like that?

She didn't know…she was still shocked about the meeting she had had with Itachi…when Naruto had Kawarimi'd with her.

_Zabuza was coming for her, his sword was coming down…and then, the next moment, she was waist-deep in the water, nearby but still hidden in the canopy of mangroves. In front of her, a spinning eye wheel, a single word._

"_Tsukuyomi,"__ and then the world took a turn for the black, and the red._

"_Who…you…" Katsumi's word died in her throat, as she didn't stand in a normal place, no, she was deep within her very own seal. She stood in the sewers, were behind seals and shackles and iron bars stood the Kyuubi, the nine tailed demon sealed within her._

"_I am Itachi Uchiha…I belong to the Akatsuki…" Itachi spoke quietly._

"_You're the one who killed Sasuke's clan!" Katsumi retorted, as a loud snarl echoed through the sewer._

"_I did what I was ordered to do," Itachi replied, his gaze turning to the bars, "and I come here to offer you something…that you will like," he added._

"_Like I would believe a murderer! Where's Naruto-sensei? What did you do to him!?" at the question, the Uchiha simply displayed the hint of a smile._

"_Nothing that a kid like you should know…I just brought the back-up to deal with him," at the mention, with a subtle implication of dread and death, Katsumi's eyes nearly turned feral, only to be stopped by the Uchiha's eyes._

"_My power over the Kyuubi is great, my Mangekyou can control it…do not force my hand, child…I wish to offer you something," as the words were spoken, reverberating through the sewer's walls, the light growling that came from the Kyuubi was subdued quietly._

"_It's not like I can refuse and walk away unscathed, can I?" at Katsumi's question, Itachi simply nodded._

"_We of the Akatsuki can remove the Kyuubi from within you…and you would not suffer any ill effects," the Uchiha heir spoke quietly, as the red haired girl's eyes bulged in shock, "All you have to do is think about my offer…we will come back for an answer, but I warn you: speak of our meeting, and I can guarantee you that we will have to play a stronger hand, to get what we desire from Konoha…"_

_Katsumi's mouth stood open, in silence, as she sharply breathed in air, before muttering, with a cracked voice._

"_What is that? What is it that you want from Konoha?"_

"_Revenge," and with those final words, the world faded from view._

Katsumi had awoken to the scream of her sensei, and had dashed towards it, letting her brain send in a corner the information and the offer that she had received from the elder Uchiha. She'd have to decide about it later, but before then, she had to at least try and save her sensei.

When she did reach the rest of the group, she found a knocked out and arms broken Kiba, a slightly covered in blood, albeit most wasn't hers, Hinata, and a pale Tazuna. The fog had just then lifted, and with the Hyuga's words, she had turned her gaze around…until she had seen the still form of Naruto, laying on the sea's surface.

She was probably the only one with enough strength left to go grab him: after all, she had done nothing, nothing at all, except throwing completely useless jutsus. Where did all of Naruto's training go, with her? Did she just forget about it, in the middle of a stressful battle?

When she carried him on the shore, she took into full view his face. An ice lance, or arrow, or spear tip, or something like that, had taken out his left eye. His sword, the Raijin, stood broken, pieces of its handle firmly in his grasp. He was breathing raggedly, cracks and dents covering his entire armor, in strange scale-like patterns, like something had grated against it.

They were over their heads with this mission. They should just go back.

"Tazuna-san," Hinata spoke quietly, "How far is your house?" at the question, Tazuna finally took himself out of the shock he had been in, and replied quickly.

"Couple of hours, I can carry your sensei if…" at that, Katsumi's snarl echoed through the clearing.

"No." Then, without wasting a second, the red haired girl lifted on her shoulder the heavier and elder shinobi, her eyes blazing with determination.

"I'm carrying sensei: he's wounded and needs to be treated…" she wouldn't admit it, but she kind of hoped that Naruto *would* leech chakra off her…at least to prove herself useful. At least to be praised for doing something. Instead the man stood quietly unconscious, all of his weight on her, and there was nothing else she could do to prove herself useful, but to carry him. She had to at least carry him…at least do…do something.

"Tazuna-san…can you carry Kiba-kun, then?" with tired words, Hinata managed to get back on her feet, as the bridge builder, silently, nodded before holding carefully the Inuzuka. Within the bridge builder's arms Kiba let out a little whining, but, still knocked out cold, didn't move too much.

In silence, the beaten up team moved towards the bridge builder's house.

*Akatsuki Team– on the move*

"Itachi, I'm now two to zero with your friend," the tailless Bijuu, Kisame, spoke with a little chuckle, showing his shark like teeth to his colleague, who was instead walking silently, staring at the mangroves around them.

"Why did I have to be the one wounded, you damn fish?" Zabuza muttered in a snarl, his stomach and chest bandaged.

"Because it was part of the plan," Kisame retorted, "so, are you sure he won't tell you who the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is, Itachi?"

"Not yet," Itachi spoke quietly, "But eventually…he will."

"Zetsu was a bit surprised…but Tobi did say it would work, didn't he?" Kisame replied with a loud chuckle, "I'm just glad Samehada here would tear me apart, if someone were to be messing with my brain."

"Maybe your sword is messing with your brain, shark fins," Zabuza growled, "You could have attacked before I got Kubikiribōchō cut in half by the Raijin, you know!"

"Samehada needed to be convinced to destroy that sword, you know, mummy guy?" Kisame snapped back, "And I wanted to look at his shocked face when he realized *I* was the same guy as last time."

"You met him before?" Haku's quiet voice, as she was holding her pace next to Zabuza, made Kisame actually start laughing.

"Yeah, but back then he actually used summons: still, I'm here because of him, and I'm with Akatsuki because of his words."

"He must have been pretty shocked, then," Haku replied.

"Meh, I thought he was dead, I did leave him pretty much bleeding from within…" the Kirigakure's missing Nin retorted.

"What are we going to do about Gato?" at the question, coming from Zabuza, Itachi replied with a monotonous voice.

"Let him be: the Senju's team will take care of it, probably."

*Senju Team*

Naruto's first reaction to being alive was groaning. In pain, while muttering curses to Kami for the left side of his face that felt, to him, like on fire. He could feel his body against some covers, so he wasn't in his armor. That was a bad thing by itself, but worse was the recollection of how he had actually ended up there.

It had been relatively easy to sense Itachi, when he actually wanted to be sensed, and feeling him nearby had just forced him to leave his students to at least take some time with Zabuza. He had to finish his deal with the Uchiha. Zabuza was a man who would toy with them for a while, and, worse to worse, he was sure he could at least bring Itachi to the same fighting scenario of the demon of the mist. Two enemy Nins instead of one, but it would have been an easier mean of defending his students. And Naruto did keep his sensing skills on, to keep track of the battle.

Then the Uchiha slaughterer had spoken waiting for him to answer a question. That was when Naruto had replied that it was the first time, the very first time, that the two had seen each other...and that they could have started with the reason for Itachi's slaughter of the clan…and then, things had become strange.

From there, his brain was trying to come up with reasons as to why he was left to live. They hadn't even fought the two of them. They had just…talked. About random stuff, about Anko's office, about Anko's favorite food…it was…just…there was something, something extremely wrong and yet so right, that he had no idea what was, actually, going on.

Maybe he had some painkillers in his body, but except for a bit of chakra exhaustion…feeling leeched *wasn't* on his to-do list, but he had been leeched: by a sword. Zabuza was A-rank because he never actually went around parading his strengths: no missing-nin actually did that, as it would just warrant an increase in their bounties.

And that was the reason why the demon of the mist's actual strength was on the S-rank, and why he had fought like a real demon, swinging his massive Kubikiribōchō without even breaking a sweat. So, while the Raijin was a sword that cut, and even the giant cleaver had been no problem, in that precise instant someone had decided to launch a damn sword at him. And the sword had bitten onto him…after neatly destroying the Raijin's thunder blade. The damn sword had bitten on him! Then a barrage of ice javelins had come down on him, but only one had actually harmed him: the one that had hit him on the left side of the face.

He had been without chakra, and he had probably fallen on the ground. Mentally, he was groaning about the injustice of life. If he was alive, then what of his Genin team? Were they dead? This wasn't A-rank, damn, this was S-rank!

Just like his first C-rank mission, oh joy. Only, this time, he hadn't even managed to catch a glimpse of his attackers, except for Zabuza.

Naruto's only remaining eye opened up carefully, the light was barely creaking through the room, and yet to him it seemed like it was fully lit in the midday sun. It was just…too much, and so he closed it again.

Carefully, he could hear the playful chatter of at least two of his students. Hinata and Kiba, the first was somewhere below him, probably one floor down, while the Inuzuka was instead outside. Maybe they were talking to one another from within and from outside the house.

His muscles cramped, as he tried to stand up, and just like that, he heard Hinata make a little startled cry, and start running upstairs, to where he was. Had she kept her Byakugan activated?

"Sensei!" The strong exclamation made Naruto's ears wince in pain, not used to such loud shrieks.

His eyes closed, but his posture remained seated, at least it helped him breath better…or so he thought.

"Sensei, your ribs aren't fully healed," Hinata pointed out, "I…I did what I could, but…I only saw you doing it once and therefore…" as she spoke quietly, and hesitantly, Naruto simply displayed a small smile.

"How long was I…unconscious? One hour? Two?"

"Two days sensei," Hinata replied, "we were waiting for you to be better, before setting out…I…I did what I could, Tsunami-san helped with your wounds too, and…"

"Hinata! Aniki woke up!?" the loud voice of Kiba made Naruto wince, as the Inuzuka entered the room, barking puppy on his head. He had both of his arms into casts, and, while it seemed he couldn't move them, he could still *flail* them around.

"Kiba…are you alright too?" at the question, Kiba gulped uneasily for a moment, before replying.

"Well, your eyes are closed so I guess you can't see, but I've got two broken arms…but Hinata-chan set them with ease! And I didn't even cry a bit, no sir!"

"You were unconscious, Mutt-boy," Hinata retorted.

"Aw…you're wounding me Hinata-chan," the Inuzuka's then moved to the window, to close the curtains even more, using his mouth, "there, Aniki can't stand the light well without shades so…"

"Thank you, Kiba…" then, with a little moment of breath, Naruto opened his right eye, staring at two of his Genins, "Where is Katsumi?"

"At the bridge sensei, she's taking shifts with Hinata-chan here…" at Kiba's reply, Naruto sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry Kiba, I should have protected you better," with those words, the Inuzuka scowled for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Nah, it was my fault sensei: I parried whereas I should have dodged," at that, Hinata nodded.

"Yes, he did a really stupid thing…sensei, what are we going to do now?"

"Well…I'll rest a couple of moments more, then try to understand how to look around with only one eye, and finally heal Kiba's arms. We'll keep rotating shifts at the bridge, while I'll get some training in you, in case Zabuza comes back," Naruto pointed out, "but I have to ask…what happened after I was knocked out?"

Hinata took a deep breath, before blurting out.

"A Hunter Nin from Kirigakure came to take Zabuza's body away, at least, that's what I saw, Kiba was unconscious and Katsumi arrived when you fell down, and then…" he knew that Katsumi couldn't have seen the battle…she was talking with…Itachi, yes, she was talking with Itachi because the two of them had decided it would be…better, to do something like that.

And then it clicked back to him.

He had to talk to Anko.

He had to ask her…he had to ask her something. Something concerning her…feelings…he had to…

With a grunt and a groan of pain he doubled over, clutching his head with his hands, letting out a cry as his brain seemed to be splitting in half.

One part of him fought to destroy any evidence of doubt, any shred of questions.

The other part wanted answers.

It wanted answers so badly it was more than willingly to tear his brain apart. He gritted his teeth, clenching tightly on the blankets with his fists. And then…then it all came back to him like a downpour.

"_Itachi," Naruto's voice was trembling with ire. How dared the man come in front of him like that, parading himself in the clothes of Akatsuki? The Akatsuki wanted peace, and used slaughterers to do their dirty jobs? The anger he felt at the sight of his friend wasn't even subdued the tiniest bit, by the Uchiha's perplexity._

"_Have you an answer?" Itachi queried, his eyes locked on Naruto._

"_An answer to what?! You show yourself here for the first time in years, and it's to attack my team?" he was outright vicious…no, the Kyuubi was outright vicious. _

"_You don't remember?" the Uchiha's question forced Naruto's eyes to lock his gaze, for once, on Itachi's eyes. Why were they…showing worry? What was…_

"_Remember what, Itachi? How you slaughtered your clan, how we fought, or how you forced…you forced…" the words skipped to a halt in Naruto's mouth…Itachi forced what, exactly? He had to be angry at him. Because he was a slaughterer of Uchiha, he had condemned Sasuke to the death of most of his clan, he had…he had forced Anko to marry him?_

"_Naruto…what is Anko's favorite food?" at Itachi's question, Naruto's eyes closed for a moment, before opening again._

"_It's anko and Mitarashi sauce dangos…"_

"_It's sweet bean soup, Naruto," at the mention, Naruto's eyes lit up for a second, was there…_

_-I don't always eat dangos, Naruto, sweet bean soup is my favorite food actually, now let's meet with Orochimaru-sensei, okay? - When did she say that, actually? It was in the past…he had a sort of fuzzy recollection of the time with Orochimaru, actually…but it was so much time before, why would he remember?_

"_What is Anko's office like?" clutching his head for a moment, the Senju couldn't help but feel the roaring anger within himself stop, quieting down, replaced by perplexity. The Kyuubi was stupefied. _

"_I…It's…" what was it like? Had he ever stepped in it? Did he know what Anko did all the mornings and afternoons, except working in T&I?_

"_Zetsu-san, our informant, gathered more than enough to prove you are constantly subjected to various levels of Genjutsus…through the use of Kotoamatsukami…you, however, won't be able to trust me without…proof, proof of your Hokage's toying with you," and then, the world had turned black and red. And in that strangely colored world, images had flown around them…displaying Itachi's truth._

_The Hokage had ordered the Uchiha's slaughter, but it should have been but a mere work of cleaning up the problems, and then have Itachi join the Akatsuki…but instead, someone else had killed the kids, the innocents and the elderly. Jiraiya had become Itachi's informant, since the toad hermit was his only source of information on Sasuke's wellbeing. Jiraiya had also been the one to tell Itachi that Danzo had intervened with Root operatives, to kill all remaining Uchihas to harvest their eyes. _

_The hermit had asked Itachi to keep staying on the Akatsuki's side, in exchange for Danzo's eventual death. Jiraiya had finally reached for Itachi one day, but by then Itachi's skill had granted the Uchiha insight on who stood behind the Henge: the Hokage. That was when the Uchiha had started to have doubts, on the entire event, and that was when Itachi, not calling the trick off, had brought his doubts to Naruto, who seemed to have fallen under Danzo's excessive use of an eye that wasn't even his to begin with._

_Within the red and black world, Naruto's mouth uttered words that weren't his._

_**I tried to warn the boy,**__ it was the Kyuubi, that had spoken, __**but when he voiced his worries to the woman, she referred to Danzo. From there, he used…me, as a target. The pathetical bastard! I shall gut him where he stands!**_

_And then…just then…a plan had formed._

"Naruto-sensei!" Hinata exclaimed, not knowing what to do, as Kiba too was looking worriedly at his aniki.

"It's alright…everything is alright," Naruto's tired reply came with a half assed smile, as he waved it off, before lying back down.

"I think that I'll be able to move by tonight…till then, can you bring my armor here? The right gauntlet will do," as soon as he spoke, Hinata rushed over to the side of the room, the side that was his blind spot, and that obviously held his stuff. From there, the Hyuga heiress withdrew the right gauntlet, handing it over to Naruto. The Senju muttered a thank, before touching a fuinjutsu seal placed on the palm of the gauntlet, that briefly shone before making three slips of paper appear on its surface, all with a summoning seal on it.

"Here, one for each, and give the third to Katsumi: pour chakra and a chameleon summon should arrive to your side…the more chakra, the bigger it will be, it should help in guarding the bridge's construction."

The two Genins in the room nodded, as Hinata took two slips of paper, since she was the one that would give the shift change to Katsumi.

"Now, sit down, both of you, and I'll start explaining the basics of medic ninjutsu and intimidation…"

And that he did, until he was sure they both got it down, asking them to repeat it to him. It was only at night, when he was helped to walk downstairs, to meet the bridge builder's family, that Naruto saw Katsumi once more. The red haired girl was nervously glancing at him with a worried expression, and had barely touched her food.

Or maybe she just didn't like smoked fish.

"Sensei…" Katsumi broke the tense silence at the table, finally founding, maybe, the courage to speak, "I'm sorry."

"For what, Katsumi-chan?" Naruto queried back, raising an eyebrow, as he once more tried to get the fish to enter his mouth, with the chopsticks, and not his nose, or remaining good eye.

"For…your wounds, for…the Raijin's destruction…" as she spoke quietly, she added in the end, "For being so damn scared and useless."

"The wounds will heal, the Raijin's handle is still with me, so I can fix that too, and for the scared part…" the Senju's voice came calmly, with a hint of amusement, "Everyone's scared in life, it happens. The important thing is to face one's own fears and strive forward…if you're still scared, then maybe I could have Anko train you in the snake pit for a while…both Sasuke and Neji can guarantee it works," that, and the fact that they never needed more than one single exercise in there…ever again.

"H-Hai sensei," Katsumi replied.

"It's useless," a small boy that had been presented as Inari, spoke, "You're all going to die anyway!"

"You damn runt!" Kiba literally growled, as Hinata was next to him, having to help in feeding him, "Don't say things like that! Ever! They Jinx people!"

"Kiba-kun! He's just a kid, stop it!" Hinata replied, with a snappish tone.

"Gatou is going to kill you all!" at Inari's words, Naruto closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Kid, do you know who I am?" the question, clearly rhetoric, brought the boy to quiet down. Especially because he felt a strange pressure on his shoulders, as fear build up inside his small frame, both of his eyes locked in shock at the single, blue eye, of Naruto Senju.

"I am Naruto Senju, the Nidaime no Sairai, and trust me that, whoever this Gatou is, I can kill him, smash him, destroy him, annihilate him, tear his guts out of his battered body and feast upon his blood, crush his skull and make paste of his brain and…" as more and more words flew out, Inari turned green, and then, not being able to take any more graphic images, ran off to the bathroom, while Kiba had his mouth open in utter shock.

Katsumi was white as a sheet, and Hinata, instead, was trying to keep all of those words to mind…she could use them, eventually.

"What?" Naruto queried, looking at those around the table, "It's the truth…I was just filling him in on what I can do," at that, the Senju found out he was the only one who was *still* hungry.

After dinner, Naruto was sitting outside the bridge builder's house, near the porch's stairs. With his only visible eye, not covered by the shades, he looked warily around, adapting to his now depth-free vision.

Kakashi could do the same, most of the time, so why couldn't he too? Furthermore, he didn't know if Gatou had hired anyone else, someone that, maybe, didn't have second plans and wasn't an infiltrate of the Akatsuki. So, with those thoughts in his head, he sighed. He had a lot to do when he went back home…was it even worthy of calling it home?

He had gone to the outmost lengths to be recognized by the people of Konoha, no matter the stigmas that he had suffered, or the attacks that he had defended against. However…was Anko a pawn, a tool, or an associate of Danzo's scheme?

It didn't take him a great brain, to understand what Danzo's plan was meant to be…Itachi had been working for the Hokage with Akatsuki only to kill Danzo, and Danzo had been subtly maneuvering Naruto to kill the Hokage in a coup, during the chuunin examinations.

A pity it wouldn't go like the Yami of shinobis was thinking. Still, Itachi's words rung into Naruto's head...the careful usage of the same terms, *swallowed by the darkness*…was Kakashi also a part of Akatsuki? Was it just a random event? Was Itachi able to spy on them without troubles? Whatever the answer was, he felt movement behind him. It was the lithe moving of feet that slowly came to a halt behind him, hesitantly, before finally sitting down next to him. Katsumi was holding her knees with her hands, looking nervously at her feet, biting her lip.

Naruto stood quiet, letting the girl mull over her thoughts, in wait for her questions.

"Sensei…can you tell me something more…about Itachi?"

"Why?" the Senju replied, without a hint of emotion in his voice, just bare nothingness in it.

"Because…I'm just curious, that's all! He…he's the one that Sasuke-kun hates, right?" at Katsumi's reply, Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"You could say that, but you'd be wrong," the grey haired man spoke quietly, letting out another sigh, "You see, he doesn't hate Itachi…he doesn't understand him. One day, he went from being his brother, to being the cause of the slaughter of his entire clan…he murdered children, wives, husbands, he murdered cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers, and then he left."

"You were in his team, right sensei?" the Namikaze's question was met with a little chuckle.

"I was his best friend, Katsumi. We fought back by back in most of our missions, we read each other's actions without a need for words, and that still didn't stop him from trying to kill me, at the valley of the end," the Senju replied slowly, "But…it doesn't matter anymore."

"Why not? He betrayed you!" at Katsumi's exclamation, Naruto smiled.

"Yeah, but he wasn't the only one…he was the only one who offered no explanation, but it doesn't matter, I tell you…" a little smile stretched across Naruto's face, "Anything else?"

"Sensei..." Katsumi's single spoken word came out with trembling voice, as the red haired kunoichi whispered, barely hearable, "Can I call you Oniisan?"

"No," Naruto's reply came with a light smile, seeing how Katsumi's face had become clouded with sadness.

"You can call me Oniichan," at that, the red haired eyes lit up like fire, as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Ano…what are we going to do tomorrow… Oniichan?" blushing at the term, the Senju mulled the thought for a moment, before replying.

"Well, I'll start guarding the bridge, and you'll start learning how to walk on water," with that, Katsumi showed a pout.

"But why? I mean, can't I learn medic ninjutsu or intimidation?"

"Katsumi, medic ninjutsu requires vast amounts of skill in chakra control, that you, I'm afraid, will never possess," at that, the girl's eyes looked at the ground, "and for intimidation…you realize that, in your case as a kunoichi, it should be *seduction*, right?"

With that, the Namikaze girl stuttered a gargled.

"W-W-What!?" her face turning a fierce crimson color.

"And I am not comfortable in teaching my Imouto about that, sorry," and just like that, Katsumi's eyes softened, as she hugged, in silence, Naruto's body.

"Now, now, why is it that you girls always cry?" the grey haired man muttered, gently patting on the girl's head.

"It's…it's the first time you called me Imouto…" she whispered.

Unknown to them, or well, unknown to Katsumi only, Hinata had been looking at the scene with her Byakugan active, biting down on her thumb's nail.

"_So you want to play the sister card, huh bitch!? I'll give it to you! Oh I'll spar your ass out of the equation, you can bet on it!"_

The next morning, Naruto was carefully walking towards the bridge, his Genin team, on tow, was silent. The morning air held a hazy fog that, however, wasn't bringing up happy memories to the three of them. Kiba's hands were still on a cast, but only as a precaution. Naruto had set the bones and healed them, but they still needed to be kept still.

The Genins would carefully learn how to water walk, while the Senju, on the bridge, would keep an eye out for potential troubles. Even in his state, he could pretty much defend himself…and his simple presence would keep away thugs and bandits.

From his upper level, Naruto barely repressed his chuckles, at the sight of his three adorable little Genins getting drenched in the freezing cold water… repeatedly, at least, most of the time. Hinata, being a Juken user, and a Hyuga, actually got it down in less than three tries. Meaning she left the next moment, leaving a drenched Inuzuka and a shivering Katsumi to continue, while the Hyuga reached for him, on the upper side of the bridge.

"Sensei, I've got it down!" Hinata exclaimed, with a cheerful grin, and just so casually with her fishnet shirt still wet, meaning it adhered to her form…her childish form.

"Good," Naruto replied, nodding slightly, before patting on the right shoulder-armor, a seal briefly glowing to reveal a half-tattered brownish book.

He handed it over to Hinata, who, being curious, went to read the title…trying her best to make the most cute and childish face she could come up with. She was going to become an Imouto, to hell with Katsumi and blood relations!

"Stabs and burns, volume one?" she queried, perplexed.

"Memorize it," the sensei replied, with a shrug of his shoulders, "It's the first thing a medic Nin learns, how to treat stabs and burns," he pointed out.

Carefully sitting next to her sensei, Hinata opened the first page of the book, seeing the neatly written name of Naruto Senju on the upper right side. This was Sensei's book. This book had been touched by the deftly nimble hands of sensei. Its pages had been in close contact with his piercing gaze, and he had muttered words with his hot breath upon…Hinata was a pervert. That much was sure. She did keep it hidden well, but some time, her fainting nature, her past one, had been the product of her perversions taking a vocal turn in her head. Now, with renewed force, it slammed upon her that she was sitting right next to her sensei, who was staring at Tazuna working, and that she could just…just fake a shiver to…maybe, just maybe, be held into his arms and…

Hinata's face turned bright red, as steam came out of her face, quickly warming her.

"Sen…Sensei?" the Hyuga muttered, once more receiving the single eyed gaze, the soft gaze, of her sensei.

"Yes, Hinata-chan?"

"Can…can I ask you…well, what happened during the battle?" at the question, Naruto's face turned a bit grim.

"Well…I was trapped in that water prison, so to free myself I had to freeze it and break through it. Doing so, Zabuza jumped backwards," the Senju began to gesticulate as he narrated, going on for at least a good thirty minutes, adding more and more details, until, in the end, he finished with, "…and then I think I heard someone saying *Two to zero*, but I was too wounded by pain to do anything about it…and I couldn't activate the Kyuubi's power, because it requires initial chakra to initiate, and there was this damn biting sword that had taken most of it away."

"Sensei…how is being a Jinchuuriki like?" unnoticed, or maybe simply left to its device, Hinata had managed to get really close to Naruto, in a kind of *nearly on his lap* thing. The only thing missing was her fake shiver.

"Well…for one thing, I am never alone in my thoughts, when the Kyuubi is awake, obviously," Naruto replied, with a light chuckle.

Especially when in his mind the Kyuubi was snoring loudly most of the time.

"Oh…so the Kyuubi is hearing us even now?" at that question, Naruto nodded, before replying.

"Yes, but let's just say she enjoys to sleep, a lot."

"She?" Hinata frowned at the information. There was a female fox in her sensei's head?

"She," Naruto replied, with a condescending tone, "and she's a heavy sleeper."

"Oh…" an embarrassing silence later, Hinata had her face buried into the book.

A couple of days later, just as the bridge had finally finished completion, Naruto Senju was watching with a sort of vivid interest at Katsumi beating down a couple of Gatou's thugs, with the use of a pair of metal knuckles. He had woken up to Kiba taking down to thugs, belonging to Gato. Two ronins ex-samurais, that had tried to take prisoner Tsunami and her son. Only for the Inuzuka to rush at their back and tear them apart, in the kitchen...resulting in a fainted Tsunami and a puking Inari. All while Naruto had perfect control of the situation and was about to push the two in a Genjutsu. Then he had been brought to admire the scene that was now bestowed upon his eyes.

He turned his inquiring gaze to Kiba, who was sheepishly standing next to him, while Hinata was on a rampage, near the other side of the bridge, with a group of thugs.

"Kiba?" Naruto queried, curious about the situation.

"Well, sensei, they kind of arrived here while you were with Tsunami-san, so the girls told me to bring you here, but only to watch…they're settling a score, or something like that," at the Inuzuka's reply, the Senju's eyes twitched lightly.

"And what are they counting as points?"

"It's one point for lethal takedown, two for non-lethal, and the one who kills Gatou gets fifty points, while his two body guards are worth twenty-five each," Kiba smoothly said, grabbing a pencil.

"Well, I suppose it's thirteen for Katsumi and twenty-four for Hinata, the Juken style is nasty in taking down opponents," and just like that, Naruto Senju watched as the battle for the bridge of the land of wave came to a strange and unpredictable end. With two girls battling for their secret crush or brother's respect, taking down thugs to their heart's content.

It was bloody, probably grime and utterly dark, but also…kind of normal, for their world.

"And you aren't joining because?" when Naruto asked that, he hadn't expected Kiba to whiten out.

"Oh no Aniki! I am *not* winning the right to get a kiss from you," with those words, it was Naruto's turn to whiten.

"I am *not* kissing them," the Senju pointed out, "Heck, I didn't even know they had this going on!"

Gatou, a guy in a business suit and a tie, stumbled straight in the middle of the two contestants, both keen on taking him out first.

The result was that the business man was first subjected to a conjoint kunai to the side and Juken strikes to the other side, and then his head was torn apart by both a wind jutsu and a palm strike from Hinata.

As blood covered the two *Valkyries*, more than Kunoichi, because truly, it had been a bloody slaughter, the two eyed each other, before snapping at the same time.

"Kiba! Who's got the kill!?"

The Inuzuka turned his pleading eyes to Naruto, who chuckling grimly, replied.

"It's not important. Good job everyone! We can pack up and leave!"

Later, upon stumbling on the corpses, Inari would yell that the Senju had actually done all those things to Gatou, like he had said. From that moment, the bridge was known as the Senju Great Bridge.

Better than Kiba's idea: "The Bloody Catfight."

*One week later - Konoha*

Senju Anko was pacing, nervously, along the kitchen's table sides. There had been no chameleon reports of sorts. So that meant that Naruto was alive. However, there had been no reports to begin with, meaning he was indisposed. Was he hurt? Was he harmed? Was he captured? It was a simply C-rank, right? Easy to do, right? It seemed strange, but between receiving those updates and not receiving them, she was now definitively moving towards wanting to receive them.

"Last C-rank he did…oh Kami no," she muttered, trying to repress the thought from her head. It wasn't that the world hated Naruto, was it? How could the world actually hate a single man that much? She was just being a bit paranoid and fatalistic, that was all there was. It clearly wasn't the fact that Karin had been going on a crying stroll after the lack of information on her precious father-figure. That girl was maybe a bit too attached, but she couldn't fault her. She too had latched on to the first father figure she had seen…and that one had used her and abandoned her.

"He's going to be fine," Anko whispered, "I'm sure he's fine," she added, before, slowly, getting to the secret compartment for the sake storage. It was empty.

"Darn it! I thought I bought some yesterday!" closing the lid, she resumed her quick pacing. Unknown to her, a camouflaged chameleon moved a bit to the side, within the compartment, to start chugging down on one of the many bottles he had been tasked to hide.

"I am not going to become like Kakashi," she pointed out, to the empty air of the kitchen, "moving all day to a cenotaph and stare at a name. No sir, I'm going to look for him, and that's…" and then, just then, the door of the house opened, to reveal a Naruto Senju covered in grime, his armor caked in dried blood, and one side of his face bandaged, as his left eye seemed to have been gouged out.

Anko froze on the spot, as Naruto, her Naruto, because he was *hers* and there were no mistakes on that part, no matter what some bitches of some fan club would say, turned his only eye, covered by his trademark sunglasses, to her.

The purple haired kunoichi had never seen such a degree of wound on his body. Usually he never had a scratch when he came back home. Couldn't he heal himself from anything, with but a simple syphoning of chakra? Couldn't he…repair all damage?

Why hadn't he, then, done so?

"Hey," he spoke, quietly, hesitating as the single word came out from his mouth.

Anko's eyes didn't become watery, no, well, maybe in the beginning, but then they became ablaze with fury.

"Just where the hell have you been, you kami be damned idiot!?" as she quickly reached for him, for the furred neckline of his armor, she pulled him into a quick, deep kiss, before staring at him, harshly.

"Well!? C-rank, huh? What happened? I want to know! You…" before Naruto could actually answer, the door of the kitchen had hastily opened again, and Karin, probably having sensed her father coming back, was already hugging him in tears.

"Otou-san!" Naruto's face cracked a little smile, as he gently hugged back the red haired girl.

"Karin-chan, weren't you supposed to have training?" Anko queried, her eyes darting to her de-facto daughter, who, sheepishly, stood behind her father.

"Ehm…I…Kind of…ran off?"

"You shouldn't have done that," the T&I interrogator replied, "And for that, you're now in punishment, young lady: off to the main house, with your aunt Shizune."

"But…But…Otou-san is wounded!" she retorted, her face pleading, "Shouldn't we get aunt Shizune here?"

"The wound has already been closed and healed…it's clean and safe," Naruto replied, "The armor might need to be cleaned, but we rushed to come back as fast as possible, and lack of depth was a big problem…hit more tree branches than ever, before getting it down."

"See? Now, you go off to aunt Shizune, and I take your father for a bit of…interrogation, on what he's been thinking for not warning me, and making me go on the edge of a nervous breakdown," at her words, Anko had already started pulling Naruto upstairs, before giving a final wink to Karin, "And no peaking on your parents, bad girl!"

So, as the two Senjus left behind their red haired daughter who had a fierce crimson blush on her face, they walked up the stairs, and towards their, obviously shared, bedroom, to have a private chat.

Naruto had barely removed his armor, with a tired sigh, that Anko had already pounced on him, throwing him on the bed.

Her fingers interlaced with his, as she made her tongue reach for his, in a sort of animalistic and growling kiss. That was when Naruto managed to push her to the side, and stand back to a seated position.

"Playing hard to get?" Anko's question was said with a coy grin, as she embraced him from the back, letting her face nuzzle against the back of his neck.

"I need a shower, Anko…and I'm tired," Naruto replied, wearily. His only eye looked at her with a glint of sadness and tiredness that did nothing but prove his point.

"Want me to wash your back?" the purple haired kunoichi wasn't going to let this go. Not a chance in hell.

"No…I'll be really quick," and with those words, he moved to enter the bathroom, from which noise of running water was soon heard.

Anko, instead, was gripping with her right hand the hem of the bed's sheets with frustration. There was something off, with Naruto. He wasn't in the mood, and that was even understandable, probably they bit off more than they could chew, really bad, and he had managed to save his team in the nick of time. At least…she hoped he had saved all of his team.

Maybe that was the reason?

"Stupid, stupid Anko," she muttered to herself. Maybe he *had* lost a Genin of his. Had it been the Inuzuka? Or the Hyuga? Or the Hokage's brat? The death of even one of them would have been a blow, coupled with a harsh political backslash. Albeit she was sure Naruto would have simply been destroyed…like he was just in that moment?

After a couple of minutes, the water stopped running, and Naruto came out once more. This time fresh bandages stood in place of the old ones, and as he lay down on his side of the bed, he didn't even give Anko a single word. He simply turned his back to her, and in mere moments, he was asleep. All that happened under the purple haired kunoichi's gaze, who stood shocked, and silent, through the entire movements of Naruto.

"K…Koibito?" she queried, or better yet, she whispered, her voice lightly worried, "Is…everything alright?"

He didn't move. Maybe he had some sort of complex about having lost an eye? It was still light outside, Karin was meant to be training, it wasn't dark, or night time, so there was no reason for him to be asleep like that, was there?

"Koi? Can you please tell me what's wrong?" she asked again, slowly moving closer to him on all fours, on the bed's surface, having already dropped her trench coat. Anko was just in her skirt and fishnet shirt, as she hesitantly touched Naruto's shoulder.

"Are you sick? Did something happen during the mission?" she tried once more.

"Please answer me…pretty please?" she tried, once more. She had never suffered from a cold shoulder, not from him. Every time she had any kind of problem, Naruto was always looking at her, straight in her eyes, and helping her out. He had never given her the shoulders. He had never turned his back on her. And now, sleeping, he was clearly ignoring her.

And that hurt. That hurt a lot.

"Was Hinata-chan wounded?" she asked, again.

And again, she received no reply.

"Answer me dammit!" she exclaimed, "Why are you ignoring me!? What happened!? Please…did Katsumi die? Was it the Inuzuka? Was someone wounded? Why are you like this!?"

And yet, once more, there were no replies.

"Did something happen with the Akatsuki?" Anko asked, repressing the urge to lash out at him. She could see his face remain calm and collected, even with her screaming at him, so it wouldn't work…or maybe it would, but soon, she would have no choice. She just wanted him to do something, anything.

"Why are you doing this to me…Naruto…Koi, what did I do?" slowly, Naruto sat up on the bed, his single eye looking straight at her, and there, there she stood silent, waiting for him to answer, to tell her what was wrong, why he was angry, or anything. Heck, even to call her whore or tell her that she had to leave because he had realized everything.

She could live with that, because in the end, she just had to speak with Danzo to make everything go away. She just needed to tell the man she loathed that everything was going down and he'd go and make it better. And she'd have her little perfect heaven back, without problems.

She could do that, she had already done that, and she just needed to do it again…it was only temporary, eventually he'd become Hokage, and she'd have no choice but be cast aside. But it would have been fine. Really, she could live with that.

"It hurts, to be ignored for a long time, right?" Naruto whispered, looking at her with his single eye, "It hurts even more when the attention you get is nothing but scorn and hate…so you latch on to anything, anything at all, that can give you safety. I admit, I did the same…with you," he added with a grim chuckle.

"Maybe it was because of that," he continued, "That I didn't realize that you actually never loved me."

"K-Koi…Wh…What are you saying? If this is a joke it isn't…" Anko's voice came out cracked, as Naruto single eye gazed into her, accusing her, and that…that was enough to make the purple haired kunoichi understand.

She had been discovered.

"You never loved me," the Senju pointed out, "You just wanted someplace to call home, someone to call love, but not because you loved them, no…because you knew it was normality for others, and you wanted it for yourself…how did it feel, to toy with me for all these years? How did it feel, to act like you loved me, when you actually didn't? What were you going to do? Plunge a kunai in my ribs if I went out of my way? Kill me if I ever went against Danzo? Was it fun, toying with my mind? Was it funny, forcing my kindness to pour out? Was it a game, to you? Only a game, were you had to make me believe you were the perfect wife, huh?"

Anko shook her head, tears rolling down her face. It hurt, but she just had to bear it. She just had to bear it all.

"Get out, Anko, get out, and never come back."

"I…I'm sorry," and with that, she was already running away, out of the door.

Anko was sorry, because she was selfish. Because now, she would be going straight to Danzo, and have him once more reapply his Genjutsus on her Koibito, because she loved him, and even if he would never actually love her back, at the very least…she could keep her heaven together a bit more. A day more, a month more, a year more, a decade more, she could manage twenty years, thirty, maybe even forty.

All for her heaven…she wouldn't lose it…not like that. Maybe she'd go and see…him, too, later on. Yeah, he could use her visit.

**Author's notes**

**Land of wave - check.**

**Anko's reveal - Double Check.**

**Fun facts:**

**This is going to be a recurring event, in the upcoming chapters. Kisame attacked Naruto and knocked him out, but Naruto didn't realize it was Kisame. This *is* intended. Meaning that eventually, Kisame will go "It's two to zero!" and Naruto will reply, "It's the second time we met!" excetera.**

**Yes, Itachi lied to the Akatsuki. He now knows who the kyuubi's half is, but isn't telling.**

**Zabuza and Haku are part of the Akatsuki too. (They're on a hiring roll)**

**Gatou was killed in the middle of a Catfight…poor guy.**

**Answering the obvious questions:**

"**Why is Naruto so idiotically revealing that to Anko, so that she can go to Danzo?" - You will see.**

"**Was it casual that Haku took away an eye from Naruto, while Naruto had just so randomly Shishui's other eye in his possession?"- …really do I need to answer this?**

"**What is Danzo's plan with Naruto?" - Though shall see.**

"**So, Katsumi's is a coward?" - when her jutsus fail, and she ends up in close quarters with strong opponents (thugs don't classify), she is. More than a coward…a half-coward?**

"**In the wave arc you forgot…" - listen, I don't care. The land of wave arc is the most used, abused, redone, piece of the Naruto verse. I actually *hate* the land of wave. It's the display of complete inability to teach that Kakashi displays that grates my nerves. You have a week time, and you only teach them to walk on trees…that isn't even used in the following battle. (heck, walking on water is used during the Vote battle! And it seems just a coincidence)**

"**Are you setting up a Harem route?" - No. I am not going to write harems.**

"**Where is Kuro?" - Forest of Death, said enough.**

"**Why is Itachi asking about Anko's favorite food?" - overuse of Genjutsus on a person can damage the memory capacity of an individual.**

**The Kotoamatsukami usage.**

**Narutopedia definition: **_**The technique itself allows the user to enter the opponent's mind and manipulate them by giving them false experiences, making it seem as if they were doing things of their own free will. It is regarded as a genjutsu of the highest class, due to the victim being entirely unaware that they are being manipulated. The technique doesn't require eye-contact, as seen by Danzo using it while keeping his bandages on.**_

**My definition: As the above, though it can be broken, as I theorized, seeing how Ao managed to realize that Danzo was using an eye jutsu with his byakugan, and having warned Mifune, the samurai leader realized it too. From there, I supposed that fake memories would *fight* against real ones, to decide who'd win and who wouldn't.**

**Final ps: Something bigger is coming around! Oh yes…just what is Anko's secret in T&I?**


	17. CD: Questioning

**Minor Character Death. Readers Beware! (No-one important)**

Chapter seventeenth

Kiba Inuzuka reached home, after the debriefing with the Hokage, with a slightly saddened mood. He was pretty sure he was going to receive another end of the stick, no matter if he did well, or if he survived battling an A-rank ninja, he would still be called down for something. That was why the loud and boisterous Inuzuka was, at home, quiet like no-one else knew. And why the boy usually loved to hang around his friends, or outside, or…anywhere that wasn't home.

As he opened the gates of the compound, he knew that there was no need to try and hide, to reach his room quietly. Probably Hana or his mother even, had already smelled him. If they hadn't, Kuromaru was probably going to warn his mother, or any of Hana's ninkens would. There was no point in hiding. Though Kuromaru was kind, he at least gave Kiba always enough time to reach for his room to unpack, usually, before warning Tsume.

Truthfully, he reached the door of the main house only for Hana to appear from the side of the building, from the direction of the kennels.

"So you're back," she spat out, eying him accusingly. More than hate, it was disgust. Possibly even envy. _He_ was still alive, while someone else wasn't. His father wasn't alive, and _he_ instead was.

"Yes," Kiba whispered, only to receive a harsh push to the side, as Hana entered the house, sending Kiba on the ground. For all of his training, Hana was a Chuunin, and she was naturally stronger than him…but that was an excuse. It was an excuse because Kiba didn't want to fight.

If he had resisted the push, or fought back, he was sure Hana would have been more than pleased to put him back in his place. Last time, he had slept in the freezing cold of a dog's cage for a night, and he had been barely six. He wasn't going to repeat the experiment, ever again.

He was fine with being ignored. He had Akamaru with him. The white furred puppy whined, saddened, as Kiba got back up, dusting himself off. It took the Inuzuka a moment, before deciding to enter, and start trekking upstairs, for his room.

The smell of alcohol hit his nostrils full force, and he instinctively _knew_ he shouldn't be there. He _knew_ he could just turn around and leave and maybe go to his sensei's compound. His teacher had offered him a room, a bed, even a house if he needed a place to crash for a while.

Then again, he had survived Zabuza. He could survive his drunken mother. He couldn't let sensei's training go to waste, could he?

He took careful steps inside, closing the door behind him. Nobody flung a kunai at him, so his mother wasn't in the mood for some target practice. It was fine. He slowly reached the top of the stairs, every step done as quietly as possible. He didn't know where Hana went, but it didn't matter. As long as they both hadn't decided that ambushing him would be a fun thing, he was bound to survive.

When she was sober, his mother could still be civil, at least a bit. Sometimes, during birthdays or official celebrations, she could even muster smiles, and in those times it was even okay to act a bit happy. But the dark side of the coin was that, when she was angry, or drunk, or both, because usually she was angry at not being drunk, and drunk while still being angry, it was bad, really bad, to be there. To be anywhere near her. The other clansmen knew that, of course, and obviously none of them lived in the main house. There were no servants, obviously the Inuzuka weren't stuck up as the Hyugas, but that also meant that more than once he had to go with what he could cook.

Hana was the heir, as the Inuzuka had no traditional patriarchy or matriarchy: it was simply a matter of strength. The strong was the alpha, the weak wasn't. Hana had more experience, more training, and was the oldest. She had three Ninkens, and was thus stronger than Kiba. This was a fact that she made sure to knock inside his head, repeatedly, during each and every spar, one that made it clear that he wasn't anything more than weak, anything more than the last of the clan.

He had been naïf, thinking he could manage to unpack. Tsume was drunk, and obviously, she had smelled him a long distance away. So it was obvious she would waiting for him in the place he was bound to go. His mother was there, sitting on his bed, an empty bottle of sake in her right hand. She looked at him with barely contained distaste.

"So the pup came back," she snarled. Kuromaru winced, from his spot in a corner of the room. The dog was old, and had been around for long. He was loyal to Tsume, but he was also kinder than her. The problem was that he had to follow orders, albeit he didn't like them, he had to.

"Tsume, the pup's tired from the journey," Kuromaru muttered, "Maybe you could train him later on."

"Nah, I want to hear the kid's C-rank," she replied, her eyes cold, as she stared at the boy that was still standing in the doorway.

"It…it went well," Kiba replied, dropping his backpack in another corner of the room, wincing slightly as he could see her gaze shift from him to the bag, and then back to him. There was no avoiding it. His mother would now remember _who_ gifted him the backpack, would then bring it upon herself to remember something happy about his father, and then…then she'd decide that training…

"Learnt anything new?" Tsume queried, her face now turning into a light scowl. This was the part when she remembered something that usually made her _angry_.

Kiba's eyes became dull, as for that question, there was no correct answer.

A yes would mean training, and a no would mean training.

"Yes," might as well try with saying something truthful, at least it might avoid him a further…training session.

"Then let's see you in action," and with that, Tsume Inuzuka stood up, walking straight out of his room, but not before grabbing him, tightly, by the wrist. Hana was in her room, since she didn't need to exit it to know what was going to happen. The training grounds, furthermore, were clearly visible from her spot. She was going to watch her mother beat the shit out of the small bastard. She was going to watch, and she was going to _enjoy_ it, because, afterwards, she was going to go down there too and give him her own dose. Then, maybe, she might rub some alcohol on his wounds, or salt if she felt like it. _Maybe_, if he at least made some nice crying sounds, she could feed Akamaru while he was unconscious.

Kiba, on his side of the brain, elaborated that this was basically a mean for his mother to actually _care_ for him. Subtly implying he needed training, and to be tougher, to survive whereas his father had not. At least…he _hoped_ that was the case. He hoped it, because there is no mother that _hates_ its child, right?

Akamaru had been silently dropped to the side. It wasn't because he couldn't fight with him: it was because he didn't want him to be harmed.

He was already going down, he knew it the moment Tsume barked a start and Kuromaru tried to leap and get to him first. The one eyed dog was the kindest, out of the two: he would take him down swiftly, with a minimum amount of bruises. The problem was that his mother was usually as fast as the dog, since they were partners and all, and she was far less kind.

At Tsume's roar of Tsuga, Kiba already knew this was one of those days where he wouldn't be sleeping, at all, peacefully. If he ever got to his bed…thankfully the next day was Sunday. He might sleep then, maybe.

The Inuzuka youngest jumped to the side, but it was useless. Instead of taking the blow to the chest, he took it to the side, because the Inuzuka matriarch was more than able to change trajectory in mid-air. Then, once she had latched on him, she would start the kicks and the punches. First to be hit was usually the chest, then the face, then the stomach. She would then throw him on the ground, and lock him in a choke hold. She wouldn't, however, keep the chokehold till the point where he passed out: she would stop, and then throw him across the ground. To charge at him once more.

Kiba did get up, did try to defend himself, and did try to at least get a punch in. But it was useless. Naruto's training, and sparring, was _hard_. However it was also meant for them to _learn_, to understand _why_, to _explain_ things. When he hit them, he didn't hold back on the power, but he held back on the speed. To make sure they saw what they did wrong, to make sure they'd learn how to avoid, dodge, parry.

"_Ninjas don't parry, Ninjas dodge. Ninjas don't stand their ground, they move. Ninjas are agile, fast, and quick. Speed is essential, but it isn't everything. There is always a basic principle: target the body, the mind or the technique of the enemy. What you have and what he lacks will determine the fighting ground. Fight the smart with brutish strength, fight the strong with quick wits, fight the trickster with endurance, but never lose focus: to defeat someone, is to best him. To best someone…it is to understand them, and find where they lack, to exploit it."_

His mother was fast. He couldn't beat her in speed. His mother was strong. He couldn't beat her in strength. His mother wasn't a tricky enemy. She overpowered foes, she killed foes, but she didn't trick. She went for straight lines.

Kiba, his sensei's word in the head, did the only thing that he could do, to at least _try_ and make her stop. He grabbed a Kunai with an explosive note attached to its handle. The next moment, the kunai was twisted out of his hand, by Tsume's quick Taijutsu maneuver. Another punch to the stomach, and Kiba lay on the ground, rolling to the side in pain as kicks rained down on him.

"_This_ is what you learned? Pathetic," Tsume growled, as Kuromaru watched the scene.

"No…" Kiba whispered, as blood trickled down his mouth, his face covered in bruises. Holding his right finger around the ninja wire, the small stream of chakra went straight through it, to the explosive note left at Tsume's feet, "This is what…I learned."

The Inuzuka's matriarch's eyes bulged in shock, as the thin metallic wire activated the explosive tag that shone for a second, before exploding with shrapnel of metallic pieces. Tsume did dodge it quickly, but the blast area was enough to give Kiba time to stand up once more.

"Pups shouldn't play with explosives," Tsume's words turned feral, as this time, she was on Kiba even faster than before.

"_This is going to hurt,"_ was all that Kiba managed to think, before he was forcefully beaten up, until he finally fell unconscious…glad that it was over, as darkness swallowed his mind, letting him rest. Letting him sleep, and finally, letting him escape the pain and the grief for a little while…at least, until he opened his eyes again. Because he would open them, there was no doubt that, no matter how much his mother tried to _worry_ about him, she wouldn't kill him…that had to mean _something_, right?

*Hinata*

She had finished her briefing, and was now standing in front of the elders of the clan, and her father. Her sister was standing sitting right next to her, and, even in her usual cold attitude, Hinata could see she was afraid.

Hanabi had always taken after their father, more than their mother. That had meant that, at least for a period, her little sister had been stronger than her. That had changed quickly, with Anko's help, and since then, Hanabi had no longer won a single spar.

Still, the fact that she was considered a prodigy, despite her age, had made the elders and Hiashi wait, before deciding whether to brand her with the caged seal or not. Now, however, Hanabi was without time. Hinata was sorry, for how it was going to be, but there was nothing she could do, to avoid it.

"Hinata, Hanabi," Hiashi spoke, quietly. The elders behind him, six in numbers, stood silent: their white harsh gazes settled on the two girls. Looking at them without a hint of emotion, without a shred of humanity, without the smallest of care…to them, it was just clan _tradition_. At the completion of the first C-rank, one became the main, and the other became a branch. The match was to decide who would become who, and then, one would become a _servant_, and the other would become an _heir_.

It was as simple as that, and there was nothing wrong with it. It was how the clan _worked_. It was how the Hyuga worked. It was how it was meant to be, since centuries before, since the birth of Konoha, since the birth of the shinobis, since…_always_.

"Today, we will hold a match among the two of you," Hiashi said, his voice not betraying an ounce of emotion, "after today, there will be no more doubts, no more stalling: one will become heir, the other will become servant."

Neither of the two girls spoke, albeit, out of the two, the one that displayed more emotions was Hanabi. She was biting, gently, her lower lip. She knew she was not going to win. She knew she was going to _lose_. She knew it…and yet, she couldn't give up the fickle hope that she wasn't going to lose. That maybe she was going to win.

She was the best, after all, right? Sure, she lost to Hinata, to her elder sister, but with her father's training, surely all that blood, sweat, and pain was going to pay off in the moment of need, _right_?

"You may now face each other," Hiashi spoke again, "Take ten steps away one from the other, and then, fight with the Juken, the style of the clan."

This could still be won, as Hinata hadn't kept her style pure: she had _mixed_ it, all because of her sensei. Now her love for that man was going to be her downfall. Hanabi had a chance. The seven years old girl had only that, to even the field.

Both girls slid into their fighting posture. Right hand forward, slightly closed into a crane-like form, right leg forward, left leg behind slightly bent. Then Hiashi gave the start.

It was all that was needed. The two girls charged at each other, but Hanabi misjudged the length of Hinata's steps. She was taller than her: obviously she had longer legs, and covered more distance. Her right hand reached for her neck. Out of all the points, that was the most easy to block, so Hanabi did that. It was then that she realized that Hinata had sidestepped to her side, and with her left arm extended, she could do nothing, when all the Tenketsu points in that arm were closed by quick hits.

Hinata hadn't broken the rules of the fight. The Juken style was about _how_ you hit the enemy, not about how you _moved_ to do so. The effect, however, was the same. Hanabi's left arm was now limp to her side, as her right did what it could, to block the incoming flurry of strikes.

The seven years old knew she was going to lose. She was sure of it. So, as Hinata's right palm thrust itself forward, to disable her by hitting her stomach's Tenketsu, the little girl smiled, and then _knelt_.

Instead of hitting the stomach, and to Hinata's shocked face, the blow hit the girl straight into the heart's chakra point.

The next moment, Hinata was staring, pale in her face, at Hanabi's fallen body, blood oozing out of the girl's mouth, falling on the tatami floor. It had been…so fast, so quick…nothing but a mere second, a mere second, and then Hanabi was _dead_.

Dead, killed by her…killed by her big sister, who didn't want to kill her, but who had killed her. She hadn't stopped her hand, she hadn't thought she would hit her heart, even if Hanabi knelt, she would have hit the sternum, the solar plexus, anything but…she had wanted to be hit there.

A Hyuga shouldn't display emotions, and nobody, in the room, did. Hiashi was silent, as he grabbed the _still_ and _limp_ and _cold_ and _dead_ body of her little sister, the one that she had to help growing up, because their mothers had died. The one that had always been the strict one, always their father's favorite, and who had chosen death, over serving her sister, and her father…over a life of servitude, a death in freedom was what Hanabi had chosen.

As Hinata's eyes turned from her father to the elders, none said anything. It wasn't uncommon: many who tasted freedom from the seal and grew up knew what it meant to be a servant, and thus chose death. It wasn't uncommon, and therefore no elder felt the need to even comment on it.

Their cold, monotonous voice simply rang the _truth_ of the matter to the heiress of the Hyuga clan.

"Well fought, Hinata Hyuga, heir of the Hyuga clan," and then, they stood up and left. Just like her father had done, even before hearing the verdict.

The Hyuga heir stood there, she stood there in silence, looking at the small puddle of blood on the tatami floor, on the floor where they had fought. On the floor where she had killed her little sister...where…where the blood was drying, even then.

Slowly, Hinata left the room, she had to leave the haunting presence that she felt, she had to go and sleep, sleep off the nightmare, and maybe wake up, the next morning, and go look for her baby sister. Maybe tell her of the strange dream she had made, maybe laugh a bit at how she was jinxing her. Maybe…maybe it was just a nightmare.

She hoped it was just a nightmare. She _pleaded_ Kami it was just a nightmare.

She closed the door of her room behind her, and then, her face buried on the mattress' surface, she wept tears she had promised never to let fall again.

In the lower levels of the Hyuga mansion, Hiashi looked at the still form of his daughter. One who belonged to the main family would be entombed with honors, but one who belonged to the branch family would be burned to ashes. As he gently stroked, lightly, like afraid of waking up the corpse, his saddened gaze went to the bloody lips of his youngest daughter.

He would never cry: he was the clan's head. His emotions were reined in, the deepest pits of his soul would hold his tears and cries, and externally, nothing would change. He knew, much like the elders did, that Hinata hadn't wanted to kill Hanabi.

Hanabi herself had chosen suicide over a life of servitude. His youngest had chosen death, instead of slavery. Who was he fooling, with his talk on necessity and need? Who cared for the Byakugan's secrets, when it was his daughter, that had died, and that now lay on a stone surface, ready to be thrown into the pits of the furnace?

He didn't. He no longer cared. If his brother's death had made him stop abusing of the branch family, his daughter's death had been the final blow in his mask of apathy. He wouldn't care. Let Kumo, Kiri, Iwa, Suna, Oto, Taki, Ame and any other hidden village big or small come for an eye. From that moment, he didn't care less for the clan's fate in the future.

In that moment, all he cared about was destroying the traditions, and saving the branch family…from their own family. Without a shred of emotion on his face, the inner vaults of the Hyuga's family opened for him, the wards, the seals and the guards didn't flinch, as Hiashi walked in. Nor did they care when he walked out, with the scrolls necessary for instructing the new heir of the clan.

It was _expected_ of him to do so. It was thus obvious, that a small, anonymous scroll would go unnoticed. A small scroll that, in the dark of the night, would find its way into a certain someone's hands…and with that, Hiashi would be fine with anything that would happen afterwards. He was going to pay for his crimes, for his actions and for how he had been an arrogant fool…but at least, he hoped Kami would be kind enough to grant him the chance, the slim chance, of seeing his youngest daughter, and wife, in heaven. At least once, that was all that he would ask.

*Katsumi*

Her father was _mad_ at her. She was sure of it. The mission had become an A-rank with reporting the fight with Zabuza and the two chuunins of the mist. They couldn't claim the S-rank without mentioning Itachi, and if they did mention Itachi, then Katsumi was sure that something bad would befall her. Or someone in Konoha that she knew of. She had no choice but accept the fact that her father was mad, both at her brother, and at her.

He was angry at her, especially, because, after all, he never displayed his anger to Naruto. Strangely, all he did was point out how it was _unorthodox_, but he didn't add anything else. The fact that the land of wave had agreed to pay the rest of the mission's money when they'd get the first incomes from the bridge in was just a part of it.

The _problem_, for Katsumi, was that also her mother was mad at her. That meant that she couldn't look at either of them for protection, or to defend from the ire's of the other parent.

At dinner, both looked at her with stern gazes, the cold blue eyes of her father were a mixture of sadness and anger, while her mother's face was covered with a light frown.

"So, why did you think it was a good idea, to go along on an A-rank mission, _while you were still a Genin_?"

"Because Tazuna-san needed us! The land of wave needed us!" Katsumi retorted, her eyes trying hard not to falter under the pressure of the conjoint gaze of her parents. Her hands clenched the cutlery, as her father's gaze was just…_icy_.

"You are a Genin. You should have understood your limits. A Chuunin would have come back, and would have warned the Hokage, who would have then spoken with Tazuna and struck a deal with him…_without risking the Genins' lives_."

"Sensei let us continue," Katsumi replied, only for Kushina to barge in.

"We taught you better than that! We taught you to think with your brain, not to let someone else think for you! Why the hell did you _think_ you could take on an A-rank!? Why did you insist on doing it!?" as the red haired woman hit with her fist the table, Katsumi cringed.

"We came back alive! We were strong enough!" the girl yelled back, grabbing what little excuses she could think of.

"You were lucky! Naruto lost an eye to protect you! He could have died, and then you would have been next!" Her mother's yell made Katsumi's eyes bulge in shock, before, with venom lacing every words, the kunoichi replied.

"What do you care about Oniichan? You abandoned him, threw him out, you two didn't even give him a chance! Then throw me out too! Come on! I'm being _disrespectful_, and I harbor the _Kyuubi_, _throw me out_! I'm waiting!"

Minato shook his head, taking a deep breath, to try and calm down. He had to speak with his daughter clearly, to make her understand just how stupid her actions had been.

"Listen, Katsumi-chan," Minato said, trying to keep his voice leveled and calm, "A Genin _acts_, a Chuunin _thinks_ and a Jounin _commands_, while the Hokage _leads_. By choosing to go along with the mission, without thinking of the consequences, you weren't displaying any Chuunin-like qualities. Many things could have gone wrong. Would you still be so vehement if Kiba had died? Or if Hinata had died? What if, instead, Naruto had died, and you three had survived? Would you have been able to face Anko-san, or Yumi-chan, or Tsunade, and tell them that it was because you and your teammates wanted to go forward, they lost a husband, a father, a son? Would you tell Neji that his sensei is dead because you insisted on doing the mission? Would you tell Sasuke that there will be no Itachi retrieval team, because its team leader died?"

Kushina stood quietly by her husband's side, as Katsumi's gaze turned down, on the table's surface, not knowing what to answer and thus silently admitting the truth of Minato's words.

"Now, young miss, you will explain why you did not pack everything that I gave you in the scrolls," Kushina retorted, "I did make myself clear you would need…" and with those words, the tension in the house diminished greatly.

*Naruto, the next day*

Naruto Senju smiled at his _perfect_ and _wonderful_ wife, in the kitchen, while preparing pancakes. The delicious yellow and round objects that were usually cooked in the morning by his hands were like eyes, accusing and bleeding red from the strawberry sauce poured generously on them.

He repressed the urge to wretch the nauseous feelings that Danzo had decided his brain would need to no longer doubt the purple haired Kunoichi, all while coming up with a way to avoid another session of ferocious love making. There was only one reason Naruto knew about what Danzo had done to him, and that reason had been the gamble that the Senju had put through.

He had hoped for Anko to show a minimum of decency, for her to accept it, and keep quiet about it. He would have understood then: he would have forgiven her, if she had shown that she was ready to accept her mistakes, and at least _try_ and see reason, _try_ and make amend. He would have been angry, but he knew what it meant to latch on to someone, and to be alone, and he would have understood...at least…with time he would have.

Now, however, his _darling_ wife held no excuses. She had chosen her side. She had decided to remove his freedom, to take his love with force…there was no way he could come to trust her again. So he smiled, he smiled as he served pancakes for breakfast, as he got a kiss to the cheek from her and his eldest daughter. He smiled as he waved goodbye to Anko, who went for her morning jog after a goodbye kiss on the lips, and then he did the same with Karin, albeit he was the one to initiate the kiss, and it was on the forehead, this time, as the red haired girl had a _date_ with Sai.

Who was just so casually one of Danzo's associates, he'd recognize the chakra signature anywhere…now that he could actually remember it properly. What Danzo didn't know, however, was that Karin was outright vicious with people who lied to her. Probably a quirk she had taken from him. He was sure that Karin knew that Sai didn't actually love her, or even like her, and because of that, she was going to exploit the poor Root member to his full wallet capacities.

Not that she knew Sai belonged to Root, or his real reasons, but Naruto did, and for that, he was more than willing to let such _viciousness_ go unpunished. It was divine retribution, after all.

Still, when the house was finally empty, Naruto's hand moved to his left bandaged side of the face, where Shishui's sharingan stood, hidden to all views thanks to a set of ink seals that made his bandage Byakugan proof. Its powers, however, were something Naruto wasn't going to use.

The chakra cost of the thing was horrendous. It was a draining black hole of chakra that nearly rivaled his activation of the Kyuubi's powers. However, it had a passive ability, one that was probably there only because it was shared with the other eye. Whenever Danzo activated his own Mangekyou sharingan, to use Kotoamatsukami, the other eye reacted to it: annulling its effects.

He was immune to the subtle ability of the eye, but better yet, he knew what the effects were meant to be. Like the two eyes were in synch, he could distinctly feel and hear what Danzo would have wanted _him_ to do, and then he could act upon them.

Meaning that Danzo felt safe, having him at his leash, once more…but in truth, Naruto Senju was free and slowly boiling his anger, letting it steam until the point would come were he would let it out. The fireworks of that day would be nothing more than a pale moonlight, by the time he was finished.

The Chuunin exams would be the pivotal point. Till then, being it a Sunday morning, he decided to head out for a walk through the city. Konoha seemed to be bustling with activity, foreign shinobis of various villages were coming in for the aforementioned chuunin exams, ready to battle and fight for graduation. Out of hundreds, and hundreds, only nine or less would reach the finals, and of those, only a couple would graduate. The exams were held on a rotation of six months throughout the entirety of the elemental countries, and now was, once more, Konoha's turn to host them.

As he made his way to where Mai's fruit stall was, he couldn't help but see a brief flash of pink blur past him, followed by a murderous blond flash.

"Sakura-forehead!" the howl came from an enraged Ino, just before the yelled at Sakura turned the corner.

"Ino-pig!" with that snappish remark, Ino renewed her chase, disappearing behind the same building.

Naruto sighed, shaking gently his head, while putting up a small smile, and heading for the fruit. He had a list that he obviously wasn't going to follow, and then Mai would insist on it, and he'd have to give it to her. And that routine would never grow old, because he had been instructed by Danzo to do it: if he didn't, then it was time to reapply the Kotoamatsukami.

Mai was a Root member, it was kind of funny, seeing the woman asking _casual_ questions, and receiving _casual_ answers. All just to make sure his leash was still on. He kept the smile on his face, as he headed towards Maito Gai's team's training ground, where he was sure he'd find Neji training. He had to speak with the boy.

It was funny, but in trying his own plan, Danzo had inadvertently helped the branch family Hyuga more than he could imagine. The Fuinjutsu lessons with the Yami of shinobi had been invaluable, as the Futon lessons too had brought him to new heights.

He had to be a trained pet, after all, and he couldn't let down the darkness, when the right time would come. However, Naruto Senju was no longer a dog, a faithful servant of the Yami of Shinobis, no, Naruto Senju was going to make everyone pay, and come out at the top, as it was meant to be…and as it was going to be.

Neji was sparring with Lee, by the time Naruto arrived. Even on Sundays, both were going at it with renewed strength. Hiashi would have probably gouged his own eyes out, rather than see Neji fighting in something else than the Juken style, and yet, there the boy was.

The Strong Fist Taijutsu style of Maito Gai, the very same he had taught Lee, was also incorporated into Neji's own fighting, for the simple reason that it was _useful_, because sometimes, you need to break a bone instead of cutting down the chakra. Any Hyuga would have refuted the notion. Any Hyuga would have claimed it impossible that a paralyzed through Juken arm was worse than a broken arm…and they'd be wrong.

A paralyzed arm gives no pain. It simply stops, ceasing to send pain signals to the brain. A broken arm instead does, and keeps doing it until it is healed. A paralyzed arm does not leave limps, or stubs, it does not require excessive care to repair. A broken arm might be removed, and it might remove a shinobi permanently from a battlefield.

Neji knew this, because someone had taught him this. And that someone was now smiling at the Hyuga boy, who had stopped sparring to turn around and smile back, bowing gently his head in his direction.

The action was mimicked by Lee himself, albeit a bit more loudly.

"Yosh! The fire of youth burns brightly on us today Neji-kun!" As the green spandex clad boy yelled that to the sky, Neji twitched just so slightly his left eyebrow, before turning his slightly worried gaze to Naruto, and to his wound.

"Sensei, forgive Lee-kun's yelling…I can't seem to find his volume control," with that remark, the Senju's clan's head sported an amused grin, before turning to face Lee.

"Well, it's good to see you both training seriously for the chuunin exams, I'm still debating whether to enter my team or not," actually, Naruto was keen on letting them enter, he was sure they'd do great, but he still had to make the final preparations for it.

"Gai-sensei said we needed an entire year to just be sure to pass," Lee replied, "I am not comparing teaching methods, Senju-san, but are you sure your team is up to it?"

"Obviously sensei is sure!" Neji replied in a snap, "Whether he wants them to participate or not," he hastily added.

Naruto chuckled, before closing his only eye for a second, and then gesturing for Neji to come closer.

"Lee-kun, I'm sorry, but I'll have to steal your sparring partner for the day…is it fine with you?" as the green spandex clad boy smiled, and nodded, even going as far as showing his right hand with the thumb upward, and the creepy smile of his sensei, Naruto turned to leave, Neji in tow.

"Sensei, where are we going?" the Hyuga asked, perplexed. Naruto didn't answer, instead, he raised his right index finger, and simply touched Neji's forehead. In silence, without another word…Neji's eyes bulged in shock, his lip trembled, and then the Senju, yes, the Senju, nodded once.

There were no other questions asked, or answers to give…there was no need.

Neji's thoughts were in disarray, trying to come up with possible reasons for that gesture that weren't going to burn his hopes. Sure, sensei had told him he'd find a way to remove the caged seal. Sure, sensei wasn't like a lot of other people, who pitied him and then went on…sensei _acted_. Neji knew his sensei would have, eventually, found a way through. He trusted Naruto, he trusted him with his life, and had his sensei told him to throw a dung bomb at Hiashi's head…Neji would have done it, with glee.

So, in that precise moment, he was just trying, trying to come up with what that gesture had meant that couldn't possibly mean precisely that…it couldn't be…his sensei would have needed the seal's arrays: it would have needed…a lot of things hidden away and stored into the secret vaults deep within the Hyuga's compound. How could his sensei have found a way around all of that? How could…silently following him, he realized that Naruto wasn't heading towards his compound, or towards the outside of Konoha…but to training ground Three.

To the river of training ground three to be more precise.

"Sensei?" Neji queried, perplexed, as Naruto simply gestured for him to water walk to the middle of the river, and then sit down, on the water's surface.

Moments later, two Bunshins took the place of Neji and Naruto, as the Hyuga found himself being dragged beneath the water level, quickly and efficiently, and through a hidden seal array deeply camouflaged like a circle of rocks in the middle of the river's bed.

In the murky and dirty water, it would have been impossible to spot otherwise. One had to know it was there…and one had to have a Suiton user with him, because the seal dropped them along a narrow tunnel, completely submerged by water.

Naruto did but a hand sign, and the water around them parted, granting them the chance to breathe, albeit it also made Neji think…just where the hell were they, now?

"Neji, this is the guest entrance to Tobirama's secret laboratory…" Naruto whispered, "I trust you with this secret, and I hope you understand why you must never tell anyone else about it," he added, carefully taking a couple of steps forward, with Neji in tow.

"Hai Sensei…can we talk now?" at the Hyuga's question, Naruto nodded, letting the boy take out all of his worries now was better…he'd freak out, later on.

"Sensei…are you going to…" at the question, that hanged in the back of Neji's throat, the grey haired man replied with a low murmur.

"Yes, Neji…the caged bird seal…I've finished the removal process," it was all that the Hyuga needed to hear, as he nearly stumbled and fell on the ground from the shock. The caged bird seal was going to be removed…he was going to be _free_. His family was going to be free: the branch family was going to be free from that seal…but…

"Sensei, what about the main family?" at the question, Naruto replied in a whisper.

"They won't know…not until the Chuunin exams…listen Neji, this is important: during the chuunin exams, the main family goes to the arena, but the branch family doesn't, because they have to keep an eye out on the compound. So, during that time, I will start the removal process over the rest of your family…but till then, you must not reveal the seal's removal..." with the final words, he reached the end of the narrow tunnel, that indeed emerged in the place where Tobirama trained the Body.

The hidden waterfall, after all, needed to have water taken from somewhere.

He jumped on the stone ledger, soon to be followed by Neji, who was thinking over the entire ordeal.

"But if I start hiding my forehead, Hiashi is bound to ask me questions," the boy spoke, looking with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension around, taking in the sight of the polished stone, and the laboratory, where scrolls upon scrolls lay everywhere, a lot of which had drawings that resembled the caged bird seal.

There was also a small vase, with a foul green looking liquid, the lid open, but empty of contents.

"That is why we'll have to apply a temporary fake seal," Naruto replied, "It will be identical to the caged bird variant, but instead of pain, it will just…pinch your nose. You'll have to react to that, if someone of the elders tries using it on you…again," the light growling tone of the Senju made Neji wince.

He had been there, when his sensei had literally toyed with the offending main family Hyuga, and the father of said Hyuga…it hadn't been pretty, and it had delivered a clear message. Even at present, none of the main branch disturbed him at all: they enjoyed living.

"I understand…but what about afterwards?" to that, Naruto grinned, showing a single slip of paper, to Neji.

"This is the plan, Neji…" but then, the Senju's face turned serious, as he sighed.

"There is only one problem, however," and with that, the boy's mouth, that was already like a perfect *o*, turned serious once more, staring at his sensei with a mixture of worry and nervousness.

"The only way to keep your eyes…is for you to willingly pluck them out, so that the seal doesn't activate by default when it's removed…I know it's…"

"Sensei," Neji whispered, holding the paper with his hands, "You are giving me freedom, and more than anyone has ever given me, pain is nothing, compared to that…" With those words, Neji's eyes shone with determination, as he decided that, no matter what, freedom was worthy of any cost that had to be paid for it.

"Then let's get started, Neji, we have a lot of things to do, and we have little time."

That night, when Neji Hyuga stepped back into the compound, he was the same serious boy that the guards were used to. Within the depth of his soul, however, he was dancing and yelling out loud how the Hyuga main family would burn to ashes, and how the elders would be tortured and killed in a celebration of gore and blood…because now, for the first time since the age of three…he was _free_.

However, at the same time, Neji came to the startling realization that everyone, in the compound, was dressed in black. Perplexed, he was quickly shoved by one of the branch family members into a house, and looking at the man, Ko, he couldn't help but voice his question.

"What's going on, Ko-san?" he whispered, carefully, watching as the man quickly went to the clothing racks, to take out a black Kimono.

"Last night, Hinata-sama defeated in a spar Hanabi," with those words, Neji understood pretty well what had happened. Hanabi no longer had a suffix attached: she now was a member of the branch family.

"Did she commit suicide?" as the Hyuga boy asked that, the older one nodded, handing the black clothing to Neji, who took it and began changing.

"Yes, during the spar, Hanabi decided to move in order to take damage directly to the heart: she died then."

As the words sunk in, Neji's eyes widened. If it had happened the night before, then nobody would have known till the morning afterwards, and he had left the compound early, to train with Lee. Then he had spent the entire afternoon in a light anesthetic daze, and thus had no way of knowing this…but then…neither had sensei, because he had spent the day with him.

Meaning that he had yet to know, and that he was probably being informed only then of it.

Truthfully, Naruto Senju had just faked having come back from the training grounds, when he saw the saddened expression of Anko, waiting for him in the kitchen, a bottle of sake in her hand. Obviously, the bottle was empty. What startled Naruto was that the woman seemed to be dressed in a black kimono, the one normally used for funerals.

"Anko?" the purple haired kunoichi raised her head, at hearing her name being called, and looking at Naruto, decided to throw the bottle at him, before standing up. Truthfully, her aim hadn't faltered, and while Naruto did try to catch it, the still fresh lack of perception didn't make it any easier…especially since Anko could hit him, from afar, even when he had both eyes to help. Heck, even with two sharingans, he was sure Anko would still manage to hit him.

"Where. Have. You. Been." She hissed, moving closer to him, her eyes, her light hazel eyes once more ablaze with fury.

"I was training with Neji in chakra control, we were at training ground three," Naruto replied, since a half-truth wasn't a lie. It was just a withdrawal of complete information.

"If you had been there, I would have known. Karin couldn't find you in Konoha, I had her look," Anko's light brown eyes locked on him, with a sort of…jealousy? Anko was jealous.

"Not with this," the senju's head replied, pointing at a seal on his left gauntlet, "I use it to hide my chakra signature, didn't want to be disturbed while training Neji," he added.

"There were Hyugas looking for you around town, how could they miss you, huh?" the Kunoichi retorted, getting even closer, her face bare inches away from his.

"Training ground three has a river. Chakra control exercises of higher level had us submerge ourselves in the water. They probably couldn't see us because the Byakugan's vision is a dome, and not a sphere," Naruto retorted.

Anko bit her lower lip in frustration. She was so damn sure he was hiding something from her that it wasn't even funny. However, she couldn't call him out on it. What if he had a lover? But then, who? And when would he have had the time to make one? He no longer even went to the ramen stall, where that Ayame-bitch was, unless there were his Genins, or she was with him. It could be he found one during his missions, outside of Konoha, but still…Anko clenched her fists tightly, before letting them relax, and, with a little sigh, grabbed Naruto's sides of the face, to give him a light kiss on the lips.

"Koibito, you scared me. I'd like to know where you are, always…but still, something happened at the Hyuga's mansion, and…well, you missed the funeral," as she pointed that out, she grabbed onto his chest like it was her sole anchor of life, even though there was a plate mail in between.

"Funeral? Who died?" Naruto queried, perplexed, as he grabbed with his hands Anko's shoulders.

"Hanabi, she was Hinata's younger sister, and…" as Anko trailed off, letting her head rest on Naruto's shoulder, the man encompassed her into a light hug, while his mind realized the reason he had finally broken through the caged bird seal.

_It had been in the night that a hawk had decided to visit Naruto's kitchen. Actually, if Naruto hadn't been a night person concerning Tobirama's laboratory, he would probably have missed him till the morning, but since he was, indeed, a night person, he actually found him when he went for a midnight snack. The Hawk held a seemingly anonymous scroll onto his right claw, and there were no messages attached to it, nothing at all. Only, the Hawk waited patiently for Naruto to grab the scroll, before disappearing into the night. _

_Unrolling the scroll, the Senju took a moment to catch his breath, before turning his only eye right and left. It couldn't be. Yet there it was: the procedure for implanting a caged bird seal onto someone…did Danzo manage to steal it? It didn't matter then. With this, and if he worked the night, he could manage to reverse the procedure, and free Neji…and the rest of his family._

"Anyway, I covered for you…but Hinata took it with stride, at least, for how much stride you can put in being the killer of your own sister…" the purple haired Kunoichi kept quiet afterwards, basking in that hug that made her feel warm and safe. It didn't matter if it was due to him being controlled. It didn't matter at all, she loved him, and he had to love her back. The rest didn't matter.

They were meant to be together, and to have children together, and to age together. Maybe, if Danzo died, she could get ahold of that eye of his. Then even as a Hokage, he'd still be hers. Unwillingly, she slowly let go of the hug, to whisper.

"This won't happen, ever, with our children, right? We'll do our best and make sure none of them have to suffer through that, right?" another kiss on his lips, and she was pulling him upstairs.

"Anko…I have to meet with my team tomorrow," Naruto whispered, as his armor came off in their room, "And I need a shower."

"Kukuku…let's shower together then!" with a sort of diabolical smile, Anko pushed him in the bathroom, from which the two emerged thirty minutes later, and not because the water didn't turn warm fast enough. Then, as expected, Anko crawled straight into Naruto's arms, as they both lay asleep in each other's warmth…until the Senju's head was asleep. Then, just then, Anko woke up once more, and left the room.

Naruto's single eye opened with a light snap…where was she going, this late at night? He had never realized it, because, usually, he was too much indoctrinated into sleeping to make any sense of it, and usually when he wasn't, he was in his laboratory, working on the caged bird seal. However, as he started thinking about it, it was strange. He always worked on it from ten o'clock in the afternoon to one in the morning, and then he went to bed once more. It was…a mechanical thing.

He mentally cursed himself. It was obvious that it had been programmed into him, to take his mind away from Anko's nightly strolls. Was that the time when she went to report to Danzo? The only way to know would be tomorrow. When Danzo would come to see why he hadn't fallen into his Fuinjutsu routine.

And that time, he would need an answer.

*The Next Day*

Naruto looked at his _adorable_ and _perfect_ wife, as he prepared breakfast, once more. This time, it was scrambled eggs. Yumi held an apple within her tiny hands, and didn't seem intent on letting it go. Who had given her the apple, was probably clear. Karin couldn't resist the little girl's demands on apples. Actually, the only one who could resist such an adorable pout was Anko, and even she had limits.

"So, are you going to speak with Hinata?" Anko whispered, as he passed near her, heading for the coffee machine.

"I don't know," Naruto replied, "I'll probably go at the Hokage's tower, see if she's there or not with the rest of the team, then we'll decide."

"Got it…listen," the purple haired woman let her right hand gently fall on Naruto's own, on the counter of the kitchen, "If there's anything wrong, you know you can tell me."

Naruto stared at Anko with his only eye, perplexed, and doing his best to rein in his anger. Yelling at her that she was the thing wrong wasn't going to help him, at all.

"Nothing is wrong…I just have to try and convince one of my students that she didn't kill her little sister intentionally, and that she'll probably need some time with someone who isn't a cold cube of ice, like most Hyugas are…I have a lot in my mind at the moment, my sweet dango," as he said that, he gently gave the purple haired Kunoichi a kiss on the forehead, which did give him the desired result of her not pressing the argument any longer.

Albeit it also made Yumi-chan exclaim a Yuck! Of disgust. Karin, on the other hand, simply blushed.

"Otou-san," the red haired girl spoke, "I think Sai-kun is hiding something," she added.

"Hm?" Naruto replied, raising an eyebrow, "Well, then you should bring him over for dinner," he exclaimed, a light grin on his face, "And we can interrogate him! Right Anko?"

"Oh…breaking down a possible boyfriend for our little Apple-chan? I'm in!" Anko exclaimed with a wide grin.

"Kaa-san!" Karin's blush intensified, if only because she felt offended.

"Boyfriend?" Yumi queried, "Boys give cooties!"

"Nah, that's a…" as Anko was about to say something, Naruto had already blocked her mouth with his own hand, eying her pretty badly.

"Let her believe in that, dear," and that actually closed the discussion.

After breakfast, Naruto walked straight to the Hokage's tower, where he actually found Katsumi and Kiba standing there, their faces displaying sorrow. The Senju's walk slowed down, as he stopped, in silence, in front of the two.

"Sensei, why weren't you at the funeral yesterday?" Kiba queried, looking at the grey haired man who could do nothing but sheepishly scratch the back of his head. The Inuzuka had managed to go, on Sunday's afternoon, even if he had been limping a bit.

"I was training with Neji, and we lost track of time…by the time we finished, it was already late at night, how is Hinata-chan doing?" as Naruto brought up his excuse, Katsumi's eyes were down on the ground, staring at the dirt.

"She's destroyed, but she doesn't act like that…she…"

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Namikaze-san," Hinata snapped, appearing from an alleyway, from which she had probably been hearing the entire conversation. She looked…cold. Bitchy, even, and as she walked closer to the group she resembled far more a Hyuga than she once did. Albeit she still kept the fishnet shirt and the jacket.

"Senju-sensei," Hinata muttered, "I understand your reason for not making it in time," she commented, her white eyes showing a twinge of harshness that was so uncommon in the girl, just barely a day before.

"Hinata…" as Naruto tried to say something the Hyuga heiress shook her head.

"There is no need to pity me. Hanabi was weak and chose the easy way out. Let us take our usual D-rank mission, and let us make haste to train," even Kiba winced at the tone used, it was so much like his older sister's one that it wasn't even funny.

"Before that, actually," at that, Naruto took out from within one of his seals on his armor three slips of paper, "first, these here are the admission forms for the Chuunin exam. I have decided to have you all participate in it."

Three nods were all that came back to him, and Naruto couldn't help but hide the secret ache in his heart. Genins rarely killed, chuunins would kill far more. Chuunins got the assassination missions, that much, he was sure. He kind of wondered, looking with his only eye at the three figures in front of him, the three children, already with their hands covered in blood and their souls torn, if such a scene would ever happen again in his lifetime. Maybe with the next Genin team? Maybe with yet another group? His trail of thoughts was interrupted when a hand prepared to strike at him from his blind side, only for him to parry the hit, and then sidestep to avoid the kick that follow, soaring in the air.

Sasuke landed on the ground with barely a noise, looking with a mixture of perplexity and worry at Naruto, whose only eye had seemed distant, and lost in thoughts. Meaning he had taken the chance to attack.

Behind him, his two kunoichi teammates and his sensei, Kakashi, were meanwhile arriving.

"Sasuke-kun," Ino exclaimed, "You shouldn't be fighting first thing in the morning!" While after a brief chat with Kakashi, Ino had toned down her fan-like behavior, that hadn't meant that she had stopped fawning over him. In a distinctly more bossy-wife behavior, that, to Sasuke, was starting to make regret the lack of fan-fawning.

The Pink-haired girl, Sakura, had instead outright become vicious with her sensei, but that hadn't stopped her from learning anything she could from the silver haired Jounin in question.

"Senju-san," Sakura was the polite one of the team, as she showed it off by making a light bowing gesture, "Hinata-chan…I heard…I offer my condolence," as Ino and Sasuke did the same, Kakashi simply moved next to Naruto, while the two Genin teams spoke to one another.

"So, is everything alright?"

"Just decided to give the application forms to my students, then I'll give them the afternoon off, since we have the meeting to nominate our teams for the Chuunin exams," as he pointed that out, Kakashi looked over his own team.

"Are you sure about it?" at Kakashi's question, Naruto merely scoffed.

"Obviously, I was even younger than them when I became a chuunin," he pointed out, only to have Kakashi eye-smile back to him.

"You also had a different team, you know?"

"Yes…" as Naruto's face turned sad, Kakashi didn't press the argument, instead changing subject quickly.

"Well, we shouldn't let our young little Genins wait, should we?" and with a nod, both teams and their respective senseis headed off to take a mission.

Which went well enough, at least, as Naruto's mission concerned, quite frankly, of helping some stall vendors relocate their stalls because of the incoming Chuunin exams, meaning that some roads had to be cleared up, to ease passage of large crowds.

During the moving of a particular large stall, Hinata stopped, staring with a little worried expression around, before turning on her heels, and heading straight for Naruto.

The Senju looked at the Hyuga reach for him, and that made him stop, for a moment, as the dark blue haired girl was clenching her fists and biting her lower lip.

"Sensei," she muttered, her pale white eyes looking at him, "I…I'm not…Well…I-I…" she stuttered, but bit down, even more harshly, on her already bleeding lips.

Naruto simply let his right hand drop gently on her left shoulder, looking at her with his only eye, in an understanding tone.

"You killed your sister." Four words, four simple words said in a condescending tone that held no hate, anger or spite. It was like stating a fact, like mentioning something heard somewhere in a bar, like reading the newspaper for the morning bulletin. It was cold, harsh, and true. Every single one of those words was true, and weathered on her like a battering ram, especially because of the man who had spoken them.

She had thought he'd understand. She had thought he would…

"I…I…" she wanted to run away, but she couldn't, because that hand held her there, firmly.

"You killed your sister, Hinata," he said, once more looking at her with his single eye, hidden behind his sunglasses, "No words will change that. No actions will change that. She is dead. She will remain dead. She will no longer breathe, laugh, cry or talk. You took it all away from her. You took everything she could have given to Konoha, to the world, and for that…nothing will change," Naruto whispered, his voice only then turning sad.

"W…Wh…Why?" Hinata didn't realize that tears were already running down her cheeks, tears that she had been told not to let fall down, tears that she shouldn't have left to fall down.

"Because, Hinata, tomorrow the sun will rise, the baker will bake bread, the shinobi of Iwa will walk upon the rocky path of Iwagakure's stairs to take a mission from his Tsuchikage, the Kyuubi will snore, the leaves will move because of the wind's breeze, the ground will dry, the water will be drank, the food eaten, the clouds will move unfazed and nothing, nothing at all, will change. Death is nothing, compared to life." Quoting Tobirama was something Naruto had promised himself to do…with the necessary cuts.

"_The Edo Tensei has been my greatest creation, my greatest achievement, my defiance of death itself. And yet, with the chance of living forever, for all that is needed is but the hand sign to refute it, to live forever, in a chakra regenerating cocoon made of dirt and flesh of another living being, I will never use it. This could be the true ascension of the shinobi world. An immortal juggernaut of strength, with infinite chakra capacity, that could be the future of the elemental countries…yet Death will never win over life. It is in the nature of life to rot, it is in its nature to die, to fall on the harsh ground and lay there, to have the flesh dry up as water leaves and never comes back. However, no matter how strong death may look, in the end, death loses to life._

_The sun will rise for another day, the baker will bake the bread as always, the shinobi from Iwa will walk upon the rocks of that country filled with hard-headed baboons and take a mission from that Kami be damned cretin, the Kyuubi will still be in Mito-san, or end up in someone else, maybe, it depends on the chance of having a kid ready for the deal, one might think it's strange, but really, where do you find kiddies ready for certain things, it's not like you grow them on trees! Hashirama should have invented a Jutsu like that, a Generate-Jinchuuriki machine. Wait, he actually did that. He trapped the Bijuus, transferred them into kids, and handed the kids off to other countries. His thought was really well thought, oh yes: Hey guys! Superweapons for everyone! Take your time! Everyone gets one! As long as total annihilation is guaranteed, no wars can come out! Yeah, anyway, as I was saying…life will always win over death._

_Live with it._

_Ah! I feel the burn of the pun scorching you! But do not worry, for as I was saying, the Edo Tensei is my greatest creation…but not the strongest one. The strongest one isn't mastery over death… No, it's mastery over life itself."_

"So I shouldn't care? I shouldn't cry?" Hinata's question was met with a shook of Naruto's head, who replied.

"You should do…what you decide to do. Not what others deem you have to, Anko should have taught you to think for yourself, right?" Naruto ruffled the girl's hair, before turning his gaze to the sky, "So do what you think is right, do what you know is right, cry if you think it's worth it, laugh if you think you want to, and never, ever, feel the need to excuse your actions to me, I trust your judgment, Hinata. I know you're a kind soul, so…live, and trump death at every hour, every minute, every second of your life…think of it as revenge, for taking away your sister…live for her too."

For a mere moment, Hinata didn't speak. She didn't even breathe. For a mere moment, time stilled, and Naruto Senju stood there, his gaze, even if hidden behind his shades, was kind of…there. Was that what being in front of the second Hokage would have been like? Was that…she didn't know. She just felt the need to nod, and go back to work. She had come to get herself excused from her duties, because she wanted to go and cry in a corner, to hide her pain from the world…and now, now she just wanted to get the job done, go and eat some dango, get smashed because she could get smashed, flick the bird at the elders and then go. Just…_Go_, and do what _she_ wanted to do. What she knew was right to do. So she'd probably end up sexually molesting her teacher.

But he had said he trusted her, right? So…with a light and devious smile on her face, Hinata walked far more confidently than before straight back to her task.

While Katsumi, who had heard the entire thing from a corner, silently nodded to herself…she too knew what had to be done. What was the right thing to do…her father had told her, hadn't he?

A Genin _acts_.

A Chuunin _thinks_.

A Jounin _commands_.

A Kage _leads_.

A Katsumi…follows her heart.

The Chuunin exams would be during the first day of August, meaning they did have a little over two weeks of time to prepare. In that period of time, Katsumi had to do a complete turnaround, if, at least, she wanted to help her teammates, and not hinder them.

She had a feeling that Kiba would be doing well, probably nagging at Naruto to train him even more. Hinata would follow too, and thus…she came up with an idea. A really intelligent idea.

So, as Naruto Senju stood happily in his compound, cleaning some of the empty houses, because he had a _hunch_ he would need them ready soon, he wasn't surprised when Danzo, of all people, came straight for him.

The Yami of Shinobi didn't run, obviously, nor accelerate his footsteps. Instead, he simply walked, calmly. Hidden from view was obviously his escort, more than four Root shinobis, all following in quiet silence and emotionless behavior their supreme leader: a pity they were still human, and water was within their bodies.

Naruto's gaze turned back to Danzo, with a light smile.

"Danzo-san," his salute received a light smile back, as the Yami of Shinobis did pretty much the same.

"Naruto-san, we should speak of business," at the elder man's words, Naruto merely nodded, before tracing with his blood a light seal on the side of the wall.

Briefly, it flickered with chakra, before Naruto turned to Danzo, and replied in a more somber tone.

"Nobody can hear us now, Danzo-san," as soon as he said that, Shimura's voice turned a couple of degrees colder, and sterner.

"How does the Fuinjutsu proceed?" the question, that Naruto obviously was waiting, received a reply with a bright smile.

"It's done."

That startled Danzo, albeit the old shinobi didn't show it, but it was evident, probably the man hadn't expected a breakthrough so quickly.

"Good…very good," Danzo muttered, "Can you produce a copy?"

With a nod, Naruto's right hand went to a seal to his armor's chest, where a brief flicker of light granted him a small scroll.

"Already did," handing it over to Danzo, the Yami of shinobis nodded, taking the scroll and putting it away within his sleeve. He'll look at it later.

"Very well then…I see you are tired, however…I'd suggest you sleep soundly, at night, from now on."

The Mangekyou sharingan tickled, revealing the real thoughts and powers of Danzo's suggestion.

_You shall sleep at night, fully, without waking up, no matter the noise. You shall wake normally at four in the morning, but nothing will awaken you, before that hour._

Strangely, while the Mangekyou didn't need any thought to rebel, against it, the Kyuubi found it funny to curse at the orders, that she now had a way to listen to.

**Why don't you go and die in a corner, possibly while dressed in bright pink and green clothes, and wearing a sombrero? No, I've got an even better idea: I will gut you, rip you to shreds, throw…**

"Hai Danzo-san, I thank you for your concern," Naruto replied, his voice a bit monotone.

"I will take my leave then, Senju-san," and with that, the Yami of Shinobi walked away, followed by his escort. Unknown to him, Naruto clenched his fists, his eye ablaze with fury.

"_I'll see this to the end, Danzo. Don't you worry about it."_

The memories of what had happened that night, after he had put to test both Anko and the Mangekyou sharingan of Shishui returned to him full force, as he recalled just how they had worked…so familiar, so known to him.

_He had stayed in the kitchen, nervously pacing around. The throbbing pain at the side of his head meant nothing, as he luckily had managed just in time to put the eye in its place, and to cover it up. The chakra drain for simply showing said eye the light had made him wheeze. How could Itachi actually use them? Maybe it had to do with him being an Uchiha? In any event, he was now ready…it would be a do or die situation. It would mean that either everything worked, or it didn't._

_And at that moment, two Root operatives had entered from both sides of the kitchen, while two more had come down from the upper level, from where they had, presumably, put to sleep Karin and Yumi…and taken them hostage._

_Naruto hadn't moved, albeit a kunai had been in his hand, as Danzo had walked in, his face clearly showing displeasure._

"_You met with Itachi once more?" Danzo queried, his single eye looking at him, while he felt something, at the back of his head, something that asked him to drop his weapons._

_That he did, as he now felt the need to sit down, while Danzo took another seat._

_The Root members simply left: they had been but a precaution, and by next morning, both windows would be repaired and as good as new._

"_Yes I have," Naruto replied, knowing full well that he was asked to reply._

"_Did he tell you anything?" at the question, Naruto's reply had been done to his best, to mimic the most normal tone he could muster._

"_Yes, he asked if I recalled Anko's office, then questions on her favorite food, when I didn't answer, his sharingan showed me something strange…and I recalled," at that, Danzo frowned for a moment, but then shook his head._

"_Did he tell you what Akatsuki's goal was, with Konoha?" at that question, Naruto had smiled, and had then replied._

"_They will assassinate the Hokage, in the Kage Box, during the final match. If he will not show himself, then they will destroy the Hokage's mountain, and the civilian's refuges beneath it, to make him pay in blood the crimes of the first Hokage, who made of Jinchuuriki weapons, and tools, and gave them away freely."_

"_So they're madmen," Danzo replied back, "Who was with Itachi? I know they work in couples," at the question, Naruto shook his head._

"_No, only Itachi was there. I only spoke with him…he told me you killed his clan, took their eyes for your bidding," at that mention, Danzo gasped, slightly, before muttering and ordering him, through his very own mind._

"_Forget about everything you have heard and seen during that mission! Recall only that it was a mission, nothing more! Speak of it to no-one! Make no mentions of it! Forget everything and remember only that whatever your wife says is truth, and the rest are lies!" as the words left the Yami of Shinobis mouth, Naruto merely nodded._

"_Hai," he whispered, as Anko, a red eyed Anko, walked in the room and sat next to him. For the next couple of hours, Naruto was forced to hear how much he loved her, how much he liked her, how much she was perfect for him. Even among the tears that Anko dropped, Naruto never once moved his face, the back of his head ordering him to take it as truth, as granted…_

_But no longer, was he a slave. No longer, was he going to obey._

_He was free._

_And with his freedom, another one would pay with blood._

Just as he was about to reach for his house, to stare at Yumi's new handwork with paint, he found three Genins, his three Genins, sitting in front of his porch: looking at him with a conjoint three puppy-eyed jutsu…technically four pairs, since Akamaru was a part of it too….

"Why did I know it would happen," Naruto sighed, looking at the three Genins, letting a hand go to his grey hair.

"Sensei…we thought that, since we all want to get extra training in, for the reminder of the month…maybe we should all move in with you!" as Hinata exclaimed that, she tried her best seductive wink and subtle swaying of the hips, only for Katsumi to retort.

"Oniichan, pwetty please train us!" with sparkling eyes.

"_Tsk! Using the moe-Imouto card, it won't work!"_

"_You damn fat-bags! Your chest isn't going to get you nowhere!"_

Out of the three Genins, however, it was Kiba who brought forth the most compelling argument.

"Sensei…I was kind of kicked out of the house," and with that, Naruto simply nodded, and gestured for them to follow him, while both Hinata and Katsumi gave a perplexed stare to Kiba, who was carrying nothing, and held his hands in his pockets all the way through the Senju's compound. All the way till they reached a fairly big house, that housed a set of bunk beds, more than four bathrooms, a giant kitchen and an enormous dojo.

"This was the private servants' quarters, when the Senju clan was still big enough to warrant its use. The Dojo is fully functional, the water runs freely, the beds are a bit dusty but should do, and the bathrooms have hot water, all of them," Naruto pointed out, "Now, first rule of the Senju's compound: nobody burns down anything when I'm not around to douse the fire off, understood?"

"Hai sensei!" the three Genins chorused, as they automatically sat down, their legs crossed, while their teacher went into full sensei-mode.

"Rule number two: we will be training, not camping outside. Trust me, you will hate me, since we have to justify the fact that you actually moved here, while you live at what? Fifty meters of distance from here?" at that, Hinata coughed a bit.

"Fifty-nine meters, from the main gate," she blushed a bit at that. She should have thought about it sooner: fifty-nine meters were too many!

"Rule number three: I expect you at four o'clock to be fully dressed, ready and prepared for training. That means that the hour you wish to wake up is up to you, but I suggest, I really suggest, learning how to survive not sleeping for at least a night." The three Genins nodded, before keeping their ears ready.

"Rule number four: Whatever I say during training will be made to hurt you, harm you, or make you suffer. I will toughen you up against psychological warfare, so be mindful that I will do things, but that doesn't mean I am actually thinking them."

Again, the three nodded.

"Rule number five: You will have four hours of afternoon reading." Kiba actually groaned at that.

"Rule number six: if, by some reason, I find any of you slacking off, I will have you go through the snake pit course." At that, Hinata exclaimed.

"That's the course Neji-san said that was born from hell itself?"

"That one," Naruto replied, with a grave nod that made both Katsumi and Kiba stare perplexed at their sensei. How bad could a training course be? Especially if it made Neji say those things?

"Rule number seven: I reserve the power to add more rules as we go on," and with that, Naruto stood in his usual Taijutsu stance.

"We're already late on schedule, so we begin with Taijutsu practice, now!"

*Monday – Twenty-Third of June*

Yumi's birthday wasn't usually a public event. It wasn't, because it would spoil the little girl too much, and the last thing Anko and Naruto wanted was for her to become bratty. She got her apple cake with vanilla cream, however, because she wanted one and she was a good girl.

She got a lot of birthday presents from other clan's members, like it was custom and all were things she wanted, because she was a good girl.

She got to be the center of attention of everyone for a little while, and then she went to bed, rigorously, at the curfew hour, better known as _"the afternoon nap that wasn't actually a nap because naps were for kids and Yumi was no longer a kid"_.

Even though his team had been present, Naruto had just then realized how much Neji was avoiding Hinata, like he felt guilty of something. At the same time, he also realized that Hinata held some sort of grudge with the boy, but he wasn't able to define what, precisely, it was about.

Even though they had spent time, training like there was no tomorrow, he hadn't managed to understand what the two had against one another. Probably, he'd find out eventually, or as the tournament would start. He was pretty sure the two would reach the finals, just like Sasuke, and Kiba, and Katsumi. Sure, he might have been biased, but he had trained those boys and girls and he was pretty damn sure he had done an excellent work.

Kakashi-oniisan couldn't have lowered Sasuke's strength, could he?

Somehow, the silver haired Jounin actually sneezed, trying to recall if he had told Sasuke to put on some weights, to aid with muscle mass. Shrugging mentally, the Jounin went back to the cake.

As the birthday's party's princess slept, the adult's side of the party came to view, courtesy of Anko. Said adult side was the sake bottles that she had bought, actually, with Naruto's wallet, and that were given around. Of all the adults involved, only two didn't drink.

Naruto, because he liked to keep his mind sharp, and Tsume…the Inuzuka woman had her eyes set on Kiba for most of the party, but had refrained from even going near the boy, instead deciding, most subtly, to wait and strike when she would risk to cause the less of a scene.

Meaning she had gone for Naruto straight after half the guests had been drunk, dead drunk, or drinking…

"Senju," Tsume nearly growled, to get the man's attention. Not that she needed to be intimidating, or to put any effort in it. The Inuzuka matriarch was fierce by herself, and it was a wonder how she even managed to get a husband who could tolerate her…the man had been one of a kind, and he was dearly missed. Especially by the Inuzukas, as he was the only one who could calm down the woman's temper.

"Tsume-san?" Naruto queried, perplexed at the appellative.

"I've got only one thing to say to you," she muttered, locking gaze with him, "and you'd better listen well," as her right hand's index pointed, accusing, at him, the Inuzuka gritted her teeth in a sort of canine menacing gesture.

"I'm listening," the grey haired man replied, thankful that he had shades on, to hide his murderous gaze. At least, that's what it was. The woman had the nerve to keep Kiba down, always, forcing him to look down, at the ground, when the boy was more than capable of looking forward, and even to the sky. The boy had so much potential, and the woman would rather berate him, force him to consider himself nothing more than weak, unworthy and scrap.

"Keep him alive," those three words took all of Tsume's willpower to say, but still, that was all she said, before turning around, and leaving.

Thoughts twirled in Naruto's mind, trying to understand the woman's words, or even actions…did she…did she really say those words? But then…why?

Shaking his head, he felt a familiar signature of chakra nearby, and thus headed straight for it. Surprise came to his senses, when he realized who it belonged to.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was there, the trusty tobacco pipe in his mouth, as he looked ahead, at where the party had been situated. He had a gift under his arm, but he didn't reply to the invitation sent, so Naruto had obviously thought he couldn't come. Just like Hiashi and Danzo hadn't, or the Hokage and his wife…albeit on the last two Naruto had been kind of glad.

"Hiruzen-san?" the Sandaime, for a moment, didn't reply, instead letting a small chuckle escape his lips.

"Naruto-kun, if you just had a goatee like mine, you'd be the perfect mix of Danzo, Tobirama, and me…have you ever thought about it?" at the question, Naruto actually chuckled.

"Anko doesn't like the idea of me with a beard," as he pointed that out, Hiruzen nodded.

"Even Biwako didn't, well…this is the gift for Yumi-chan…but I think I got here late, and couldn't deliver it in person…never mind, I did come to see you," the grey haired Senju nodded in reply, at the elder man's words, and made a gesture as to invite the Sandaime in: they could speak in his office.

Instead, Hiruzen simply shook his head, before replying.

"It won't be needed, Naruto-kun, I just wanted to give you a piece of advice: be careful not to get swallowed by the darkness, my boy. I consider you as much as a grandson as I do with Konohamaru, and I can't stress it enough…be careful."

And with those words, Hiruzen left.

Leaving behind Naruto, who stood there, his mouth opened in a small *O*, like that of a fish. Did…did the third Hokage know? How could he, who did, why, what side…Kakashi…The Third Hokage? When…how, who? Why?

He didn't get it.

He actually, for once, didn't get it.

Why come out, in the open, like this, to tell him? Why not…wait, or go elsewhere to speak privately? Why say it there, where two to three Root members were close by, to listen in to the conversation? Hiruzen had to have felt them. He had to have known they were there! So why, why did he speak like that?

Was he…oh.

And then, it clicked.

Hiruzen was baiting Danzo.

Hiruzen, the third Hokage, the Kami of Shinobis, was baiting Danzo, the Root commander, the Yami of Shinobis.

And he was using Danzo's most powerful to do so. He was using…Naruto.

Naruto, for all of his strength…was being used. Yet Hiruzen had made him realize that, meaning that, probably, he wanted his partnership in this. But then again…why?

The rest of the party went without a trouble, albeit Tsunade hadn't yet been seen, and that had worried, not a little bit, Naruto. Yet all turned to normal, when the pig tailed busty woman arrived in an extremely fast dash… at the end of the birthday party, with bags upon bags of stuff under her arms.

"I…I missed it?" Tsunade whispered, while her voice seemed nearly on the verge of crying.

"Where's Shizune, Kaa-san?" Naruto queried, perplexed.

"She…I think I left her somewhere in…someplace," she replied, "Maybe a casino? Meh, she's a smart girl, she'll understand and come around," she added.

"Kaa-san…" Naruto sighed, shaking his head, as he gestured for her to come in the house. Yumi was certainly not uncommonly treated by her grandmother…she got more than enough spoiling from her, and, if the amount of gifts that Tsunade was holding was anything to go by, she would always treat her Granny Tsuntsun as the very best.

Luckily, Yumi was convinced to go to sleep early, that night, instead of spending it by trying to unwrap all her gifts like a tornado of energy.

Finally, everyone went back to their own houses, the Genins to the servants' quarters, and, at least, for the most part of the night…everyone slept. Until at midnight, precisely, Anko stood up, and walked out. She had done just like that for many nights, but always checking to see if Naruto was really sleeping. Sometimes, she even went as far as throwing a pitcher of water at his head…that the Senju had to take, while keeping his snoring even.

The questioning on why his side of the bed had broken glass and water was never answered, so, technically, he shouldn't know what it was about. In the end, he had managed to grasp the routine of Anko, and he knew that, except some rare circumstances, every night, she would leave the bed and go somewhere, after dressing up quickly. She would then return at three and a half in the morning, and go to bed once more.

That did explain why, sometimes, he had woken up at four o'clock with Anko wanting some early morning make-out sessions. Finally, that night, he had decided to follow the woman, since the quantity of sake Anko had drunk was certainly going to smooth things for him, in the pursuit.

As Anko left from the front door, it was then, that Naruto found himself tailing the woman that he had married against his will, in the middle of the night, without her knowing. Sure, Anko had kept herself fit, and was probably a Tokubetsu Jounin out of strength…but she no longer had the edge.

Spending so much time torturing people or interrogating them made you a strong judge of truths and lies, but it dulled your sense of surroundings.

That, mixed with the fact that Naruto wasn't the chameleon summoner for nothing, meant that Naruto Senju, for the first time in years, had finally managed to get into Anko's workplace without being mentally mind raped into leaving. Now, finally, he would know.

He would know where his wife went in the middle of the night, and then, he'd decide if he had to add a head to the compound's walls or not. Ibiki had said he was sorry, and he had accepted that…but still, how much could Anko be selfish, to reach the point of having both a perfect family life, and a lover?

He was surprised, when Anko moved far beyond the office that the secretary normally gave him, all those times he had tried to surprise her at work, for a coffee, a gift, a lunch hour. He had tried to be kind, and all he got back was Danzo's Mangekyou, until, in the end, the Yami of Shinobi had decided that Naruto simply wouldn't think about those things any longer.

Now, synching his footsteps with Anko's, he carefully walked straight behind her, the camouflage on him perfect, something the second Tsuchikage himself would have been proud of. Quietly, he followed the purple haired Kunoichi down the stairs, into the inner and most in depth levels of the T&I department. That is, until she seemingly reached a dead end, and pushed straight through it, to reveal an elaborate Genjutsu that, normally, would have sounded an alarm the moment Naruto had passed through.

A pity the Kyuubi wouldn't allow it, draining the chakra straight out of the seals. For a second, Anko stopped, perplexed, and turned around. She had seen a small flicker of blue, but there was nothing behind her, so she shrugged, and kept descending the stairs: those that led her directly into the Root training grounds.

Silently, Naruto thanked the Kyuubi for not having been asleep. He would have probably made the alarm sound, and then he would need to explain why...albeit he could have simply escaped, faking being an enemy shinobi.

A couple of minutes later, Anko was in a room. A room adorned with kids toys, a comfortable orange carpet, and a boy, four years old, with grey hair and a bandage around his eyes. He stood quietly in a corner of the room, touching carefully a ball with his digits. His skin was pale from the lack of the sun, and even if he looked fed enough, it still wouldn't matter if he stayed down there.

"Kaa-san?" the boy queried, raising his head to look at the direction that Anko had entered.

"Yes, it's me, Tobirama," Naruto barely managed to bite down on his hand, his eyes bulging in shock as his Genjutsu, his chameleon Genjutsu, was just then wavering down from the sheer lack of control.

It hadn't disappeared only because years of shinobi training forced him to put it back on, to put it back and watch…but right there, right then, he wanted nothing more than to destroy the place, Anko included.

"_Anko…just what have you done? What is this!?"_

"Is today my…birthday?" Tobirama queried, moving his head lightly to the side.

"Yes it is, darling, and I got you a really nice gift," with those words, Anko sat down crossing her legs, taking the small boy on her lap.

"What is it?" the scrawny looking child asked with the normal curiosity and child-like anticipation in his voice that any kid his age would have.

"It's a wooden construction set," the kunoichi replied, taking from within her trench coat a carefully wrapped in gift paper cube.

"Construction…set?" Tobirama queried, as his hands touched the smooth surface of the gift wrapping. Then, nimbly, he found the side that had the scotch tape on it, and with silent, methodical practice removed it, to let the gift slid out.

Completely the opposite of Yumi, who had simply tore through the gifts' wraps with as little as a thought. Naruto couldn't stay in there a moment more. He would have snapped a neck, he was sure he was still going to snap a neck, eventually, but now he was seriously considering of doing it in a painful way, a really painful way.

However, he stilled himself against the wall, as another figure entered the fray. A Root operative had barely entered, that Anko had taken on a saddened stare, and was locking her gaze with the man in question.

"Another pair of eyes is ready," the masked shinobi spoke, monotonous in his tone, "the boy must be prepared."

"Do I get to keep these ones?" Tobirama asked, being naïf in his innocence.

"No," the shinobi replied, stern and unflinching, like he was used to it, like he was used to a kid whining about wanting to keep a pair of eyes, to see the world, "Now, Mitarashi-san, prepare the boy."

Mitarashi? Not even her Senju's surname? Naruto stood quietly against the wall, as the boy looked a bit sad, but said nothing to voice his complaints. Maybe he had already tried, and maybe he had already been punished for it.

"Kaa-san…do you think…after I activate these ones, that Danzo-sama will let me outside?" Naruto's fingers that had been clawing at the wall were slowly, but surely, starting to dig into it. The Senju's teeth were furiously clenching against one another, as his entire body wanted to grab the boy and make a run for it, outside of there, outside of that hell that was the kid's home…his kid. His son. His little mini-him. The one that was supposed to be in his arms since the beginning, the one that was supposed to…

"_Kaa-san spoke of a baby girl,"_ if the swap had happened, it had to have happened at infancy. However, he was sure he had changed his daughter's diapers at least once, during the first week of her life, much to Anko's displeasure. And Tsunade too had told him, straight ahead, that it was a girl. So…he didn't check the sex of his daughter, the day she was born, obviously, and the baby cradle in the infirmary had been a bright pink hue…but then…Tobirama was the name they had chosen for their first boy's name.

And Yumi had her mother's hair…but her grandfather's eyes, at least, to Anko's words. There was something wrong with it, but he couldn't wrap his head against what it was.

However, soon, Anko gently hugged the boy, whispering.

"I don't know…you know why you have to stay inside, right?"

"To protect Konoha from harm," Tobirama replied carefully, "I am given this really important task of…activating the sharingans…because of my bloodline," he finished his sentence, and just like that…a small sapling sprouted from his right hand.

Naruto could only take enough shock for a single day, and his mind refused, categorically refused, to take any more. Quiet as a ghost, he exited the room. Quieter still, he reached upstairs, leaving the T&I department. The secretary was puzzled when the lift decided to work on its own, but shrugged, thinking it was probably a shy Anbu that didn't want to disturb her.

In any case, Naruto Senju was as pale as a ghost when he finally got back to his house, to sleep. He wasn't surprised when he found Karin asleep in his bed, it was something she did, something normal…and for that night only, he was even thankful. He needed someone he was certain of close, and gently letting her hug him in her sleep, he closed his eye. No tears came through, because he was a shinobi, and he had to steel his heart, and he no longer was the crying baby, or recently minted Genin, of the past. At the same time…he desperately hoped he could be…because ignorance, truthfully, sometimes…was bliss.

Karin, on the other hand, felt waves upon waves of unending sadness pour over Naruto's aura, mixed with them, was the cold dark hatred that had been steadily growing in her father's aura since a couple of weeks prior. After the mission to wave, her father had changed. He was still kind to her, but the ocean was slowly filling itself with storms, ready to explode at the minimum sign.

She just hoped that, when the storm would hit, it would be able to understand friend from foe.

Deep down, however…she didn't care.

As long as she was safe, she didn't care.

Was it selfish, to seek safety, in the midst of the darkness?

Was it selfish, to look for a harbor, when the storm came?

Was it selfish, to find peace, in a hurricane of war, devastation, anger?

She didn't know if it was selfish or not…but she didn't care.

Because she could sleep, sleep soundly, safely, and just like she could, so too would her mother, her baby sister, her baby brother or sister that was going to arrive soon…

And so…she slept.

Ignorance is bliss.

**Author's notes**

**Ta-dum. Cliffhanger. No. Jutsu.**

***Runs* *hides* *peeks***

**More questions.**

**More answers?**

**More questions!**

**Anyway, to answer some of the questions the reviewers have!**

**Q&A**

**Sharingan: I know you're expecting Naruto to become some sort of super powered sharingan-Kage level guy. The truth is: you should expect me **_**not**_** to follow the common ground rules of fanfiction. Because I hate being predictable! **

**So don't you worry! **

**At least, well, worry, but not for the reason you think of.**

**For the summary used…**

**I always go around *Fixing* it, because I want the readers to understand what it's about, so, at least, they can have a basic understanding and not go on the whiny-level, (Omg! I expected Anbuduper-sharingan-doujutsu-harem! Summary sucks!) (This is not an accusation, mind you), it's just that I thought that, the more *Technical* I make a summary, the less problems there would be…Ignoratio non excusa, (Ignorance doesn't excuse) but still…**

**For the planning/flow thing…**

**I set a basic thing.**

**I set some events I want to happen.**

**For *where* I plan to end this…it's the characters that decide. **

**For example, Naruto's *Closure* would be him as an Hokage. With Danzo dead. **

**But Tobi's *Closure* is him conquering the world with pies. (What flavor? Pie flavor!)**

**So…it's the characters that decide, not me.**

**Then the rest? The rest is the characters toying with my hands, doing things I don't want them to do, but that they still do. **

**And their reasons are sound and solid…oh yes they are.**

**I'm sorry there isn't much action in this one…but it will come!**


	18. CD: Plotting

Chapter Eighteenth

The snake pit course wasn't a mere training area. It wasn't the simple placement of some obstacles, with the addition of a couple of snakes. Heck, there wasn't even a snake. The reptiles loved to breathe, and stay alive. No, the snake pit had its name because of how tortuous it was, of how quickly the senbon coated with laxative poisons were, and of how scales were placed everywhere, to hide the mechanical contraption meant to rain down on the runners of said course fiery or molten steel.

The snake pit wasn't even a pit, but a straight and narrow corridor, where a team of three could barely stand shoulder to shoulder. Yet, the pit course was now the worst nightmare that Hinata, Kiba and Katsumi could ever dream of.

The three were tense, especially because they were halfway through it, and only one day away from the exam…and it didn't bode well.

"I won't believe Neji-san managed this alone!" Hinata spat out, as her body began to shift, roaring "Kaiten!" to deflect an incoming barrage of senbon needles and kunais.

"That's an explosive one!" Katsumi yelled, flinging a kunai to deflect another that had an explosive tag attached to it. Normally, the Kaiten would have been enough. Except that the explosive tags, self-made by Naruto, had the tendency to explode upon contact…or when they touched something. Meaning that as soon as Katsumi's kunai touched the enemy's one, it detonated, sending shrapnel of molten steel around.

"Can we go with the plan?" Kiba exclaimed, dusting pieces of iron out of his jacket, while the sooth that covered his face stayed there, for the moment not giving him troubles.

"Let's try it mutt-boy!" At Hinata's exclamation, Kiba got on all four legs, before gulping down a soldier pill, just like Akamaru did.

The next moment, the two Kibas stood one atop the other, roaring.

"Gatsuga!" as twin hurricanes of claws and fangs buried themselves on the course's left wall, it created a smooth corridor of dirt, that seemed to reach for the upper levels.

"I say sensei is going to kill us," Katsumi muttered, as the three Genins started to climb through the Kiba-made tunnel.

"What? He said, and I quote, *Just get to the end*, this is going to the end!" Kiba retorted.

"My, afraid that Oniichan will hate you, little crybaby?" Hinata mocked, with a grin on her face.

"Y…You Fatbags! Shut up!" Katsumi replied, grabbing a small pebble and flinging it Hinata's way…and actually hitting her on the back.

"You damn childish flat-board! I swear, you find out the Byakugan's blind spot, and that's where you hit every time?! You f…" with Hinata's exclamations, Kiba decided to cut the losses down, especially on female grace, that the team seemed to be sorely lacking on.

"Oh look, sensei!" as he pointed his finger somewhere, in a moment, things changed.

Firstly, Hinata put out her eyelashes, fluttering them with a light blush on her cheeks, pressing her arms together to accentuate her breasts.

"Sensei? Where?"

Secondly, Katsumi already had the sparkling eyes on, and was making a cute pout, or at least, what she thought was a cute pout.

"Oniichan? Where?"

Kiba, on the other hand, was already a couple of miles forward, laughing hard, especially at having conned the two girls.

"Kiba…" both Hinata and Katsumi muttered, murderously, at the same time.

And then, with a savage roar worthy of the best of the Inuzukas, both girls began pursuing the boy, with pointy kunais in their hands, obviously.

This sort of childish scene was watched, with keen eye, by Naruto Senju, who stood atop a tree branch, not far away from the snake pit, looking with vivid interest at the three.

He chuckled, shaking his head, at the sight of poor Kiba having to dodge the combined efforts of both Hinata and Katsumi. Thankfully, he had taught the kid how to dodge, and how to do it well. Now, together with Akamaru, the two could take their times before pinpointing where to strike, and who to kill, which also meant that now Hinata and Katsumi knew that they could go all out on him, since it was both training and anger management…and the kid could dodge.

Hinata, on the other hand, had been trained to put up some light muscles, just so that, with her Juken strikes, she could also try and break a bone or two. Furthermore, she did actually have an affinity with fire too, but it wasn't something to be surprised at, after all, the land of fire did have the fire affinity as the most common one.

Katsumi, instead, had wind. That much was clear, but even more surprising was what Kiba had…an Inuzuka should have had fire, or earth, or even lightning, wind could have been a nice boon…instead Kiba had water. The Inuzuka had a water affinity, and that was something that had surprised Naruto so much, that he had actually needed to double check the chakra paper.

An Inuzuka with a water affinity was going to be fun to watch at the chuunin exams.

However, Naruto twitched slightly his lower lip, when he felt a presence coming straight for him from behind. With a sigh, he looked with his only eye at Kakashi, who had just shunshin'd near him, in a twirling of leaves.

"Kashi-chan?" Naruto queried, looking perplexed at the silver haired Jounin, who simply eye-smiled back.

"My, the snake pit course…Sasuke kept talking about it, but I never thought it would be something so…drastic," as the copy-cat ninja spoke, the grey haired Senju simply shrugged.

"Anyway," Kakashi spoke again, "We have a meeting with the Hokage this afternoon, just a formality, in case someone has changed idea and doesn't want to have his little soldiers fight in the exa…" and there, Kakashi stopped, because he looked with vivid interest at Katsumi's Futon: Daitoppa, which had been used to power up Hinata's Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu.

Kakashi didn't intervene, however, because he was sure Naruto was going to enter the fray and save the Inuzuka from being badly charred…only, the Senju didn't even move, especially when Kiba, finishing the hand signs before the titanic ball of flame hit him, roared straight back at them.

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" the amount of water release, while pitiful compared to the giant fireball, was more than enough to shield from view the Inuzuka.

"Naruto! He's going to get charred!" Kakashi pointed out, but as all that he got back was a little grin, he stopped on his intentions of jumping down. Because, actually, when the fire died down, Kiba was fine.

"H…How?" at Kakashi's question, Naruto chuckled.

"Density, Area and Preparation: Body, Mind, Technique," the Senju replied, "the wind of Katsumi increased the area of Hinata's fireball, making it stronger, yes, but it also lowered the Density of said attack, as it expanded…on the other side," Naruto pointed at Kiba, who was being looked over by Hinata for wounds, "Kiba replied with a high density water wall, that, coupled with the natural strength of water over fire, made it perfectly capable of blocking the attack…and the fact that he's a natural water affinity."

"A…Natural water affinity? An Inuzuka?" with Kakashi's question, Naruto sported a grin.

"Just like I know your Yamanaka is lightning affinity, your Haruno is fire and Sasuke has been trained in lightning and fire techniques…I'm letting you spy on their trainings because, frankly, there's nothing you can do now…my team's going to win, oh yes he's going to win!" with a wider and more diabolical chuckle, Naruto laughed out hard, only for Kakashi to sweat-drop at the antiques used.

"I see…well, as long as you believe in them…" the silver haired Jounin sighed, "the Jounin lounge is holding the bets for the winning teams, and for who will make chuunin, you know?"  
"Oh…then I need to have my mother bet on every other team," as Naruto turned to leave, Kakashi stopped him with a serious glare.

"Don't. You. Dare."

"Fine, fine, I'll bet on my team…" Naruto jokingly pouted, before heading off.

"_He seems in a good mood, might be that something's going on to make him happy?"_ Kakashi thought, as he saw the Senju drop down, to rein in his team.

A light chuckle escaped Naruto's lips, as the three Genins assembled in front of him, in wait.

"Well done, team," the Senju pointed out, "You are all now ready for the Chuunin exams, having successfully completed the Snake Pit," as Naruto smiled warmly, Kiba grinned.

"See? We can do it again without breaking a sweat!" at that, the grey haired sensei cackled evilly, before snapping his fingers.

"Obviously," as he said that, a water film began to close on the top of the narrow corridor that was the snake pit, "Second time is the real deal, all the way to the end, Jounin rank difficulty!"

"Ah…Well…maybe next time?" Kiba hazarded, as Hinata sighed, shaking her head.

"Well Sensei, do we get our prize now?" as the Hyuga fluttered her eyelids with a teasing grin, Katsumi's cheeks turned red.

"You…You fatbags! Oniichan was clearly joking about it!" Katsumi retorted, "Right?" she asked, as confirmation, to Naruto, who, instead, shrugged.

"I promised, didn't I? So, what do you three want as a team prize?" with that, Hinata made to reply quickly, only for Katsumi to try and close her mouth.

"No!" the red haired girl was blushing a fierce crimson red, probably she knew what the Hyuga wanted…and as the two girls fought against one another, Kiba sighed.

"Hum…a new set of kunais!"

"Fine," the Senju replied.

"NO!" both Katsumi and Hinata screeched at the same moment, only for Naruto to raise his index finger in a 'tsk' motion.

"First come first served: a new set of kunais for everyone!" and with that, he turned to leave for the main house, only for Kiba to swiftly pass him by in a hurry, followed by the two murderous kunoichi.

"YOU MUTT!"

"YOU WALKING PELT!"

Naruto simply chuckled, at his team's antiques, and shrugged. It was good, to see his team act like this. To see them as nothing more than kids, to know that they still had it in them, their childhood. Albeit it was already being taken away, some pieces always remained, didn't they?

The Senju's eye lingered on Karin, who had moved out of the house, running towards him with a smile, before tackling him for a hug. It was strange, but the red haired girl did anything it took to meet with him outside the house, instead of inside, where Anko was.

The simple thought of Anko in the house, smiling and acting so coy in her lies made his happiness evaporate in a second, and just like that, Karin detached herself with an awry smile.

"Otou-san…I'm sorry if I…" Naruto rolled his eyes, hugging her back and then lifting her up in a bear-like embrace, making her spin around.

"Oh shush it Apple-chan! You're my darling little girl, and you know it! I want you to go at the exams, and do your very best! Understood?" at that, the red haired girl simply nodded, a smile plastered on her face, as she gave her father a kiss on the cheek.

"Race you to the house!" She yelled, starting the run, only for Naruto to sigh, and begin dashing behind her. Obviously, he did hold back on his speed. He didn't actually want to beat her by a wide margin.

Within minutes, they reached the main house, where the kitchen had the table filled with his three Genins seats, Karin's seat, Anko's seat, Yumi's baby-chair and his seat. The food on the table, strangely not charred, because, after all, takeaway can't be charred, and everyone with a smile…

To think the Chuunin exams were the next day.

How much would their smiles remain there, he mused…

"And so we finished the snake pit course!" Naruto was shaken out of his thoughts by the rambling of Kiba, luckily realizing he had been eating in autopilot, because otherwise it would have made someone worry. Well, it actually was making Anko worry, but she thought it had to do with Karin's participation in the Chuunin exams.

"I've got a meeting this afternoon, to reconfirm if I want my cute little Genins," at the mention of cute and little, Katsumi blushed while Hinata chuckled…perversely, earning themselves a healthy frown of mock anger from Anko, "to participate in the exam or not…Maybe you'd need another year…" the Senju teased.

"Another year with sensei?" Hinata asked with a sultry voice, "Oh…I wouldn't pass on it," licking her lips gently.

"You…You Hentai!" Katsumi screeched, "We're going to pass this year! Not a chance in hell I let you corrupt my Oniichan!"

"Hey, it's my husband you two are talking about," Anko growled, "and I'm the wife. Got it? No touchy or I get bitty…" as she finished saying that, a snake just so casually appeared from her right sleeve.

"Anko," Naruto spoke seriously, "No snakes on the table…remember? They're joking… you know I love you…"

Karin winced, because for a brief moment her father's aura was just so black, so dark…it made her want to scream and escape. She reeled it in, however: it wouldn't do. Her father was a kind person, sure, some pieces of his aura might have gone blackish, but he was good, he would prove it time and time again when he laughed and smiled. The reason she ran out of the house was to hug him, and bask in his aura of kindness, when he was in good spirits. She knew that something in the house made him completely angry…sometimes she didn't know if it was Anko, Yumi or herself…but she knew it couldn't be her.

"Aw…You're such a softie," Anko cooed, grinning as she seemed to bask in the fact that Hinata and Katsumi were both eying at her with murder in their eyes.

"Anyway, this afternoon you're all free, consider it a 'well done during the training' prize," Naruto pointed out, before standing up, the feeble screech of a hawk hearable by those with a keen earing, "Have to go, the Jounin's meeting is about to start."

With that, he left the kitchen, and suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped a couple of degrees. Kiba, most intelligently, left the room with Akamaru to go run some laps outside…and leave the girls to look at each other. The Inuzuka didn't know it, but that was one of the smartest things to do, as later, that evening, when Naruto would come back, he would be able to truthfully feign ignorance on why the kitchen was destroyed, completely, and the four females were covered in cream, chocolate and caramel. Yumi also had apple bits on her.

The next day showed Naruto, in front of the office for the chuunin's exams first test, waving goodbye at his three little Genins.

"Good luck! BE good! Kill them all! Butcher them! Leave none alive!" as he gleefully cheered them off he received a set of 'Hai sensei' that made the rest of the assembled Genins sweat-drop.

"Naruto, stop it," Kakashi muttered, "You're scaring my team," with that, he pointed to his own three pupils, of which the blond haired girl was repressing a gulp, while the pink haired one was trying to subtly hide behind Sasuke. The only one unfazed was, obviously, the Uchiha, who instead simply stared at the Senju with a slight smirk.

"I'll defeat them!" and just like that, Naruto decided to grin back at Sasuke, and then whisper something in his ear.

That thing made Sasuke stop on his track, a look of pure hideous disgust on his face, as he turned to see his mother, who had come to wave him good luck…speaking with Maito Gai.

"_**NO!**_" the roar shook both Mikoto and Maito from their casual flir…talking, as Sasuke was launching himself at the green spandex Jounin with fury in his eyes.

"_**NEVER!**_" Only to be grabbed by the neck of the collar by Kakashi, who, eying really badly Naruto, dragged him inside the building, followed by Sakura and Ino.

"I swear on the Uchiha's pride, I'll kill you! I'll avenge my mother's honor and I'll gut you like a fish! I'd rather have the fish vendor than you! Damn you Maito Gai! Damn you to hell!" as the Genin's rants died as he entered the building, Gai simply smiled, showing up his thumb.

"YOSH! Such a youthful display of youthfulness! Where were we, my nimble crow of perpetual love?" just as the Jounin touched the hands of the Uchiha widow, a screech came from within the first floor of the building, Sasuke was held by both Ino and Sakura from jumping out of the window.

"Don't touch her! Let me go you two! I'll kill him! Help me, for the team! Let's be teammates and kill him! Please!" with two loud sighs, Sakura and Ino kept carrying Sasuke all the way to the examination room.

Naruto, from his spot, simply chuckled, hard, before turning to leave. Only to be faced by a serious frowning Kakashi.

"Well, Kakashi-oniisan, all is fair in love and war," the Senju pointed out, before trying to whistle his way out.

"Sensei," Neji said, attracting the Senju's attention, who stopped to look at him puzzled, "the more I am in your company, the more I realize there is much I still have to learn…Thank you," with a polite bow, he then began entering the building, followed by a sweat-dropping Tenten and a smiling Rock Lee.

"You the Senju?" strangely, Naruto had a feeling he wouldn't be able to reach the Jounin lounge, and from there watch the examination unfold from the television, since people kept stopping him from actually leaving the premises of the building.

The girl who had addressed him was a blond haired shinobi from Suna, with four short pigtails on the back of her head, and a battle fan on the back. As her looks seemed stern, and harsh, so less seemed those of her brother, who had war paint on…

"Oh, war paint," Naruto commented, looking at the boy who, strangely, looked back at him with a smile.

"Finally!" Kankuro exclaimed, "Someone who recognizes this for what it is!"

"Kankuro, shut up," Temari growled, before turning back to look at Naruto, "You met Gaara, right?"

"Gaara? Oh…right," the grey haired boy's brain clicked, as he nodded, "You must be Temari, the daughter of the Kazekage, right?"

"Well, my fame arrived all the way here from Suna?" she replied with a light grin.

"No, but I research the people who try to kill me, and find a reason for their actions," Naruto shrugged, "Let me guess, you and your brother over there never once met with the boy, maybe you even tried to kill him, and in the end he snapped."

"Hey! He tried to kill us! Obviously he was a monster!" as Kankuro snapped that, the Senju simply laughed out loud.

"Man…never thought I'd see another idiot, but, after all, there wasn't another one like me in Suna, huh? Read my bingo book entry, brat," he spat out with maybe a bit more venom than needed, "And maybe you'll understand that monsters aren't born, they're made…by the likes of you." Then, Naruto turned and left, disappearing in a thunder's flash, the Raijin no Ken, repaired, humming at his side. Neat trick to be done with air and electricity, and it did stun the two Suna Genins.

"_Kind of makes me wonder who their third guy is…never mind, I'll go watch the exam from the Jounin lounge."_

*Katsumi*

The room was filled with Genins from other countries, many stood tense, at the corners or at the sides of the room. A lot of them didn't even bother into hiding their anger towards the Konoha's ones, especially those from Iwa or Kumo.

Katsumi looked with a worried expression around, before finding who she was looking for, and heading in that direction, swiftly followed by Hinata and Kiba.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru yawned, looking at Shino and at Chouji, before heading off in the same direction as Katsumi. It wasn't that difficult to understand that the Konoha's Genins should stick together, albeit he kind of wondered who had placed a head on the red haired girl's shoulders…she had such a cold look. Maybe Asuma-sensei had placed them on the exams too quickly.

He should have waited. He could be watching the clouds outside right now…instead he was stuck in there…just so troublesome.

Katsumi was positively vibrant as she smiled and began chatting with Sakura, who had a sort of sour look on her face.

"Your sensei made Sasuke-kun go ballistic…" Ino lightly growled, as Hinata shrugged.

"Our teacher is awesome like that," the reply made Kiba chuckle, as the Inuzuka simply added.

"Awesome? I mean, look at the Uchiha! He's spewing curses at the wall! He isn't even hearing us!"

"I do admit that sensei might have said too much," Katsumi retorted, "But I mean, Sasuke should be able to take it, right?"

"It's no longer Sasuke-kun, now?" Ino queried perplexed, earning a shrug back from the red haired girl.

"Meh, once you live for a month with Anko nearby…you stop having crushes, and you start having wet dreams," Hinata swiftly supplied, before adding with a smirk, "and once you go Senju, you never go back."

"That's not true! You…You slut!" as Katsumi retorted that, Hinata simply smiled deviously.

"Otou-san is going to be sad," Karin, who had arrived moments earlier, added with a grin, to back up the Hyuga's claims. Since teasing the red haired Namikaze girl was simply funnier than anything else.

"What? Karin-chan! You aren't telling him this, right?" Katsumi's worried question was answered by the pale dark haired boy next to the Senju girl.

"The rooms for the exams all have cameras to provide Jounins and interested contractors view of the first tests, Namikaze-san: Senju-san already knows, probably," as Sai pointed that out, Katsumi's face paled, especially when the next set of words reached her ears, "as does the Hokage too, supposedly."

"Kai! Kai! This is an illusion!" Katsumi's words were met with her trying to dispel the Genjutsu she had been clearly put through…but to no avail.

"Would you all please lower your voice?" a boy whispered, with onyx eyes and ash-grey hair, kept in a ponytail that extends to his upper back, with his bangs framing either side of his forehead neared them. He wore a dark purple shirt with a high collar, a white under-shirt, finger-less gloves with armored plates on the back of the hand, a white cloth waistband worn at an angle, dark purple pants, blue sandals, and a shuriken holster on his right leg. A small smile on his lips, as he neared the group of Konoha's Genins, or at least, most of them, since, for some strange reason, Neji's group had kept to another side of the room entirely.

"And who are you?" Kiba asked, smelling the disinfectant coming from the older boy's clothes.

"My name is Kabuto Yakushi…and I'm a sort of regular at these exams, it's my seventh try, after all," he replied with a light smile.

"We appreciate your information, Yakushi-san," Shino replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"So munch munch, you know a lot about the exams?" Chouji asked, curious, as the ash-grey haired genin replied with a light nod.

"You could say that I do. In fact, I have these…Ninja cards, to say, with information on them concerning the participants of the exams…if you want to…"

"Sasuke Uchiha, Kiba Inuzuka, Katsumi Namikaze, Hinata Hyuga, Karin Senju and Sai," Shikamaru had actually said the entire sentence quickly, his eyes serious as a little frown of annoyance appeared on the faces of everyone else mentioned…and not mentioned, but the most surprised one was Sai, albeit he didn't show it…what gave him away?

"Wow…well, Sasuke Uchiha, the missions he completed with his team were twenty D-ranks and one C-rank, he is a proficient Katon user, and has unlocked the sharingan," that made Sasuke grit his teeth, the guy was good, "Then there's Kiba Inuzuka, missions completed are…wow, forty-seven D-ranks and an A-rank? It's the same for the rest of his team, too. He is said to have…" the growl that came from Kiba was more than enough for Kabuto to pass over to the next one, "Katsumi Namikaze has a bounty on her head, courtesy of Iwagakure, probably, of two hundred thousand ryos," that made many genins in the room wince, and leer…

"Ha! Everyone who wants a piece of me get in line for some ass-kicking!" Katsumi retorted, letting a kunai swirl in her right index. Hinata simply sighed, shaking her head.

"Please, the tough girl act doesn't work with flat chested girls who barely finished drinking their mom's milk."

"Hyuga, you got a problem with me!?" at that, Hinata retorted snappishly.

"What if we have Namikaze-chan?" the snapping and brutish bickering was soon halted, when three sound Genins, howling in rage, decided to try and attack the noisy duo.

Only for the two girls to suddenly stop their in-fighting, and, while Hinata grabbed the sound girl's arm in a lock twist, throwing her on the ground, Katsumi flung a fast punch straight in the face of the half covered in bandages man, while Kiba simply sent a low kick to the side of the third sound member.

In a couple of seconds, the three sound Genins were on the ground.

"Attacking without thinking…stupidity at its finest level," Hinata pointed out, stretching with a warm smile on her lips.

"Yup, maybe we can convince some of them to leave?" Katsumi retorted, a fierce grin on her face.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was already thinking that maybe, just maybe, Asuma's promise of not pestering them with missions for two years, as long as they tried the chuunin exams without renouncing the tests…was not so good any longer.

"Shikamaru-san," Shino whispered to the Nara's ear, "I think we should reconsider."

"I think so too, Shino…but we don't have a choice…at least we can be assured they won't kill us…I hope."

"Nah, don't worry, Sensei would skewer us if we killed a fellow Konoha shinobi," Kiba replied, his earing strangely keen, dismissing the issue with a hand wave, "You're fine."

"Oh, Senju-san is as honorable as always," Shino commented, "I am much more relieved now."

Sasuke, on the other hand, was frothing with anger. Those three…they had harnessed such great power, by simply training for a month? Naruto had to train him too, that much was decided. The moment one of them made chuunin, because it was guaranteed one at least would, he'd request transfer into the Senju's team. No matter that Kakashi was the only one with a sharingan left in Konoha, Naruto was a hundred time the teacher the copy-cat ninja would ever be.

Somehow, in the Jounin's lounge, Naruto was whistling a happy tune, with Anko trying, and failing, to get on his lap, since Yumi had conquered the honors of the spot to watch her big sister fight.

"This is not a place for civilians, Naruto," Hayate sighed, looking at the little girl. Maybe he could convince Yugao to get a baby, if he showed her how cute they were? Maybe.

"She's too young to remember anything she did yesterday…just hand her an apple and she even forgets her name," Naruto dismissed the issue with a shrug, "And the tv in the Jounin lounge is big, you know? Not like the one in the chuunin's area…poor fellows."

"Hey! Silence! Zoom on the sand trio!" as Genma pointed that out, he one wielding the all-purpose camera remote control touched a set of buttons, and the screen flickered to show the three. The third was barely a Genin, clearly, while the other two were older, the third was…nothing more than a kid, a kunoichi maybe, but a kid.

"How old is she?"

"Maybe she's a prodigy, but heck, she looks no older than…nine years old?"

"Are they really going to have her competing?" Anko's voice had a bit of concern, but those were the mother instincts and the hormones…once more. She just had to tell Naruto, eventually, but not at the present, nope. Or he'd get all mushy, and keep her away from their extremely feverish make-out sessions for the child's good.

"They didn't have Genins to spare, so they took an academy student?" was Kurenai's suggestion.

"Why wouldn't they have Genins to spare?" Asuma replied, "We have twenty-three years old Genins, I mean…"

"So maybe she has a lot of potential, since those two are the Kazekage's children," Kakashi retorted.

"No," Naruto replied quickly, eying the girl with his only eye, "She's a meat shield."

"I didn't want to be the one to say that," Yugao answered, "But Senju-san is right. She's shivering, and trembling, and that's fear written all over her face. They simply didn't have Genins to spare, and so took an academy student."

"Meaning that all their Genins are occupied elsewhere…probably the Iwagakure border," Naruto replied, swiftly, "there were reports of some activity in the land of Earth."

"Shouldn't we inform the Hokage then?" at Kurenai's question, Anko retorted.

"Of what, Nai-chan? That there's a nine years old playing Genin with two other, because Suna couldn't make a full three man team? There's no proof, these are just speculations."

The Jounin lounge fell silent, but soon, the silence was interrupted by Yumi's cute giggling, as the camera had now moved back to the center area, where Ibiki was going to appear.

"And now let's see the Genins face the wrath of Morino-san," Genma muttered, before turning his full attention to the screen.

Truthfully, in the Genin's room, a strong gust of smoke quieted down the participants in the exams, as a man, with a bandana on his head, appeared on one side.

"Listen up! I am Morino Ibiki, your proctor for the first part of the exam to become Chuunin! I am the one who's going to send the weak, the puny, the pathetic…"

"I-chan! I-chan!" Someone cooed from a corner of the room.

"_**I AM FAILING YOU IF YOU SAY ANOTHER WORD**_!" the roar of the proctor turned the room into a pool of stares and tensions, whoever had called the proctor I-chan, had to have guts, lots of guts.

In a corner, Karin snickered away, glad that Yumi's nicknames to people always worked to get on their nerves.

"Enter the doors at my right and at my left, seat somewhere that doesn't have any of your teammates nearby, and then stay the hell silent! Especially you, Apple-chan!" as Morino was, this time, the snickering one, a slight blush of embarrassment crept on Karin, as those near her snickered at her nickname.

Everyone quietly entered, taking their seats, and just like they did, the reactions of the different Genins widely differed. For once, the most confident of the group turned out to be Sakura.

"This is a written exam: you have ten questions, and have ten points. Each question left unanswered or wrongly answered will subtract one point. At zero points, you lose. If you copy, you lose four points. The tenth question will be revealed when fifteen minutes are remaining from the end of the test…you may begin!"

Quickly, the test pages were turned, and many, in the room, began frowning. Except a pink-haired kunoichi who wrote down so fast the answers that the pencil burned when she reached the end.

That did make Morino sweat-drop, why was he always stuck with prodigies and special cases? Couldn't he get normality, for once? Still, he was the one who had practically begged the Hokage to get the first exam…he had just then come up with another surefire tenth question, and this time, nothing was going to make him lose.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, answering his own questions, and then using the Kagemane no Jutsu to have Choji and Ino get the answers too. This was just easy.

"Crap, Akamaru, help me," Kiba muttered, looking at the questions, as Akamaru, instead, wagged his tail in morse-code, hitting the back of his neck, since the dog did have a better visual…and could read.

Quietly, Kiba began writing down the answers…he might give his partner a nice amount of dog biscuits…maybe a hundred or more, if he actually passed.

Hinata let her long hair cover her face, before quietly activating her Byakugan to copy, and, in doing so, she stopped. Normally, there was no way she could have pinpointed it. Normally, the normal Hinata of a month prior would have barely done her job, and then dropped it. Now, however, she had insight in medical knowledge, big enough to know when chakra coils and tenketsu points were wrong…especially when they were simply moved to the side.

The chakra pathways weren't strange, no, not at first sight…but in truth they all stood a couple of centimeters away from where they should normally be; perfectly able to fool any Byakugan user, who didn't possess the medical knowledge to know it was wrong. There was no way chakra pathways could be moved, since they were a part of the body, even a millimeter wrong meant severe problems in a patient, and the treating of pathways was something akin to neurosurgery, only far more difficult.

Yet there stood the grass-nin, with a completely translated to the side pathway, who was writing like nothing was going on. She shouldn't be standing there. Nope, she should be dead. Yet, there she was, writing down, a couple of rows in front of her, to the left. Just so casually behind Sasuke.

Strangely, for a moment, Hinata could see the girl's eyes turn around towards her, and, by instinct, the Hyuga closed her Byakugan. That was definitively strange. Maybe it was a bloodline? She had to warn her teammates.

Katsumi, on the other hand, stood there, looking at her questions. Sure, she had read books upon books, but…how was she going to answer something like: _"Determinate the coal power required for a nano-matrix of seal arrays to implement the concavity of an elliptical variant of tag combinations, then state if it is bigger than an Ottawatt and produce demonstration."_

Was that even a question? Who could know the answer to this damn difficult answer? Two persons in the classroom sneezed, namely Sakura and Shikamaru, before silence and tension returned.

Shino had his Kikkachu-Kikaichu-Ki-ka-something, her? She had nothing. Katsumi found out, the hard way, that she actually had nothing to cheat, or the brains to do so.

She lacked the mind and the technique, and while she could probably snap like a twig Sakura or Shikamaru, in brute force, she was worthless, powerless, in front of this…test.

She could only wait, and hope that the tenth question was something she could answer…and if she couldn't, she'd just right 'True' on all ten questions. One was bound to have that as an answer…maybe.

Time passed dramatically slowly, something that was bounding on the murderous. Why was everyone writing except her? Were they given brain stimulants or something? In the end, the clock finally reached the forty-five minutes mark.

"Good! Now listen up you brats! For the last question…first of all, you can choose not to take it," Ibiki spoke, "If you choose so, then, no harm done: you simply leave the room, and you'll try again next time…otherwise you stay, take the last question…and if you answer it wrong, you automatically fail and stay a Genin forever!"

At that mention, the Jounins in the Lounge, watching the scene from the tv, sweat-dropped.

"He can't seriously believe they'd fall for it, right?" Kurenai muttered.

"Well, he does have a precedent, and that one was executed flawlessly, probably a lot of them know that he isn't the type to bluff," Naruto pointed out, as Anko, instead, chuckled.

"Yeah, our lovely," she fluttered her eyelids towards her husband, "examination had pretty much same stuff, only the correct answer was leaving the room, while here…well, seems it's the opposite."

"Shouldn't you be going?" Hayate pointed out, "I mean… you are the proctor for the second part of the exam."

"Aw…Yumi-chan, big bad Hayate-san has forced your Kaa-san to leave you, sniff, sniff," as Anko playfully winked at her daughter, before standing up to leave, Hayate received the full-out hateful glare…that a three years old could muster.

"Is she twenty-four or twelve?" Yugao queried, as the kunoichi in question left the room.

"Sometimes, I really don't know," Naruto replied, while hugging Yumi carefully, as the girl was now more concentrate on the neck fur of his armor, rather than the fact her mother had left her. Well, her father was still there, what reason was there to worry?

"Oh look there, your student is about to raise his hand," Kurenai pointed at Shikamaru, on the screen.

"I told him not to do it! Why doesn't he understand?" Asuma muttered.

"Seems like his hand has been put down…are those bugs?"Genma commented.

"Yup, seems that Shino saves the day, I'm so glad I have him on my team," the Sarutobi muttered, while mentally thanking Kami for having sent the boy his way.

"Oh-oh Kurenai…" Naruto whispered, "I'm sorry."

"What?" The Genjutsu mistress looked, in shock, at the screen.

"It can't be…I mean…no!" and instead, it was.

Her team had given up, and was leaving the room.

Karin Senju, Yakumo Kurama and Sai had been disqualified.

"Was it Yakumo? But she always said she wanted to prove herself! Who…"

"Sai," Naruto replied, "The boy raised his hand," he added.

"What? Why!? He's the one with the most potential!" at the red eyed woman's retort, the Senju grimaced: so, things were moving.

"I'll go and speak with my daughter, just to make sure she doesn't murder her teammate," Naruto said with a light frown, holding Yumi close to him, before standing up and heading to exit the lounge.

"Apple-chan lost?" the three year old girl asked, saddened in her tone.

"Yes…but she'll do better next time," Naruto replied, giving a gentle kiss on Yumi's forehead, "No need to be sad, okay?"

"Kay," the girl muttered back. Her oneechan was extra-strong, she should have passed easily!

She was going to hit I-chan, oh, of that she was going to be extra-sure!

Meanwhile, the people that remained in the classroom had come down to fifty-four teams.

With a satisfactory grin, Ibiki finally muttered.

"Well, anyone else? No? Good then! Those who stay…well, you all pass the first part of the exam!"

Then, that was when the window broke open, as a flag stating _'Special proctor: Senju Anko'_ appeared on the chalkboards on the end of the room the exam had been taken in.

The woman, clad with a trench coat and a fishnet shirt, also held, beneath said shirt, another one, this one completely black. She also had a slightly longer than normal skirt, at least for those who knew how she usually dressed up.

"Well, Ibiki! You're losing your touch! I recall only nine little Genins last time I took the exam! What's with all these people? I mean… fifty-four teams? That's more than a hundred!"

"It's a hundred sixty two, Senju-Obaasan," Hinata coyly stated from her seat, "If you're getting too old to count, please, don't run around."

As a nervous tick mark appeared on the purple haired Kunoichi's forehead, Kiba sighed. What was it, with women and his sensei?

"Anyway…" as Anko's eyes went through the room for a moment, she stopped, she turned to stare at Ibiki with a light growling, and then said nothing. But with that brief eye to eye conversation Morino was sure he was going to get into a world of pain, later on.

He was sure of it.

"Everyone, the forest of Death awaits! Training ground Forty-Four! Nice ring, doesn't it? Well…get going there you shrimps! I'll cut your numbers in half by then!" and with that, the purple haired kunoichi disappeared, not before giving a glance in the direction of the courtyard, where she saw the brief blue glint of Naruto's armor, and the red haired mane of Karin…at least her Koibito had it covered.

Truthfully, Naruto hadn't it covered.

In fact, he was now jostling Yumi on his shoulders, while at the same time trying to avoid Karin's first murder charge, seeing how the red haired girl was dead set on killing her teammate.

"There was no reason! No frigging reason! He just came out with 'Because Yes', that's not even grammatically correct! Otou-san! I mean…I mean…WHY!? I knew he was a bastard! I knew it! This is revenge for the date…maybe I shouldn't have forced him to buy two thousand's ryos worth of clothes…but he didn't say no," as Karin muttered, tears running down her cheeks, Naruto sighed.

"Apple-chan, no cry! Otou-san! Apple cries!" Yumi was trying to convince the Senju clan's head to console his daughter, something that the man would do, if only his three years old would stop trying to move from his shoulders, and risk falling down.

Still…he tensed a moment later.

"Karin," Naruto whispered, carefully, "There are four unknown shinobis near us, tell me their auras," as the Senju hugged his daughter, holding his right arm around her shoulders, while using his left to move Yumi down from his neck and into Karin's hands, the reply came in the most controlled voice possible.

"They're…grey…Otou-san…they're grey, completely...like Sai's, but these…they're even more devoid of color than before…and they have red stripes in their auras."

"I see…listen…take hold of Yumi, and don't let her go, understood? Go to the hospital and stay with your grandmother. If she asks…tell her that enemy shinobis tried to kidnap you two…do not trust anyone who isn't your grandmother, understood? Avoid everyone else. When I give you cover, perform an Henge and keep it up until you're in the middle of the crowd, then dispel it and suppress yours and Yumi's chakra, then…" as he spoke, Karin whispered back at Naruto, interrupting him.

"I know Otou-san, trust me, for once…I'm a Genin, you know?"

"I know…" the Senju smiled back, as the water began condensing around them, "Just…be careful…Now!"

"Kirigakure no Jutsu!" as a massive blanket of fog covered the courtyard, the four auras blinked into position, all four not aiming at Karin, no…but at Naruto.

The four didn't speak, and, now in full view within his fog, the Senju took notice of their being. They wielded elongated kunais that normally belonged to the Kiri shinobis, but hidden within their masks stood fiery red glows…tomoes? Red? Wait…

"It can't be…" Activate the eyes. Activate…sharingan eyes. The slaughter of the Uchiha, the gouging out of the eyes, Tobirama's ability to activate them…it made sense. Use the body of the boy, his son, to have the kids' eyes mature, and then implant them into the bodies of elder shinobis, rinse and repeat, and every eye can get implanted into someone.

Now for the kunais…Danzo was trying to blame Kiri.

"Who sent you?" he queried, looking at the four that seemed perfectly comfortable in the fog. Either they knew the jutsu well, which would be obvious, if they had to fake being Kiri impersonators or instead, they were bluffing well.

"The Mizukage sends his salute," yeah, Danzo was definitively trying to blame Kiri, "for humiliating his swordsmen repeatedly, now you will pay with blood."

Then, the four charged.

It was kind of strange, why have four sharingan wielding Root member be killed by his hand, right there, when it could potentially backslash to the Hokage. After all, the Hokage had to know of Danzo's part in the slaughter, right?

Still, as the mist grew, Naruto made his move. The first attacker's kunai flew in a spinning motion, while the second charged, the two left behind going through hand signs. Hand signs he recognized, he remembered, and he recalled.

"Pathetic," Naruto muttered, and just like that, the charger changed trajectory. In the deep fog, when you don't trust the one who speaks, you follow the noise of footsteps. A pity one should look underneath the underneath, and realize that if you're hearing footsteps…then you should worry of where the air moves. The first Root agent's neck was torn, by the Kiba's silent blade that alone couldn't cackle, that alone could but pierce and tear, but couldn't shine, because alone, she wasn't able to. The swirling kunai of Kiri facture was embedded deeply within the now deceased first attacker.

Forty hand signs left, and the two Ninjutsu users backed away. The sharingan was worthless in the chakra laced fog, but the remaining one was a Taijutsu specialist. He closed in, his hands already striking out at the arm that held the sword. He got near, that much was granted, but when the fog condensed, because of a single hand sign, cold winds blew.

The ice formed, and the heart stopped, hypothermia, the cold death. The fog's area was reduced, but the damage was done. No longer did he stand, as the Kiba soared to shatter, and shatter it did.

A barrage of water bullets entered the fog. One of the remaining two Roots had decided to abort the Suiton planned, and had started on another.

He still had twenty-five hand signs of time.

The fog followed him, and as it did, so did the Root try, try and escape from the Kiba, that didn't stop its path, that couldn't, because the hand that held its handle refuted retreat. In a moment, the bullets broke, the speed increased, and the wind howled as the prolonged tip of the sword broke through the chest of the enemy, in a swing aimed at the heart.

The sword was torn out, and so did the enemy bleed. He turned his gaze to the remaining one.

Seven hand signs.

He dashed, the fog no longer needed. The hands moved fast, and just then, just as the attacker reached five, the Kiba was left on the ground.

A duel he wanted, a duel he would have.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu" was the conjoint murmur, five hand signs versus forty-four, the forbidden number, the number of twin death.

Then, the mist transformed into a ghastly blue dragon.

"If you cannot beat the body," Naruto whispered, as his dragon's maws enlarged, covering completely the much more compact and prepared enemy's jutsu, "Then beat him in mind, and crush him in technique," and with that, the cold wind rose once more.

The water dragon, his own, turned to ice, the cold slowing the enemy's and turning it too into the transparent crystal, and then, just like that, it was destroyed by passage of an air lance.

"Kaze no Yaiba," the root operative knew the jutsu, know that his sharingan had seen it…but just like he had, now it was too late. The hands frozen by the ice could not move, while the dragon shattered down by the passage of the lance of wind, the Ghost Lance, and as it did, the splinters of ice followed the wind's movement, like shrapnel being thrown forward by a grenade, like droplets of water following the wave's movement.

Like a frozen wave, the wind pierced, and the ice engulfed.

And then, within a heartbeat, it was over.

The ice melted, the water evaporated, but four bodies remained on the ground, blood oozing out of their wounds, none alive, all dead.

"_Why blame Kiri for the Uchiha's massacre?"_ was what Naruto thought, as a couple of Jounins 'finally' reached him.

"Senju-san, are you alright?" one of them queried, while looking at the bodies.

"Yes, it appears that some missing Nins tried to attack me," the Senju scoffed, even the forehead protectors with the Kiri symbol had been scratched, and they did look like Kiri nins, with the shark-like teeth and all.

If he didn't know that Danzo was the one responsible for the sharingans, he'd say this was Kiri's work, all the way.

"Sir…they each have one sharingan on," the second Jounin whispered, and Naruto realized he had to act the part. So, immediately, he frowned, before looking around quickly, and, then, with a nod, muttered.

"Let's get the corpses quickly to Anbu, warn the Hokage, and I'll come by later…I was with my daughters when they attacked: I have to make sure they're safe."

"Hai," the two jounins packed up the bodies, worry apparent on their faces, and then they shunshin'd, probably off to warn the Hokage. Naruto, instead, began his dash towards the hospital. He just wanted to make sure his daughters were alright, because, if they weren't, if he had been played straight from the beginning, then he'd rather destroy Konoha, than save the city from itself.

*Forest of Death*

"Hellcome to Hell!" Anko exclaimed, not caring about the repetition, or the horrendous pun, as she gestured at the electric fence behind her.

"This, you youngsters, is the forest of Death! Place of Death! Snakes! Blood sucking leeches! Tigers! Blood sucking tigers! Blood sucking snakes! This is the place where you might die, if you're sucky Genins! So be quiet, and let the sexy Senju-chan explain the rules!" the Genins crowded in front of the proctor looked at her with a mixture of perplexity and worry. So the proctor was mad. Well, some had seen worse than that as madness, and they could leave with the occasional flash.

"Y see, the forest has only forty-four entries, and there's fifty-four of you, so we have ten too many teams, meaning that, to keep things fair, there is going to be a little preliminary," with that, Anko produced a clipboard, "There are forty-four clipboards, one for every gate, the first one who gets one, and writes his or her team on it gets the scroll for the actual exam. The one who doesn't is immediately disqualified."

"Hand over your clipboard then!" a Kiri ninja exclaimed, only to have snakes sprout from the ground to bind him right there.

"Now, now, I wasn't finished!" Anko retorted, "If you kill another team, you're disqualified from the exams. If you want to kill someone wait till you're in the forest. Before that, however, the clipboards aren't at the gates, or in the hands of the chuunins, nope: they're hidden around the external perimeter of the forest. You all have six hours, so…good hunting!" and with that, the crowd immediately began running.

Kiba grabbed Katsumi while an Akamaru-Kiba transformed did the same for Hinata, before the four leapt quickly, and extremely fast, to the gate on the opposite side of the forest. On the way, Hinata's byakugan enabled her to immediately see a form hidden in the tall grass, snatch it, and write down their names.

They were in.

Sasuke had his sharingan in full view, and swiftly moved to a form genjutsu'd to look like a normal rock, on which he did write his team's name, before heading together with Sakura and Ino to a gate.

One of the Kumo shinobis had disappeared from view in a blur of speed that rivaled Kiba's, and, once he reappeared, he already had his very own form written on, with his two teammates cheering on him.

Shikamaru, with a groan, headed towards Anko.

"Could we have your clipboard, please?" he muttered, as the purple haired kunoichi grinned, before handing it over.

"Munch Munch…but didn't you say to the Kiri shinobi that…" as Chouji tried to understand, Anko shrugged, before replying.

"I said that the clipboards weren't at the gates, or in the hands of a chuunin…I'm a tokubetsu Jounin, and I wasn't at the gate… I never said I didn't have the clipboard," the Nara groaned, as he finished compiling his team's name, before heading to the first gate.

"I congratulate you on your pregnancy, Senju-san," Shino monotonously said, before heading over to his teammates.

"Argh…Kikaichus and their pheromones sensing abilities," Anko muttered, "I'll tell Koi tonight, yup, seems I can't keep it a secret anymore…ninja village, what should I expect?" as the woman kept rambling to herself, she moved to quickly reach the tower, from where the second part would start, with her words.

It didn't take more than five hours and half, for Anko to reach the tower. The poor Genins would need a day, with rests in between hours. She was a Jounin, with Shunshin, and quite the good looker. While good looks didn't matter in speed, it still made her feel happy, and cheerful.

So, as she reached the microphone to warn the teams in the gates, she decided to tease those present.

In the gate that held Naruto's team, a speaker started making a loud screeching noise, like chalk gritting against a board, which sent all the teams on a yelling spree. Then, an evil laughter echoed in the small gate-room, soon followed by Anko's voice.

"Listen well, my minions! The objective is the tower! Get a scroll, heaven or earth, from the chuunin at the gate, find the opposite scroll, and bring both to the tower! Don't open them beforehand, and if you still haven't done so, then sign the notice that makes it okay to be killed in the forest. Now! You have five days, maximum, to spend in the forest finding another scroll. Then, you have to reach the tower. Be good, and if you get the fat bagged pwetty pwincess with white eyes, do slap her ass, because she needs…"

"This is the Hokage speaking," the voice of Minato Namikaze interrupted Anko's speech, "Please ignore the last part of your proctor speech, she's bewildered she doesn't get any more active duty missions because she's…"

"Say it and Hokage or not I'm making you into a Minato-chan," the retort actually made everyone shiver.

"That's borderline traitorous!" the Hokage snapped back, but with a fake tone.

"Don't care, I still have to tell him, and if you're broadcasting it, then I'm going to chop your…"

"Fine! I get it! Anyway, the exam may start…now."

And with the start of the second part of the exams…the Kiri Genins never left their gates. Anbus apprehended every single one of them, knocking them out and bringing them to Ibiki, but not to have a re-test, no…to be interrogated for possibly treasonous reasons.

*Itachi*

"Danzo has made his move," Zetsu commented, "He's blaming Kiri," the half-plant added.

"No doubt he'll aim to bring down our…protectorate," Pain replied, "We cannot allow him to have a claim, no matter how weak, to it…"

"There's more: he used shinobis with the sharingan," at that mention, the pale figure of Itachi became even paler.

"What? That's impossible…I slaughtered them all!" the Uchiha's reply was met with interest, but also understanding. His tone spoke the truth, after all.

"Danzo could have had some kidnapped Uchiha's beforehand…but then, he wouldn't send more than one on a suicide run, would he?" Kisame pointed out.

"No…I think he wants to blame Kiri for the Uchiha's slaughter too…but why would he do so?" as Konan commented on that, her eyes turned to Itachi.

"Is he trying to strike a bargain with the last Uchiha?" Guren queried from her position, "if so, he's doing a really horrible job at it," as she finished speaking, she never the less turned to gaze at Itachi too.

"That's not possible: that would require him knowing that I am part of Akatsuki, and that would mean a spy in our ranks," Itachi retorted.

"Sasori?" Han's voice stood still for a moment, probably, near him, stood Sasori.

"Sasori says that the only possible explanation is that one of his spies betrayed him, to whom, he can't say yet…a certain Yakushi Kabuto, however, is the sole of his spies in Konoha."

"Then you will terminate Kabuto, once you enter Konoha. The plan shall not change. Deidara, bomb the city's most empty districts, Itachi, Kisame, move in to incapacitate the Senju. Guren, Gaara, entrap and carry away the children from the orphanages, the streets, and as many as you can get…Orochimaru, are you in the area?" at those words, a shadow emerged from the earth.

"Kukuku…indeed, indeed I am…" and just like that, the snake sannin let his golden eyes scan around, to take in the faces, all those faces…

"Good, proceed with your part of the plan. You say you have found a suitable body?"

"Indeed…all he wanted was but a favor that was easy to give…there will be no need to use Sasuke-chan now," with a wide grin, Orochimaru took in the eldest Uchiha's body. Hadn't he known Itachi for a long time, he wouldn't have been able to pick up the slight slacking of his shoulders, as tension was removed…good.

Everything was going according to plan.

"So…who's your target in the exams?" at Pain's words, Orochimaru replied with a light chuckle.

"I think the Inuzuka might be a good objective. He's in the team with the Hyuga heir and the Namikaze girl, and if he has been kicked out of his house, then he harbors strong grudges…that I can use. That, or the Yamanaka girl, her mind raping ability…"

"Mind diving," Roshi corrected the snake sannin.

"Why is 'raping' such a bad term? I mean, it's what the jutsu does, it 'extracts by force' knowledge from an unwilling mind, thus it should be…"

"Diving," Roshi insisted.

"Fine! Mind Diving ability might be useful in finding out just 'who' is the Kyuubi's second half, or where it is…that or I'll have to use Danzo's body…and I don't think I'd like that."

"So you finished the Jutsu?"

"Duh," Orochimaru retorted, "You'd think I slept through these years? Sheesh…I'm off," with a puff of smoke, the shadow clone of Orochimaru disappeared.

"Is it me, or his shadow clones are far weirder than him?" Kisame whispered, as Zetsu merely chuckled at the information.

*Sasuke's team*

So, things were looking good.

He was going to do this in a blast, get out, find the spandex green guy, kill him, maybe painfully, and then, for delivering the information to him, kill Naruto too. Maybe not kill, but probably maim. Painfully maim the Senju. He could already feel the revenge fueling his Uchiha's powers of Hatred.

The reason things were looking good was because Ino had been knocked out from blood loss. Meaning there was no annoying nagging, although it had lowered itself to more acceptable levels, no nagging was better than some nagging.

She had taken a blood sucking leech on the back, and obviously, she hadn't even realized it until she had fallen to the side. She was supposed to guard the rear, so it was only by the fact she had stopped talking, that Sasuke had realized something had been wrong.

Sakura had quickly removed the leech and closed the wound with some basic healing Jutsu, and now, the two of them were waiting for Ino to wake up.

Things were, thus, looking good.

At least until he heard the noise of an incoming team. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke whispered carefully to Sakura.

"Enemies, two," his voice was met with a nod from the pink haired girl, who went to a kunai. Sure, she preferred using jutsus, but a kunai in one hand was better than no kunai at all.

From the branches, two Konoha shinobi emerged, only to earn Sasuke a tick mark.

"Shikamaru? Chouji?" as Sakura whispered that, to confirm what her eyes were seeing, both Genins nodded.

"We shouldn't fight each other," Shikamaru pointed out, "And even if we do advance, we hold no chances, especially against the Senju's team," at those words, he pulled out a scroll, which was just so casually the one Sasuke's team needed.

"So what? You just hand over the scroll and then hide?" At Sasuke's remark, the Nara retorted.

"Well, not much of a chance for us to pass anyway, is there? Better to hide and keep enemies away, then to try futilely…anyway, her…" and just then, Sakura's hand dropped a giant fireball straight in front of the two Konoha's Genins.

The next moment, two charred bodies touched the ground. Flesh melted, fat evaporated, sickening smell of cooked meat. Sasuke was slightly green, looking at the cold jade green eyes of the pink haired girl, who stared back at him, her eyes in slight shock.

"I'd…I'd thought they'd dodge…they were…" and just then, Sasuke managed to push her to the side, to avoid a barrage of kunais from killing her in the process.

"You killed my brothers! You bitch!" as a third shinobi, this one a grass one, came down, he was soon pinned to the tree trunk behind him, a long Ninjato piercing through his chest.

"Never jump down in the air, unless you can control the Wind release," Sasuke muttered, "How did you know those two weren't Shikamaru and Chouji?"

"Because Shikamaru would have come alone, with Shino and Chouji to the sides to try and ambush us…he'd give us the scroll if we failed to detect the ambush and avoid it…not before actually trying. He might lazy, but he's not one to go back on his word," Sakura's words made Sasuke nod, as he then, casually, queried back.

"You alright?"

"Yeah…scorched to death two guys, you killed one…everything's fine."

"As Naruto says…you make of it what you decide to make of it," Sasuke retorted, with a light shrug, "Make it a big deal, or a small one, be happy or sad, it's your choice."

"Damn…you think you can convince his mother to train me?" Sakura asked.

"I can try…but you should talk with him. He's always there, you know? When I was obsessed with Itachi, when I was brooding in anger, when I was clamping down…he was there, grabbing me by the neck and bringing me outside, making me laugh even against my will…and he's a very good medic-nin too," as he spoke, saying things he hadn't normally said to any other fan girls of his, he realized that Sakura wasn't a fan girl. She simply didn't care.

Good enough for him, maybe he could consider her a friend, then?

"Oh…I know," Sakura chuckled, "but I also know he's got very little time on his hands…and I didn't want to ruin your time with him," she added.

"Why would you?" Sasuke frowned at the words...why would she?

"Well…I'm not precisely a fun to be with person, I read a lot, I stay quiet, I'm a bit moody…I'm really not a cheerful girl like Ino," she replied.

"And how is _that_ bad?" the Uchiha answered back, "I'd rather prefer you to her, not that I'm intending anything, let's make it clear," he hastily added, only to receive a light giggle in reply from Sakura, who turned her gaze to the two charred corpses.

"Yeah, don't worry Sasuke-chan, I know."

"No you don't!" Sasuke's vehement retort was met with perplexity by Sakura…just what was the boy coming at?

"Pardon?"

"You don't! Or better yet you shouldn't! You shouldn't sell yourself short Sakura! The way you modify jutsu to adhere to your low chakra reserves is incredible, the way you don't cry or bauble or whine like a angst teenager is great, you shouldn't think less of you only because you come from a normal family, or because you think you don't have anything special. You have things that distinguish you from the others, you just don't know them yet."

"Are…are you hitting on me?" Sakura's eyes bulged in shock, no, it wasn't possible. Sure, they had been teammates for a while, they knew each other, but…Ino was the best out of the two. Clan girl, powerful family jutsus, cheerful, fun to be with…she was going to need glasses soon, she had a large forehead, she was miss no-one, and she didn't have any jutsu that couldn't be found in a library.

No, clearly, the heir of the Uchiha clan shouldn't have been hitting on her, thus, it was clear he wasn't, and she had misunderstood.

"If we weren't surrounded by three bodies, I would," Sasuke retorted, pointing at the one who had bled to death, pinned to the tree.

"Well…ehm…o…okay?" Sakura replied, feeling uneasy within her stomach.

"We've got the scroll we needed, anyway, so we can head for the tower," Sasuke replied turning to face at another spot in the forest, "I'll do first turn of guard duty, don't worry."

"Don't grow softie on me, Uchiha, I said nothing about accepting your…what, courtship? Is that the term?"

"Whatever! It's always been me having first turn, and then Ino has the second, and you get the third."

"Fine, fine…just, no strange ideas…I'm keeping an eye on you," Sakura replied, in a sort of half-asleep tone, before actually turning to a side, and falling asleep.

"_Sensei, I blame you. You, Icha-Icha, Saké and Neji…Now I can't forget chapter twenty-three 'Snuggling Teammates'…argh!"_

In any case…so far, things were looking good.

*Shikamaru's team*

It was just plain troublesome. Really troublesome. By his accounts, a Kiri team should have been there by now: meaning that, if it wasn't there, then they actually had to go on the look-out for the enemies. Shino's bugs were doing a great job in tracking down teams, and for once, with a view of the battlefield, Shikamaru entered his thinking position.

In front of him was a hastily drawn in the dirt grid, with pebbles mimicking the various teams. A sort of thoughtful gaze later, and Shikamaru nodded.

"We'll take on the Suna team, the one without the Kazekage's children," he muttered, receiving nods of confirmation from both Chouji and Shino.

It was kind of strange, that it wasn't the usual Ino-Shika-Cho formation of their fathers…but it worked. Really, there was no bragging or nagging from Shino, only plain simple asking and answering. It felt…nice, not to have someone bonking your head every now and then, and it was far less troublesome. Furthermore, Chouji was a kind hearted fellow. As long as his food stash remained bug free, he didn't care about how many bugs flew around the Aburame's.

"So, Chouji, you take the right flank. I'll meet them head-on, offer them our scroll...if they already have one like us, then there's no need for confrontation. Instead, if they do have the scroll we need, Shino, you will start draining them from the back, while I'll stop them on their tracks with the Kagemane, and if the jutsu ends before their out, then you'll meat-tank them," pointing at Chouji, "while I'll keep the one with their scroll halted."

"That plan is acceptable, Shikamaru-san," Shino replied, as Chouji simply nodded.

"Good, then let's get going…it's going to be troublesome along the road…I know it."

*Katsumi's Team*

Kiba halted. Swiftly, Hinata moved to his side, having barely avoided hitting him on the back, since he shouldn't have stopped. Katsumi, a bit behind, stopped too.

The Inuzuka's keen smell sniffed around for a moment, before whispering.

"I smell snake…it's the same smell as the grass Genin, the tall woman one," with those words, Hinata bit her lips. She should have warned Anko about what she had seen, but she didn't find the time, and now that they were in, there was no way to contact her.

"I've got to warn you," Hinata muttered, "She's hiding something…possibly a bloodline against the Juken…her chakra pathways are slightly moved…"

"Why would that mean she's got a bloodline against the Juken?" Katsumi retorted, standing still, her eyes looking around, twin kunais within her palms.

"Because a millimeter of movement of a chakra pathway can lead to death, flat-board, and if she can move it, then she probably can also free her points from harm."

At the revelation, the red haired Namikaze nodded, before retorting.

"Well…what do we do then?"

"She's close, but I don't know how close," Kiba replied. They were at the base of a giant tree, a common sight within the forest, and around them was nothing but green and its different shades.

"Back against the tree?" Hinata replied, activating her Byakugan.

"Yeah, you keep her sight and try to pinpoint her location, Hinata…I'll give you a direction with a new whiff," Kiba muttered, as the three little Genins stood in the Manji formation, the fourth direction being the tree bark…but after all, nobody can pass through a tree bark, right?

The half-form of the grass woman appeared quickly, maybe too quickly for a normal genin, and from the tree bark, like it wasn't even solid to begin with.

"My Byakugan was…" Hinata couldn't finish the sentence, as Kiba's reaction of getting on all fours and rolling to the side was instinctive. He just felt the movement of the air, like his sensei had taught him, and then he rolled.

"Kukuku! Let's enjoy this!" the Grass Woman exclaimed, setting her gaze on the three of them.

"I certainly will! You're in range! Hakke Sanjūni Shō!" as Hinata grinned, her fists parted for the thirty-two major Tenketsu points on the woman's body, hitting all of them with strange ease…but she was just that good, maybe.

"Hien!" Katsumi's kunais increased their length with her wind release chakra, coming down as a flurry of strikes on the woman's left side.

Kiba, on the other hand, turned around, and charged straight through the grass Genin with the roar of a Tsuga.

That was how the woman fell on the ground, and turned to mud after a moment. The next second, a sharp hit to the side sent Katsumi's body to fly against the tree, splinting the bark and breaking ribs, as the red haired girl's mouth spat out blood, before falling unconscious on the ground.

Hinata swiftly turned, beginning the rotation for the Kaiten, when a sword impaled her through the left leg, the grass Genin holding it smiling fondly, before retracting the blade, and grinning.

"Kusanagi longed for blood…you know?" the woman chuckled, before licking it off the blade.

"Gatsuga!" as Kiba's roar became fiercer, the Inuzuka swirling in the midst of the cyclone of fangs and claws that he had created, the woman merely grinned, before dodging the strike with but a sidestep.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, whiny little mutt, weak, really weak," the woman replied, "Bad Dog, really bad dog," she added with a teasing grin, before hitting with the back of her hand Hinata's chest, and sending the Hyuga to sprawl on the ground.

"Leave my team alone you bitch!" as Kiba's form became more feral, Akamaru's body turned red-furred, before the dog actually _merged_ with the Inuzuka.

"Jinjū Konbi Henge: Sōtōrō!" as a two headed giant Akamaru appeared, its jaws enormous and dripping saliva, his eyes fierce and its presence terrifying…all that the grass Genin did was smirk.

"You won't laugh anymore after this! Garōga!" as the giant beast actually managed to spin, the genin from grass was thrown backwards, with incredible strength and momentum, throwing him against an entire set of trees' trunks, before coming to a slamming halt against a particularly more thick one.

The line carved on the dirt was just like the passage of a fang upon the earth, one that ended with the twin headed giant dog looming over the broken form of the enemy genin.

"That's what you get for harming my teammates, you bitch!" and just like that, a louder chuckle escaped from the broken form of the woman.

"What? No…you should be dead, kami be damned!" As the paw of the Kiba-Akamaru monster descended…it was stopped, by sheer strength.

"That's a misunderstanding…a lot of people think when they first meet me," as the smirk became a grin, from the woman's mouth, an entire new body emerged…completely different from the previous one. Golden eyes, dark raven hair, a predator-like smile…Orochimaru of the three Sannins emerged from the mouth of the unnamed grass Genin, and, without even breaking a sweat, his arms extended, while his entire body coiled around the giant dog within a second.

"A snake that constricts its prey will never let it go," the snake Sannin's fangs extended, as the transformation broke away from the sheer pressure of the man's scales.

"What are you! You freak!" Kiba's body was soon in close quarters with the man's head, whose vicious fangs carved deeply within the boy's neck, and as they retracted, the Inuzuka felt pain.

His entire body began convulsing, as a pain sharper and stronger than anything he had ever felt before twisted his guts, burned his brain, his muscles and his bones.

"Gah!" as the head of the man returned to its body, the Sannin grinned.

"My name is Orochimaru, brash one…and I have decided that you will be an interesting addition to my army…if you seek power, come and look for me…before the darkness swallows you completely," and with those words, the snake tried to turn around and leave.

Tried was the key word, because, in the end, wires flew down attached to kunais, while a voice, a clearly female voice, yelled straight back at him.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" the flames flew straight around the man's body, surrounding him with what should have been a fiery death, but that, instead, brought simply forth the destruction of yet another mud clone.

Anko Senju gritted her teeth in frustration, jumping down from the branch she was on, to avoid the slashing movement of the Kusanagi.

She shouldn't have been there.

She knew she had done a really stupid thing, a really idiotic thing. She was pregnant, for Kami's sake, and yet, there she was, battling an S-rank shinobi, who was her former sensei, in the middle of the forest of death.

She was an idiot. She knew that much…yet she had to do it. She had to take him down, to have her revenge for having been used, and abandoned.

"Orochimaru! I'm going to kill you!" as Anko turned around, her kunai deflecting the blade of the Kusanagi, since parrying would have simply destroyed her blade, and dodging wouldn't have worked…not with the sannin's ability to move the blade with but a flick of the wrist.

"My, my, Dear little Anko-chan comes to meet her sensei? Aw…how cute," Orochimaru spoke with a light smirk, "Tell me, did you finally learn how to use my gift, huh?" at the mention of it, Anko's eyes narrowed.

"Never. I am never going to use that power!" as she spat those words out, she dashed in, trying to get the Kunai straight in her ex-sensei's forehead, only for the snake to twist his head, and avoid it, while at the same time licking all of Anko's forearm with his tongue.

"Hum…somebody's been screwing with his teammate, tsk, tsk," Orochimaru's grin contorted into a fierce mockery of a laughter, as the purple haired Kunoichi jumped backwards, not before trying to slash the sannin's neck, with the return motion of her Kunai.

Quickly, Orochimaru's right leg came in from behind her, making her stumble on the ground, and roll to the side, avoiding a punch that would have probably broken some ribs. She couldn't break any ribs. She shouldn't even take any hits. What was she thinking when she came in? Fight him from a distance? Orochimaru? Really?

"My, afraid?" the snake sannin cooed, "Maybe you are afraid…so, tell me, does he know?" the golden eyes of the legendary shinobi looked with vivid interest at the purple haired kunoichi, who didn't reply, but did tense.

"Oh…good, so he won't mind…" as the Kusanagi flew into his hand, Orochimaru slowly pointed it down, towards Anko's lower stomach, "Bye bye, little Senju."

The Kusanagi's tip soared straight ahead, cutting through the air and the flesh like it was meant to, cutting the bone and reaching for the ground behind it.

"My…you moved," the snake sannin grinned, looking at how the blade had cut straight through the woman's right leg.

"Fucker…Bastard…Monster…he'll be here…soon, you know?" Anko spat out, as the Kusanagi's blade once more retracted, letting the blood flow out freely.

"Oh…but will he arrive to save you, or not?" Orochimaru replied with a light grin, "Will you bleed to death before, or not? Oh…well, that will be for another time, a pity…but my job isn't done yet…it was nice meeting you again Anko-chan, take care…Kukuku…you'll need it," and then, the snake sannin was gone. Disappeared without a trace, without a noise, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

"Fuck," the tokubetsu Jounin muttered, holding her leg with both of her hands, already crimson with the blood that seeped through, "Fuck…" she muttered again. She had acted rashly, by impulse. She had felt his presence, and she had run to intercept him. What was she thinking? Naruto was going to have her head for this. Well, not really, but she was going to receive a stream of words from her Koibito that wouldn't stop for a couple of weeks.

Maybe it wouldn't be that bad, if it weren't for the fact that he'd knew she was pregnant, the split second he'd place his hands on her to heal her wounds. He was just that smart.

Seconds later, Kakashi appeared.

Strange, she had thought it would have been Naruto to come and save her…well, it was even better this way.

"Kakashi? What are you doing here?"

"Maa…saving your life for one…"

*Naruto*

So, maybe, he should have thought it better.

Flinging a couple of medics to the side of a wall because his daughters weren't there wasn't a smart thing to do. In any event, the medics were fine, and not dead. Not like someone else was going to be, if he didn't find his two daughters soon.

Worse, was the fact that it settled it: there was only one way for his daughters to have been kidnapped from the hospital…

Tsunade had been a part of it from the beginning.

That was probably what brought him to become a heap of nerves. If he couldn't trust his own mother, who could he trust?

Then again, maybe he was just viewing things, and ghosts. Maybe his daughters had simply been brought back to the compound by her…yeah, it could be that.

If only, having already gone to his compound, he hadn't found it empty.

The feeling of panic for having lost one's own child is something extremely different, from the normal panic attacks.

You don't know where he is, what he's doing, what is going on. You don't know who has him, what they're doing to him, if he's ever going to come back.

If you lose two, then the panic is doubled. It doesn't matter if you're a trained shinobi, if you're the strongest one around, or if you're an emotionless freak: if you lose a child, you feel something, and that something… that's called dread.

The Senju compound was literally looked over twice, before, in the end, Naruto's right fist crashed against the dirt of the compound.

"Fine," Naruto muttered, his only eye shining behind his shades, "No more mister nice guy."

As his eyes closed, and his mindscape opened, he looked straight through the room, where the Kyuubi was snoring in a corner, peacefully. Sighing, he moved to the mirror, the one that held the view of Anko's eyes, and stood puzzled.

So, it wasn't Anko's idea, since she was in the forest of Death, being healed by Kakashi, of all people…why was Kakashi healing Anko's leg, but, more importantly, what was he doing there to begin with?

"Something must have happened…damn it!" As he returned to the world of the living, he gritted his teeth. There was no choice, was it? He had no idea what to do, but he knew, he just knew, he had to do something, anything at all!

So, he did the only thing he could do: he went straight ahead for Tobirama's laboratory.

At least, he would have, if a chameleon, from the window sill, hadn't hit him on the head with a small rock pebble, to get his attention.

"Oh…Kami thank you," the small chameleon was immediately hurled towards Naruto's ear, so that he could refer any message he had.

"Hum…what? No…You can't be…" with a light nod, the chameleon was dismissed.

Naruto's single eye moved, gazing towards the mountain, and the Hokages' faces.

"You're all bastards, to be Hokage has to mean being a bastard…well…fair enough: I'm done…I'm out for blood, do you hear me? I'm out for blood!" the earth shook, and the ground trembled, as geysers of water jettisoned from the depth of the earth, "And by the time I'll be done…by the time your betrayals, your lies, your deceit will come to the light…" the water twisted, forming a whirlpool that crashed against the nearby trees, tearing them apart, "Then I will have my revenge…" and the bubbling water, just like that…froze.

A whirlpool of ice stood where once was a part of the Senju's clan compound garden, perfectly frozen, still, and not melting.

Naruto walked, careful steps after careful steps, out of the compound…he needed time to think, to plan, to come up with _more_.

Fighting an evil mastermind was bad enough…but two? That wasn't going to be easy…at all, especially considering who they were…he needed allies.

And he just had _hunch_ about it…he knew where to find some.

*Minato*

The Fourth Hokage sighed, looking at the situation at hand. He had to blame Kiri, for something he knew had been Danzo's doing. He couldn't blame Danzo, because if he did, then he'd have to admit having been a part of the Uchiha's slaughter, and even worse, having been the sender of Itachi.

Worst, it would admit to Itachi, who had been spying in Akatsuki, that he was the one who ordered the death of those he had promised to spare. So, he could only blame Kiri.

To blame Kiri, he had no choice but take the necessary steps, forging fake actions done by the Kiri Genins and their assigned Jounins within Konoha…he looked once more at the reports of the Kirigakure Jounins.

Mangetsu and Chojuro, both swordsman of the mist...it was going to be extremely difficult not to suffer a too strong political backslash, he actually needed them to be caught, by a large number of eyewitnesses, before he could even think of presenting data to the Mizukage of Kirigakure.

Especially since its regent change after the bloodline wars, there was no way to tell what climate was going on, over there.

But in the bloody mist, one thing was always known: people there were headstrong and prone to fight to the death. He just needed something, anything, to…

"Hokage-sama, they've left the village," was the Anbu's voice, as he appeared straight in the room, his mask, a lion one, on his face.

"Damn it: they must have had a spy in our midst!" Minato's voice increased a notch, before crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing down, "No choice: continue with the exam, increase the border patrols near Kiri, and send order for Inoichi and Ibiki to come here immediately."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

Minutes later, Minato was facing Danzo, alone, in the office.

"Danzo! Do you realize what you're doing!?"

"I am doing what has to be done, Hokage-sama. My sources have told me that Kiri is a puppet government, led by the Akatsuki."

"And you have us declare war during the Chuunin exams!?"

"No, I am having Kiri being blamed for the Uchiha slaughter, for attempting on the life of the clan's head of the Senju, and for the kidnapping of his daughters," the Yami of Shinobis spoke quietly, receiving a perplexed face from Minato.

"You didn't…"

"I did, Hokage-sama."

"You can't be serious, Danzo, one thing is planning for him to become the next Hokage through trickery, but this? This is completely different!" Minato's right hand made a swipe in front of him, like moving out of the way such foolish idea.

"What is foolish? He is under the impression that Akatsuki is a good force…freeing the Jinchuurikis from their pains, when he'll know that Kiri is behind both the slaughter of Itachi's clan, and the destruction of his precious friendship with the Uchiha heir…once we tell him that Kiri works for Akatsuki, once we tell him that…do you really think he won't help us destroy them?"

"We are the ones behind the slaughter of the Uchiha clan, Danzo! Itachi knows it's been you!"

"I know, that was the prize to pay to keep my loyalty indisputable…but until my last breath, I will safeguard Konoha's interest, Hokage-sama, and if those interests are through the destruction of Kiri, then so be it! Look around! Itachi will accept to be reunited with his family, his crimes will be null, and you can reveal his long-lasting mission as an Akatsuki spy. Think about it! The plan works!"

"If Itachi doesn't speak with Naruto or if he doesn't take the blame! If he does, then tell me, where does that leave us!?"

"But Itachi won't speak, Namikaze…" Danzo muttered, "I can be very…convincing, about it."

"You're still going to die by his hands?" Minato retorted.

"Well…maybe I can manage to avoid that," the Yami of shinobi replied, a light chuckle escaping his lips, "After all, you have nothing to worry about, Hokage-sama…just sit on your chair, and let me deal with the problems that might arise…"

"Fine, Danzo…but consider yourself warned: harm any of Naruto's daughters…"

"Obviously…I wouldn't even think about it."

As the Yami of shinobi turned to leave, a thought crossed Minato's head, but he quickly suppressed it, in favor of concentrating on the task at hand: blaming Kiri.

It was, after all, their fault for the Uchiha slaughter...it wouldn't do to let them get away with the attempted murder of one of Konoha's most important clan's head.

*Danzo*

The Yami of Shinobi gritted his teeth in frustration, before turning his murderous single eyed gaze to his root operative, in the damp cellars of the Root headquarters.

"What do you mean, you didn't kidnap them!?"

"Danzo-sama, they were escorted out of the hospital by Tsunade Senju herself…we lost them," as the operative spoke quietly, Danzo turned his gaze to the remaining root shinobis with the sharingan implanted…sixteen of them. They would do.

"Tsunade can't have gone that far, find her immediately!"

"Hai, Danzo-sama," and without a second's hesitation, the root operative disappeared, silently, and without a show of smoke.

"Kukuku…as worrying as ever, the politics, right?" A voice hissed, from the corner of the room.

Orochimaru's body appeared from the very walls, his golden eyes looking around with vivid interest, before commenting, once more.

"These rooms get darker by the moment, I admit…"

"Orochimaru…you have news?" Danzo muttered.

"Oh…I do, and do not worry…as long as my payment is ready, you know I never fail…" the snake sannin chuckled, "Indeed Akatsuki is on the move, just as predicted…they will strike during the tournament, as the last match draws to a close, when dusk comes and darkness arrives…when the time to swallow Konoha comes, after all, will you be ready?"

"Obviously, now stop trying to be poetic, Orochimaru, and let's make another deal…"

"I'm listening, Danzo, I'm listening," The snake sannin's back touched the cold wall of the cell, without as much as a worry.

"I need you to find the Senju's daughter. Deliver them into my hands before the final of the exams."

"And might I ask why? You did tell the Hokage you had them, didn't you?" At Orochimaru's just so careful mention, the Yami narrowed his only eye. How did the man have spies even in the Hokage office? How could he hear what happened there?

"So you already know that Kiri isn't to blame," Danzo pointed out, only to receive a shrug in reply.

"It's not like I care…and I rather preferred when bloodlines were running away from Kiri, and into my waiting hands…" a light chuckle.

"Oh well…we can arrange them," the old man replied, his cane carefully tapping once on the ground.

"Good…then I want Tobirama, if you don't mind…" the wooden cane suddenly was torn through by a set of harsh winds.

"You…why would you?" Danzo queried, "You could have your own made, couldn't you? All you needed was just to perfect the Hashirama's bloodline, and you did that, by implanting it in a still growing fetus, you avoided a lot of possible complications…"

"A pity I tried…no, it needs a Senju's blood and flesh, and for that, I could wait and kidnap, in a few months, the incoming brat…but I don't want to wait on research…you can always have him, right? Just fake an accident…accident happen."

"Even if I did…what do you think I could offer to the Mitarashi? I already got one child...and that was with the Hokage's orders…"

"Well, then just kidnap the second one," Orochimaru replied smoothly, "Or are you telling me you wouldn't be able to?"

"You will bring me the Senju daughters…right?" Danzo growled lightly.

"I will, but as you know…I always get paid in advance, don't I?" The sannin's tongue moved to taste the air, as a Root operative appeared, carrying within his arms the small form of the blind boy.

"Then take him, but know that I need but a hand sign, to destroy him…" and with a mere movement of Danzo's hand, Tobirama screamed, clutching his head, as he fell on the ground in pain.

"Directly inside his brain, Danzo? My, you're cruel…really cruel," Orochimaru replied with a light grin, "But as I keep my side of the deal…you will keep yours, if he dies…" the light growl was enough, as Danzo merely scoffed, removing the hand sign.

"Just so we understand each other, Orochimaru…"

"Oh…we do, we always do," and then, Orochimaru's pale hand touched the boy's head, the grey hair of his, before caressing his right cheek and whispering into the boy's ears.

"Well then, you'll get your precious Senju daughters, this boy's stealers of happiness, of light, of sight," the kid cringed and shivered, not understanding, but yet feeling something wrong, "before the last match goes on, don't worry about it…"

And then, the exchange was done, and Tobirama was no more.

And in the shadows, for once, Danzo smirked.

*Anko*

Anko Senju felt like shit.

It wasn't the lack of strong painkillers, because she was pregnant.

It wasn't the lack of her Koibito, because he was busy with his team, certainly.

It wasn't the fact that her daughters hadn't even come by to visit her.

It wasn't the fact that she had nearly risked her yet to be born baby's life while battling impossible odds.

It was the fact that her guts were twisting with pain, and regret.

She had tried to go for her S-rank mission's notice, for Hokage's eyes only, and she had failed. Someone had burned down the entire archives, stealing the notice of her mission, and there was nothing that had remained in there.

Nothing at all, meaning that, on one side, she was free from the Hokage's menace…on the other, she wasn't, because all it took would be the Hokage merely calling her back to rewrite the mission's objectives, to reconfirm everything.

But the Hokage hadn't called her, and he hadn't called her because she was supposed to be busy, always, in keeping her Koibito on the good side of Konoha.

Now…now she actually had time. If the Hokage ever decided to pass by her hospital room, to have her sign again the S-rank's mission…then it was going to be all over again.

So she had hope, hope that even as her Koibito became Hokage he'd still love her…just as long as nobody had her sign that form again.

Yet…the door opened, and Anko's heart sunk down, to the bottom of her stomach. Kushina Namikaze had just strolled in, casually, displaying a light smile, before sitting down on a chair next to her.

Anko…Anko had hated the guts out of Kushina, at first, when she had known what the woman had done to Naruto. Then, when she had been told, by Naruto of all peoples, because he trusted her, how she had done anything but believe in him, not having a faulty seal, and instead believing in the people's words, she had truly hated her entire being.

In the end, however, the Hokage had given her another version, one she had been sworn to secrecy: and in this version, Kushina had merely done a mistake, misinterpreting certain events, that led her to act irrationally, and by then, there was too much involved to actually reinsert Naruto in the family without him renouncing his shinobi status. Something the boy wouldn't do, ever.

So, instead of simply hating her for being a bad mother, she now hated her also for being a coward without a spine, and an idiot.

This meant that Anko, seeing her enter the hospital room meant nothing more than trouble, because, otherwise, there was no reason for the older woman who knew, who really knew, how much Anko hated her guts, to simply come by for a friendly visit.

"We need to talk, Anko-san," Kushina started, with a light smile.

"What is this about, Namikaze-san?" Anko replied, her eyes narrowing on the red haired woman's form.

"Well…I'm not really a politician, so I'll cut to the point," the Namikaze replied, producing a set of papers, who Anko knew were the official ones, for having the S-ranks matched and registered.

Strange, how the actual mission's tag-name held but one line, yet the paper for submitting it required a triple copy.

"I know that my husband will probably not approve, but I can convince him not to lay these back in the archives…you understand, of course, that there is something I want," Anko's voice trembled, as she queried, looking at the woman's eyes.

"H…How do you…"

"Please, husbands can't hide things from their wives, no matter how much they try, so I know how well your little devious plan is going on…" Kushina muttered, "If he knew, he'd probably be heartbroken, wouldn't he?"

"You…Just tell me what you want," Anko growled, clenching the hospital's sheets with her hands.

"First off, we are hereby friends," at Anko's widening eyes, Kushina replied with a coy smile, "Second, we would like to be a part of our grandchildren's life…if you understand what I'm saying, then it's all good, and these…" referring to the papers, "Can disappear in a moment…but if you don't…well, a pity, but I do require a signature on them…can't have something as dangerous as a…"

"I understand," the purple haired Kunoichi muttered, "I understand…there are times where I simply don't know who to give Yumi-chan to, for babysitting, and it would be…" the words came out forced from her mouth, but she had done worse, heck, she was doing worse even then, what was it, more lies, more forced smiles, as long as she still could be within his arms? Nothing, they were nothing.

"Good…then these…can disappear," and just like that, those papers that were haunting her were no longer there, "Anko-chan."

"N…Kushina-chan," Anko replied, "I suppose…I need to rest now?"

"Oh yes…I can't wait to see my new grandnephew, or grandniece, coming out…we'll be the best of friends, by then, oh that we will be," Kushina smiled, as she said those words, before standing up to leave.

Anko's back dropped against the bed's surface, her eyes closing, fighting off the tears.

Damn hormonal imbalances, always making her cry.

*Somewhere*

"So…is everything going along?"

"Yes, sensei."

**Author's notes**

**And another chapter rolls through.**

**Let the tales of darkness and infamy reach new levels.**

**How many aim for power, and how many aim for light? **

**Where is the truth, hidden beneath the machinations, the lies and the deceits?**

**Who is with who, and who betrays who?**

**Where is the dagger going to strike, when the game comes to an end?**

**Who is the real enemy, and who is but a hidden friend?**

**What is the foe's real face, when lies fall and no truth is found?**

**Who knows…**

**Well, I do.**

**Q&A**

**Maito Gai and Mikoto, really? It was fun to write. I write for fun. I was bent in two from laughter while writing the scene, so yes.**

**Tobirama poor kid's eyes he activates the sharingan thanks to the bloodline of the Mokuton (Something that I deem possible, seeing how Danzo's use of a Mokuton-arm grants him the usage of Ten damn sharingans with little chakra consuming) obviously, why have him keep his eyes, when he needs to activate the eyes of the slaughtered Uchiha's kids, to later on have them mature out?**

**The Orochimaru's battle Sannin's got reflexes, kid's don't. I mean, really, Orochimaru *is* scary. Naruto could have dodged, Kiba, for how much he can be trained, wouldn't have if the sannin had been serious. While I'm not going around flaunting in pure Dragonball Z style the power-ups, (Like having Naruto suddenly grow his air and go super-sayan) it is clear that there are differences that no amount of training, no matter how much insane, can be covered in one month.**

**The four Kiri missing nins Everyone knows Danzo loves suicide missions. **

**Naruto or Anko having a bloodline No. The fact remains, however, that Naruto *Is* a Senju, technically, he does have the Senju's blood, and that alone marks his descendant as one, and as a more highly receptive to the Mokuton *implant* that Orochimaru so gladly provided for Danzo (it has to have been him to perform it, and to perform it, it had to have been done after the massacre, meaning that Danzo and Orochimaru kept contacts even after the snake sannin's defection)**

**So, as always, Anko is to blame.**

**As always, don't worry if it seems strange who's with whom. If you knew, then I wouldn't be doing a good job!**

**Ps: I have a poll on my profile, for another story...on which I've been dibbling for a while.  
**


	19. CD: Approaching

Chapter Nineteenth

The tower at the center of the forest of death came into view, at the end of the fifth day, like a beacon of hope, rest, and healing, for the three Genins of team Senju.

At least, only two set of eyes were looking at the scenery. Kiba was, for lack of better terms, knocked out. He was feverish, shivering, and had his own bouts of teeth chattering, but wasn't with his eyes open. Strange flame like black patterns had appeared all over his body, for a couple of nights, before recessing back. They had been lucky in finding the scroll they needed.

Katsumi had awakened first, before swiftly grabbing Hinata, and, once she had been brought back, the Hyuga had done her best to heal herself and the Namikaze, before turning to take care of Kiba's injuries, who were the most grievous. They actually met Kakashi along the way, having been sent by the Hokage to escort them out, and get the seal taken care of…but they had refused.

They had refused, because they wanted to prove to their sensei how strong they actually were, and with an extremely lucky event, they had even managed to find, laying on the ground, the scroll they needed.

So, as the three entered the tower, the two Kunoichi carrying the Inuzuka, with Akamaru walking, in front of them, they came into view of two statues, both carrying a message on the base of the rock depiction of Hashirama and Tobirama.

"If you lack…seek enlightenment," Hinata muttered, looking at the base of Tobirama's statue, before Katsumi whispered back, looking at the other statue.

"If you lack…seek the fields," at that, the red haired girl looked at the scrolls, before commenting, "Maybe we should open both scrolls?"

"Yeah, I suppose we should, it's that or having the mutt try to sniff out another proctor," Hinata retorted, as Kiba's slumped form pitifully whined.

"Well, here goes…"

As both Kunoichi opened their scrolls at the same time, dropping them on the ground, nothing happened. At least, nothing happened immediately. Five seconds later, a puff of smoke revealed the presence of Naruto Senju, only, not the normally happy one.

His only eye showed bags beneath it, his expression was one of pain and sadness, and, truly, his only eye, hidden behind the sunglasses, had one been able to look through, would have looked more haunted than normal.

"Sen…sei?" Katsumi queried, worriedly.

"You three…" Naruto muttered, gritting his teeth, "What were you thinking!?" he accused, grabbing Kiba with strength from both Kunoichi's arms, "You let him keep that on for five days?! Can you be more stupid!? I taught you better! I thought you would have valued your comrade more than a stupid exam! You've disappointed me, now head over to the infirmary to get checked up, and come back here when the bell rings, for the end of the second part."

Without another word, the Senju walked away, towards another area, leaving the two Kunoichis to fight back their tears.

"I…We…" Katsumi's mutters were interrupted by Hinata, sharply slapping her own cheek, before turning to face the red haired teammate.

"Look flat-board, we've got no choice now: we both become chuunins and get sensei to forgive us, or we hope he won't transfer us in another team," at the Hyuga's words, the Namikaze's eyes bulged a bit in shock, before quickly biting her lip, to rein in her emotions.

"Fine... We have to win, for sensei's forgiveness and for Kiba," with that decided, both girls headed to the infirmary, not wanting to incur in their sensei's wrath any longer.

Meanwhile, Naruto Senju had brought Kiba to a room with kanjis written all around the floor and the walls, in a circle like pattern.

"Akamaru, stay out of the circle, would you?" the white furred dog merely barked his understanding, staying out of the ink circle, his whines pitiful, in worry for his master.

"He'll be fine…as long as I get this from harming his body," the Senju muttered, placing Kiba at the center of the circle of ink. Then, moving to the side, Naruto dropped both hands on the ground, letting the chakra feed the array of symbols, that came to shine in a bright blue light, before starting to spin, around Kiba, and diminishing its circumference. The circle kept becoming smaller and smaller, until it started reaching for Kiba's body, and then his shoulder, finally stopping its circles around the seal.

"Fūja Hōin" Naruto's whisper echoed in the room, as the seal stopped shining, leaving an ink circle around the three tomoe-like symbols.

Then Kiba slumped on the ground, his breathing far more regular.

"Let's get him to the infirmary now…a good night of rest, and he'll be as good as new. A bit pissed for having lost the exams, but…it's better this way," the Senju whispered, grabbing the boy within his arms, to carry him out. As he reached for the infirmary, he was stopped midway by a limping Anko, who was just then coming in the opposite direction.

"Anko?" Naruto's question was met with a low growl from the purple haired woman.

"Where. Have. You. Been!?" she snarled, before stopping for a moment, to look at Kiba's neck, still fully visible.

"Is…Is that?" as the Kunoichi queried, Naruto merely nodded, before replying soothingly.

"I'll get him in the infirmary…you should go there too, by the way. What happened?" as Naruto began to move, Anko bit her right hand, before turning to follow her husband.

"I…I can't find Yumi, or Karin…Are they out on a trip with their grandmother? I mean…you could have left me a note on where she went with them, you know?" at the question, Naruto tensed slightly, but didn't stop, not until he had dropped Kiba on a bed, all without speaking to either Katsumi or Hinata, who were being medicated by a medic-nin.

"Oh hello you two," Anko whispered, waving at the two girls, who, instead, seemed to be worried about their sensei.

"Okay, enough silence, what's going on in here?" the purple haired woman asked, looking from teacher to student and vice-versa.

"Why don't you tell me, Anko?" Naruto asked, his voice extremely cold, "Why don't you tell me why you decided it would be fun, to try and face our ex-sensei alone, in the forest, instead of running to warn the Anbus, to save my students, or anything but going to a senseless suicide mission?"

Anko took a deep breath…well, he was angry… she had expected something like this, considering he hadn't come once to see her in the hospital.

"Look, Naruto-koi, I can…"

"You can shut up," Naruto snapped back at her, "These two thought it would be fun to keep trying to reach the tower, risking their own lives and that of Kiba for a stupid exam, when neither of the three would have been able to defeat an academy student in their conditions!" as the medic-nin looked with a bit of worry towards Naruto, the Senju nevertheless kept speaking.

"And I had to learn this from Kakashi, because you were knocked out and in a delicate surgery, because, Kami be damned you were pregnant, and didn't even think to tell me? So!? What reason did your mind come up with!? You should have stayed in the damn tower, so, maybe, when Karin or Yumi were kidnapped," at that, Anko's mouth opened to release a startled croaking sound, something in between shock and despair, "Then you could have been there, couldn't you? No, obviously…well, congratulation, Anko, I won't be able to watch my students fight, because I have to keep tracking down where the kidnappers went!"

"K…Koi…" Anko tried to use her hands to grab something, of Naruto's armor, to hold on. She was feeling the vertigos, the room was twirling, and she felt…she felt something being torn away from within her. Her baby? Yumi? Gone? She was…she was such a…if she was gone…then…oh Kami no, Tobirama? What about him then?

Naruto however pushed the kunoichi aside, leaving the room in a hurry…and Anko dropped on the ground, hyperventilating, to say the least.

The medic-nin was on her, trying to calm her down, but the kunoichi wasn't hearing any of it. Her perfect heaven, her perfect peace…gone. She couldn't use Danzo to have her daughters disappear from Naruto's mind, could she? No she couldn't, those were her daughters too, she'd miss them, in the end, they were part of her paradise. She had thought her Koi had been cold, not coming to visit her…but instead he had been looking for their daughters all this time.

She felt the need to cry, just like when she was but a kid, being told her parents had died and she was now alone.

She didn't even realize that Katsumi had helped her get on her feet, to then sit down on one of the free beds, nor did she realize that Hinata was gently patting her head. She just…she just felt so…alone.

There was no longer the mystical medicine to heal all problems. Danzo couldn't help her in bringing back Yumi and Karin, could he? And if he could…then what price would he ask?

She held a hand over her stomach, ignoring any question or words said to her…and then, biting her lower lip, she realized she had a choice.

An unknown against the known…she could bargain on that, couldn't she?

"_I'm sorry…really…I'm sorry."_ Without another word, Anko Senju stood up, wobbling towards the door…she had to reach Danzo, she had to bargain with Danzo…she would offer to the king of darkness a yet to be born child, in exchange for her daughters' safety…

It was the only way she saw. Always going to Danzo for problems…that was the solution to every problem…every, single, problem.

As the woman left, without a word, the bell rang for Katsumi and Hinata…they had their own battles to participate in, and couldn't afford to wait.

*Arena for Preliminary matches*

Twenty Genins stood in lines of four, watching, in front of them, as the Hokage, his cerulean eyes scanning the crowd, gave his speech on the values of hard work and training.

Minato Namikaze's face held no shadows, and it looked like a normal, slightly cheerful, face. The only problem was that it wasn't true. In truth, the Fourth Hokage was hiding behind his smiling attitude the lingering thoughts of what was going to happen soon.

Someone else, entirely, had entered the game. Now, it was going to be a problem finding out who had done so and why. It could have been Akatsuki, to kidnap his son's daughters, but it also could have been Danzo. It could have been Itachi or Orochimaru himself, for all he knew of the Snake's sannin last location.

They had received news, from *his* spy-network, that Orochimaru had become the secret leader of Sound, but without proof, it was enough to have removed the Kiri ninjas without an actual reason, to remove another team, and again use forgeries…it wouldn't work.

So now, as he finished his talk, he realized that, of Katsumi's team, the Inuzuka was the one missing, but since they had arrived in the tower all together, then it did grant their team passing. It simply meant that the poor boy had to wait next year, hoping that Naruto, as an Hokage, would let him go even with that cursed seal.

Minato Namikaze knew, truthfully, that his time as an Hokage would end, eventually. He also knew it was going to be soon, during the Chuunin exams. His only hope was that, when that time would come, it would be his son who'd take his place. However, he had hoped to at least get him to warm up with Katsumi and Kushina, but the recent events…and his daughter's headstrongness had all but shattered the little hope he had.

Now, it was up to Katsumi alone, to maybe repair the burnt bridge that she herself had destroyed, with her last actions: hers and of her teammate. Still, he kind of wondered who gave the girls the remaining scroll.

"And since you are, however, too many, we are going to hold preliminary rounds, the board will automatically update with the names of those who have to stay here and fight, so please, reach for the upper floors and wait there until your name appears," with those words, Hayate Gekko appeared right next to the Hokage.

"I am Hayate Gekko, and I will proctor this part of the second exam, since Senju Anko seems to have been indisposed. In case of a clear visible winner, I will stop the match immediately. Otherwise, fight to your heart's content…" as the proctor finished speaking, the board shone brightly, while displaying two names.

"Katsumi Namikaze and Sakura Haruno, please remain here. All the others: reach for the upper level."

*Katsumi Namikaze Vs Sakura Haruno*

Katsumi was watching, with a worried look, Sakura who, instead, seemed to be at ease while stretching her limbs and cracking her neck.

"Katsumi-chan! Give me a good match!" the pink haired girl exclaimed, a smile on her face, "If I win, Kakashi-sensei promised me five new jutsus!"

"Ah…so that's why you're not worried?" Katsumi muttered back. Well, she had been afraid of harming her friend, but since there seemed to be no ill will, and no problems, then, maybe, she could go all-out too without problems.

"Nope!" the cheerful smile of Sakura was a bit forced, but, after all, the pink haired girl was trying to forget about the Uchiha's recent behavior. There was no way she was going to fall for the raven haired boy; none at all, especially because of the sharingan. Where other idiots saw a powerful bloodline, and a strong Doujutsu, what she saw was the cheater's way to success, and that…that was something she didn't like at all.

"Well then, let's get this party starting!" and as the proctor gave the signal, both girls charged at each other, only for Katsumi to duck to the side, avoiding a fist-sized fireball, coming at her through Sakura's bunshin.

Sakura, in truth, hadn't moved from her position, instead having a bunshin move forward, and hiding within the illusion her resized fireball jutsu: longer range, minor power, perfect for making an opponent dodge.

Katsumi's moving to the side was met with the ground breaking from a minor electrical discharge.

"Raiton: Electromagnetic murder!" Sakura was cheerful, even with the electricity sparkling through her hands and cracking the ground.

Katsumi's right hand went to her kunai, flinging it at the ground to act as a lightning pole, while she jumped backwards, only to be met with another ferocious barrage of fireballs. These, however, didn't follow straight lines, but started to curve to meet the landing point of the red haired girl.

It took a moment, for the Namikaze to realize that Sakura had wire in her mouth, and was pulling it backwards to have the fireballs curve, said fireballs being, in truth, shurikens enflamed by the fire chakra.

"Fine! You want fire? I'm giving you fire! Futon: Daitoppa!" Fire trumps wind. That much is a certainty of the shinobi life.

The problem lay in the shuriken's mass, that, following the laws of physics, when presented with a wind, whose power was directly proportional to the amount of chakra given, meaning it was typhoon level because of Katsumi's chakra usage, could but do one thing: start flying the other way.

Coupled with the increase in size of the fire in the shurikens, because of the previously mentioned law of chakra affinities, it meant that hay ball sized fireballs, with shurikens rotating within, flew straight back at Sakura.

The green eyed Genin looked at the incoming mass of fiery doom, and did the only thing she could: try and jump backwards. In doing so, however, she dropped from her mouth the wires, and that was a mistake.

No longer guided by something, the shurikens stopped following a straight path, and without a constant chakra output to keep their forms, the fireballs exploded.

Some in mid-air, flinging the metallic shrapnel straight in the direction the wind blew…and against Sakura.

The pink haired girl fell on the ground with a strangely soft thud, pieces of molten metal on her chest and arms, used to shield the bigger debris from her face. The proctor looked at the scene with a bit of perplexity. That much carnage as the first match of the preliminaries wasn't something he would have expected.

"Winner is…" and then Sakura, slowly, got back up.

"Sakura Haruno, can you keep on fighting?" Hayate looked at the pink haired girl, who was back up, her breathing ragged, and just then…he sighed.

"Katsumi Namikaze is declared the winner of the match."

"Hey! Sakura's still on her feet!" Ino yelled from the upper floor.

"Ino," Kakashi muttered, "Sakura is standing…but she's no longer awake."

"W…What?" as Ino muttered that, she shook her head in disbelief, "No way…"

Hayate gestured for the medic-nins, to come and take Sakura out of the area, and for once, Sasuke's eyes looked at the form of the girl leaving, and something, inside of him, twisted a bit.

"Ino," Sasuke muttered, "Get to the finals and let's avenge Sakura."

"Oh…Yes, Sasuke-kun!" the blond haired girl replied, a smile on her face, as she nodded happily. Forehead girl was going to be so pissed, when she realized Sasuke had given his trust to her.

Kakashi, instead, smiled behind his mask…for once, the avenger had a nice thought, in wanting to avenge his teammate.

Hayate, down below, coughed for a moment, before the screen flickered to light once more.

*Hinata Hyuga Vs Neji Hyuga*

Hinata stood on one side of the arena, her posture already in position for a fight, her eyes glowing brightly with determination, while Neji on the other hand wasn't looking all the more ready to fight.

"Neji, get into your damn position and fight me," Hinata muttered, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Hinata-sama…is something troubling you?" Neji's words showed a mock display of sarcasm, as the Hyuga's heir simply bit her lower lip.

"You know the reason," she whispered.

"No, I do not. What is it? The fact that I refused your help, in changing the clan's ways? Live with it, I'd rather die, than follow any main clan Hyuga, no matter how kind or gentle they can look," the boy replied, his posture never once betraying his intent to attack.

"Why does he always defend you?" Hinata muttered, "Why is it always you, that gets protected, that gets praised, that always does things right? Why is it you?"

"Maybe," Neji replied with a light grin, "It's because I'm worthy of the praises, and you are not."

"I'll show you! He should have been there for me, and not for you!" and with a snarl, Hinata charged, her fists imbued with fire chakra, only to be met with equal amount of opposing force.

"Hakke Kūshō!" both attacks hit at the same time, the waves of chakra sent off with flames erupted from the impacting point of the techniques. In the dazzling light of the fire, both contestants charged through, uncaring of the heat, as their blows were met and their attacks deflected.

Sparkles flew as sooth began to cover both Hyugas' bodies, while neither seemed to be on the receiving end, they also didn't seem to be landing any blows. They were perfectly equal, perfectly equated.

Minato watched the scene unfolding, in front of his eyes, and couldn't help but repress the sad thought that both were more than apt Chuunin material, and yet only one could pass on…he could have the other promoted, but then again…he wasn't going to be in his office, by the end of the exams.

"Hakke Shitenkūshō!" both Genins were so much in sync that it was scary to watch, as three chakra waves of fire hit against one another, and each adding light, heat and flames to the point of impact, precisely in between the two now jumping away Hyugas.

"It seems we won't be able to solve this with the basic Juken style," Hinata muttered.

"There is nothing to solve, Hinata-sama, I will not back down until I die," Neji retorted, his eyes never once showing fear, instead, a furious determination.

"Oh…I'll hold you on to it, then, don't hate me for showing you who's the strongest…Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!" as Hinata charged, her fists ready to hit the sixty-four Tenketsu points on Neji, she grinned. This was a technique that only a main family Hyuga was taught. There was no way Neji could have learned it, and thus, there was no way he could counter it…

Just as her first strike came to reach him, Neji spun, "Hakkeshō Kaiten!"

It was enough for Hinata to freeze, for a split second, and it was more than what Neji needed to have his right hand, during the spinning, grab a hold of the Hyuga heir's wrist, and fling her against the wall.

Hinata's impact against the wall made the girl gasp for air, as she fell on the ground, before standing back up, taking deep breathes as her eyes showed a malicious fury that she never displayed before.

"That was…who taught you that!?"

"Sensei always said that what can be seen, can be copied. The sharingan is overrated…as long as one has eyes, then there is nothing that can't be mimicked," Neji whispered back, "Though it seems the precious heir of the main family won't be able to win this, isn't it strange how fate doesn't actually work?"

"Fate? I'll show you fate!" and just then, with her face filled with hatred, Hinata's right hand went to the symbol to activate the caged seal on Neji's forehead.

For a moment, the entire arena froze, as nobody could believe that the girl could go that far, even Neji, actually, took a moment to hold his breath, before he suddenly began convulsing, screaming and falling on the ground.

"Surrender or die, Neji!" Hinata's furious exclamation was met with nothing but gurgled screams and convulsing limbs, that, however, seemed to reach for something within the boy's sleeves.

"Well? Not giving up? Are you really going to die rather than admit defeat?"

Hayate was looking in awe at the boy. He knew all too well how much pain such a seal could inflict, he had been told by numerous branch members who belonged in Anbu, and of how if overused it would destroy their eyes and fry their brains…and yet, the boy was still refuting the option.

It pained his heart to have the girl win the match, but it was that or let the boy die, and he had shown himself more than worthy of living…

"W…"

"Never!" and with a fierce roar, Neji's right hand slammed something onto his bare forehead, where the caged seal stood.

Then, in an awed silence, Neji Hyuga stood back up, like a wounded warrior who still stands in front of the hail of arrows, the piece of paper on his forehead shining with flicker of embers.

"What…" Hinata's words died in her mouth, as Neji's speed doubled, his right fist cracking through the girl's ribs like they meant nothing, and then, in a flurry of blows whose style clearly belonged to Rock Lee, while yells of Youth escaped from the upper floor, as the two green spandex clad men roared their cheers.

"YOSH! Neji-kun has awakened his powers of youth!"

"Gai-sensei! Neji is going to win with the Strong Fist style!"

"Yosh! I'm so proud of that boy! Let the fire of youth burn brightly, Neji!"

Hinata on the other hand…felt pain. Her right hand cracked, her left arm was broken. Her ribs were busted, and blood was coming out of her mouth, as she fell on the ground, lifeless or seemingly so.

Neji, instead, stood still, his eyes never wavering, his resolve absolute, as his right hand grabbed the girl's neck.

"Deactivate the seal, for fate cannot defeat me," as he venomously muttered that, Hinata's bleak eyes let go of her tears, as with a half hand sign, the caged seal stopped acting, and Neji dropped the girl, once more, on the ground.

"Winner…Neji Hyuga," Hayate muttered, looking at the boy bow politely, before turning and leaving for the upper floor.

"I don't believe this…" Minato whispered, as he recalled the piece of paper's function, "it was…a chakra suppressing seal…he fought her…without chakra." The simplicity of it was brilliant. Seals required chakra to work. Remove the chakra and…the seal becomes nothing more than a tattoo. All one has to do is offset the lack of chakra with something else, like physical training…and the solution is there.

"Yosh!" on the upper balconies, the exclamation of youthfulness and fire of youth echoed brightly, while below, in silence, Hinata's mind drifted to the darkness of sleep, medic-nins carrying her towards the infirmary.

When she did re-open her eyes, she was staring at the bleak face of Katsumi, who was looking at her with a worried expression.

"I lost…" was all that Hinata whispered, as Katsumi merely nodded, "Sensei will never forgive me…"

"He won't, that's for sure, but not for the reason you think," the older voice that came to her ears was that of her father, of all people. In truth, Hiashi Hyuga was sitting just to the side of Katsumi, looking at his eldest daughter with displeasure clearly written on his face.

"Otou-sama? I…I'm sorry I lost," the Hyuga heir replied.

"No, you should be sorry for what you did," Hiashi retorted, "I spoke with Neji," a tinge of pain and anger on Hinata's face appeared, and swiftly disappeared as her father's face turned murderous, "And you did far worse than losing. You forced him to rely on something that can actually annul the caged bird seal, during your fight. When news of this will circulate through the branch family, do you know how much the tension will rise?"

"Then what? It's my fault he couldn't just die?" Katsumi's mouth opened in shock, at the sheer amount of venom Hinata was letting flow out of her mouth, "Like it's my fault Hanabi died, right? I should have seen it, with my precious Byakugan, and avoid it, but no, I had to be the heir by killing my little sister, because it was clearly intended by me!"

"Hinata, we are not discussing that issue, especially in front of strangers," Hiashi retorted, looking at Katsumi, who merely gulped down, before whispering.

"I…I just wanted to tell her I'm up against Neji, when the finals arrive…the day after tomorrow, they anticipated it for some undisclosed reason, and…well…"

"Just get out of here, Katsumi," Hinata muttered, "I have to speak with my father, it seems."

Katsumi merely nodded, and then dashed outside, closing the door of the infirmary behind her.

She had no idea why her father had anticipated the finals the day after tomorrow, instead of at the end of the week. Still, the majority of ambassadors was already there, even the Daimyo…it was strange. It wouldn't look well, politically, to anticipate such an event, but still.

She didn't know whether to feel pity, or worry, for Hinata, but right at the moment, she had to see her father.

Minato Namikaze had stayed behind, to overlook the final's fights. He wasn't worried, at least, not much. Sure, his precious daughter was going to fight the Hyuga's branch prodigy, who had seriously kicked down a peg the Hyuga's precious main family heir…but he wasn't worried, no…just a bit hesitant. As he skimmed through the other future battles, during the finals, he rearranged his thoughts.

The daughter of the Kazekage, having defeated Tenten, would first face off against Shikamaru, the Nara that had managed to defeat the sound girl, Kin Tsuchi. Then, the battle would be between Sasuke and Kabuto, both having defeated respectively Yoroi and Ino. On another side there would be Lee versus Misumi, the man having clearly won against the young nine years old Matsuri, or so her name was.

Really, was sand so much lacking on Genins, to resort to academy graduates?

Then, there was going to be Kankuro's and Shino's match, both having defeated Chouji and a certain Zaku from the sound team...basically no sound member had made it through to the finals, and that was good.

So…he just could hope in a miracle, and in his daughter's winning of the match. Or he could pray to Kami that Neji didn't act bitchy if there were no Hyuga main family involved. He was going to resort to the latter, clearly.

In any case, he had to hope…he had to hope Naruto wouldn't outright turn from Kind to murderous. He had to hope Danzo's mind controlling of the boy worked, because if it didn't…then there was going to be hell to pay. He just hoped that Danzo's little scheme came to light after he was out of the office. In that way, Naruto would win on both fronts.

He knew that his wife was trying to worm their ways into Naruto's life, little by little. He just hoped that there was still some kindness, by the end of this ordeal.

There was just something that was bothering him…the disappearance of the Kumogakure Genins. Maybe they had gotten lost in the forest, or had died, but still…

Looking through the charts, he found out which team had delivered in their scroll, since they all were numbered, and, in doing so, he raised an eyebrow in surprise.

His daughter's team had been the one to deliver the scroll…

How did they manage to defeat three Genins from Kumo, when they were in two, with the Inuzuka in those conditions? He should have Naruto give him a report on the seal's condition…but he had half a thought to wait, because for five days the Senju had been restless, looking throughout Konoha like a beast on the prowl.

Even the Anbus had refused to go on patrol where the Senju walked. It wasn't…nice, feeling a single murderous eye on them while they moved.

As his thoughts ran to possible future actions, he was startled away from the scroll he was reading by the yell of his daughter.

"Otou-san!" Katsumi exclaimed, moving closer to him, "Is Sakura going to be alright?"

Minato simply smiled back at his daughter, before nodding.

"Yeah, she'll be alright, Katsumi-chan, she's stable, and has been sent to the hospital," as he said that, the red haired girl nodded, before muttering in a worried tone.

"Otou-san…They kidnapped Karin-chan and Yumi-chan?" as the blue eyes of his daughter looked at him, Minato couldn't help but sigh, and then nod bleakly.

"Yeah, the kidnapper is still unknown," albeit Minato suspected, and was pretty much sure, it had been Tsunade…but why would the woman suddenly turn that way? It had to have been Danzo's scheming certainly…did he use some Genjutsu? But then, when did the man start?

"But, you're going to find them, right?" at that, Minato bit his tongue, before replying, carefully.

"Due to the exams, all shinobis were required to return to Konoha, because of possible infiltration risks…we can't sent teams out to patrol…and so researches won't start until the end of the exams."

"But Otou-san! They teach that trails go cold after two days!" Katsumi's exclamation was met with a fierce glare from Minato.

"I know that, Katsumi, but Naruto is a shinobi from the leaf, and he understands. That's why he hasn't left Konoha. However, we are sure that his daughters couldn't have left the village: the security is too tight for that. They are still in Konoha…where, however, is something that not even Naruto can crack."

"…so you are looking for them, right?" Katsumi asked, hesitantly.

"Yes, and when the exams will be over, we will look through every nook and cranny of the village, and under any pebble…is that good enough?" as the Hokage teased his daughter with a light smile, Katsumi pouted.

"No, but it's a start…do you think you could teach me the Kage Bunshin, Otou-san?" and with that question, the girl made her best puppy eyes.

*Naruto*

He had…he had no idea where to go. He had accepted the summoning to the tower, to look at his team's conditions, and see if it was as bad as Kakashi had told him. The two stupid girls had decided to keep going on…to let their teammate be in pain for days, before reaching the tower.

He didn't rescue his daughters, not yet…he had to make sure it wasn't a trap, and he had found out it wasn't…his daughters were really _there_. Which brought forth another set of problems, problems he knew had to be faced, and defeated. How, that was going to be a problem. Probably they had done so in good faith, maybe, it could even be up to debate…so he'd have to test them, as always.

Why couldn't people merely trust, and be done with it? Why did lies and subterfuge need to be used? He knew the answer, obviously: they were shinobi. No need saying something out loud when you can be sneaky, and subtle, about it.

Still, he kind of wondered how his team had even found a second scroll: it was a mystery…not improbable, considering how many animals in the forest were outright lethal to Genins…but still, they should have abandoned the exam, and try to get out alive from the forest.

Instead they had chosen to remain, and fight…idiots.

Naruto Senju looked, from the top of the tower, at the center of the forest of death. He wasn't precisely at the top floor…he was on the roof, actually. He could hear the noises coming all around the forest, the moving of animals, the slithering of snakes…everything.

"Oh, didn't think the spot would be taken," a calm voice spoke, only to receive a shrug from Naruto's shoulders.

"There seems to be a bit of moody weather up here," the voice muttered behind him, trying to probably strike up some conversation, but the Senju didn't feel the need to turn around.

"It's a quiet place, there's nothing here bad," the Senju replied, "There is no deceit, no lie, no harm…nothing but the air whistling through my hair, the sounds of the animals down below…humans lie always, don't they?"

"Meh…I'm not one for philosophy," the voice replied once more, "But I can tell you need to man up, and let go of your fears."

"Fears? I'm afraid?"

"That you are…I can smell it, you know? It's the fear of loss, the fear of not knowing what to do, the fear of the unknown…well…just live with it, or destroy it."

"How should I fight against an entire army of shadows, then?" Naruto retorted, only to hear a hissed laughter behind him.

"You don't fight shadows, boy…you shove them in the light, and you destroy them there. More will reform, and you'll have to crush them too. That is how you win against the darkness, isn't it?"

"Tell me…just how is it that you speak?"

"A word here, a sentence there, a Genin team…I survive, boy. Survival of the fittest, survival of the smartest, survival of the quickest, that's how you work. But you're afraid, you're afraid of opening the snake's nest, afraid of what you will find at the end, aren't you?"

"The shadows make pretty paintings," Naruto replied, in a low murmur, "Is it a crime, to want to keep watching them?"

"It is…because they are but shadows. Shadows do not belong to the light."

"What if I don't want the light?"

"Why wouldn't you? The light means freedom, it means liberty, it means destruction and death too, but mostly, light is nothing more than the side of a coin, tossed by the hand of fate."

"You know…I'm starting to doubt I'm still sane." Naruto replied, turning his only eye to stare back at his speaker, and barely suppressing a smirk.

"What can I say…I'm a fast learner, well…see ya boy, make sure to make your own choices, I'll be going to take the sun elsewhere," and with those words, the black scaled snake, with blue eyes, slithered away.

"I'm going mad," Naruto muttered to himself, standing back up, "If even a snake can talk to me, then I'd better go, before trees start doing their own talk…first, however, comes Tobirama."

And a shunshin later, the tower's top was deserted.

*Danzo*

So, he had planned something a bit more complicated then what was happening now. He had planned for the purple haired kunoichi to at least think, for a moment, that he was the one who had kidnapped her daughters. Instead, it turned out that said thought had never crossed the woman's mind. Instead, she had been, obviously, angry at the lack of Tobirama in the Root Headquarters.

"You promised me he would be kept safe," Anko muttered, looking at the now empty room of Tobirama, "You gave me your word, you used him to keep me in line, and I stayed in line, and yet…where is he!?"

"We had to move him, to a safer location…whoever kidnapped your daughters, tried to kidnap him too, but failed, obviously."

"I want to see him," Anko retorted, "Immediately."

"Are you making demands, to me?" Danzo asked, his tone never faltering, but the tension in the room did increase a notch.

"Where. Is. My. Son?" the kunoichi replied, eying the Yami of shinobis back murderously.

"He is somewhere safe. He'll be back after the exams," and after someone better takes the Hokage's hat, obviously, "Now, concerning your daughters' disappearance…"

"I want them back, send your Root goons everywhere, but find my daughters. You were the one who had me keep Yumi as my child, and now I need her back. Naruto isn't going to talk to me for months and without Yumi…"

"He might leave you, even if, right now…you're pregnant again, right?" as Danzo smirked, Anko's eyes moved sideways, to the wooden construction set of Tobirama, barely used.

"Yes, so what?" as soon as Anko had asked that, so too did she stop breathing, again, for a moment, before sucking in air, and whispering… "No." Had Tobirama been there, she would have said yes, without even thinking, she would have exchanged a yet to be born baby with her only son. Without him, however, there was no way she could trust Danzo, of all peoples, to keep his promises.

"Why not? You are the one at fault…aren't you? You should have kept your daughters safe, but instead…you didn't. So it's obvious that, if I have to rescue them…I need something. As you might know…accidents happen, and a stillborn is not much loved…is he?"

"That was before I found out Tobirama was missing!" Anko snapped back, "I'm not risking him or her for empty promises, Danzo!"

"My…to think we could make a deal…" the Yami of shinobi replied, "Who do you think holds your mission's report, young girl? Now, let me tell you this: you will lose everything, if you refuse. Naruto will know, he will take your child, and you will be, maybe, exiled from Konoha. You will lose everything, every single thing…"

Anko's eyes widened, at the realization that it had been Danzo to burn down the archives. At least…had he, really? Then he had taken extra care to take the documents out of there…meaning that she not only had to keep her word with the red haired bitch-whore, she also had to keep on the good side of the Yami of shinobis…it was hell.

"Haven't I already? I mean…what do I still have?" with the woman's hesitant reply, Danzo simply smiled.

"You could have a smaller family, but still one, right? All you need is but to trust in me…and I'll make sure that, with Naruto as a Hokage, he won't go looking for your S-rank missions…or for his missing child…accidents happen, and, with a tragic fatality at birth, who better than his darling wife to bring love to new heights, hum?" the words that came out of the man's tongue were said in a disgustingly sympathetic tone. Anko hesitated, as her entire posture betrayed that she was inwardly torn between accepting the offer or not.

But even if she did refuse, what was there for her? What could she do, actually, alone?

She had no choice, even if she didn't like it…there was pain and regret for her either way, but at least, in one way, she could try and forget about it. She could try…she could try the third road…

"I…I accept then, Danzo…save my daughters, save my marriage and…you can keep…this," as the woman gestured at her stomach, the Yami of shinobi smiled.

Everything was going to be fine.

Perfectly fine.

That was until he heard the subtle noise of a muffled gurgle. The one that comes when someone gets his throat slit. He tensed, slightly, realizing that Anko hadn't heard it at all, and, with a quick thinking decision, turned to leave. If the Kunoichi couldn't hear it, then it had been the work of an expert, and that the case…then he needed to ensure the survival of the woman's baby.

"If we are done, I have business to attend to, lead yourself out," the Yami of shinobi whispered that, as he slowly walked out of the door, before turning his gaze to the Root guard outside. Crimson blood was splattered across the wall, a second smile appearing on the man's throat.

The worst feature was that he could feel the same gurgling noise of death and the pungent smell of blood echoing throughout the headquarters, to the deepest depths. A light fog was barely reaching his feet, and with but a sniff, Danzo realized that letting the Kiri Jounins escape hadn't been a smart thing. Someone had already infiltrated Konoha…but that was an impossible thought.

It was impossible, Kiri was months away, there was no way for them to already have infiltration specialists within Konoha, so the only answer was that the Kiri's Jounin had to have been within the village, and hadn't escaped, instead choosing to stay and strike…

But if that was the case, how did they know of Root? Anko wouldn't have talked, so who? He heard another splatter, another gurgled death, choking on one's own blood…what death was more humiliating for his Root elites than this?

Danzo moved, carefully shifting his weight in order to not make a noise, his cane left near the wall, because he didn't need it. He had to be serious, and serious he would be. He doubted he'd need to resort to his secret weapon, but…removing the bracers required three minutes.

As the corridor that the Yami of Shinobi was following came to an end, the training grounds of Root came to view within seconds, and the gory sight within was something akin a carnage.

A silent painting of the bloodiest pits of hell opened to the sore eye of Danzo. Hardened shinobis, trained to fight and kill for his own will, all recalled back for the chuunin's exams grand finale, the finale that would have put him as the secret master of his puppet on the Hokage's throne…and yet…they stood there, blearily aghast with the realization that they were dying.

One after the other, they turned and fell. Something briefly flickered, and another gurgle escape one of the remaining's shinobis lips.

It was a parade of death. Blood pooled into the naturally smooth cavern's floor, reaching for any type of hole to fill. Masks that should have been of white ceramics were shattered, or bloodied, entrails had been pouring out from giant holes, within the chests of some of his strongest.

The light mist had a blood red hue, as Danzo, in silence, let a gust of wind escape his lips, to reveal the assassin, or the assassins.

One had relatively long, light-colored hair and pointed, shark-like teeth, he was wearing an outfit that consisted of a dark, sleeveless shirt, light-colored pants and striped leg-warmers typical of Kirigakure. He was carrying a water bottle attached to his belt around his waist and wore bandages around his neck.

The other, instead, had short, tufty blue hair, and dark eyes. He also had pointed shark-like teeth. He wore square, black-rimmed glasses connected to ear protectors, a blue pin-striped shirt and camouflage pattern pants.

Both stood silent, their eyes hardened by a hatred that Danzo knew all too well: the hatred of cornered beasts, that fight until their last breathes.

"So you did not escape," Danzo muttered, "And yet you came to the beast's den?"

"What can I say? I care for my little Genins," Mangetsu snarled back, with a light smirk, his sword wasn't Hiramekarei, but instead a rather thin and long sword, called Nuibari.

Hiramekarei was in the hands of Chojuro, or better yet, on his back, since for the use of the Silent killing, he had resorted to a Kiri's elongated kunai.

"Kiri shinobi fighting for their comrades?" Danzo muttered, "Please, such blatant lies do not work with me," with the slight sending of a pulse, two shinobis appeared right in front of him, both with the Root's mask on.

"Fu, Torune…take care of the intruders, I have to face someone…" and with that, Danzo actually turned around, leaving his two personal guards, summoned in a split second, to face off against the two swordsmen of the mist.

Danzo's eye went straight to meet the one of Naruto, both one eyed shinobis stared at each other, with a silent look. The Yami of shinobis could feel the Mitarashi moving closer to them, probably curious. Stupid girl, she should have left…she was going to be a liability.

"You remember once more? You are stupid to try and fight it… come on, just keep your eyes closed and go back upstairs…" behind the wrappings, the Kotoamatsukami began its work, once more, inserting false memories within the Kyuubi's mind, to pacify the boy.

"Not today…" Naruto's face grew harsher, as the pressure around the two suddenly grew in intensity, "Where is my son, Danzo?"

"Somewhere safe, Naruto, now, it is only a matter of time, before your brain refutes reality, and accepts my dream…I'll have to keep you occupied, I suppose…Shogi?" at Danzo's innocent remark, the Yami of shinobi howled from his mouth, within seconds.

"Fūton: Shinkū Renpa!" several blades of air darted forward, chipping at the cavern's floor, as they neared their target, who, instead, didn't move.

The air waves slashed through the man's body, turning him into water.

"Mizu Bunshin…as always…" Danzo's entire body moved forward, avoiding the thrown rock projectile.

"You are predictable, Naruto," the Yami of shinobi pointed out, his only eye staring to the side, where the projectile had come from. There clearly had to be a chameleon there…

"Ryuu, wasn't it? You spoke of him…after all, you always felt the need to please," as the man spoke once more, the crackling of a blade could be heard coming from around the cave.

Danzo spun to the right, letting his hand, enclosed in a bracer, hit the side of the Raijin no Ken, and then, with inhuman speed, he used the very own thunder blade to slice his bracers off, with a vertical swipe. While such a thing happened, a stream of condensed air hit with the strength of a sledgehammer against Ryuu's hidden back, making him puff away in smoke.

The next moment, Danzo's bandaged arm bulged, and Naruto, who had attacked him from the side, stopped to stare, to stare at the wooden appearance, and the face on the side of his shoulder, but, more importantly…at the sharingans on the side of the arm.

"You were the one who ordered the Uchiha's slaughter, then," Naruto whispered, "So this was the truth…Itachi never did it, did he? He never slaughtered his clan, and you had him pay for it, what did you do? Menaced to kill his family, had he not complied?"

"Well…I might have, but really…do we have to get physical, Naruto? You know that all I need is a hand sign, to kill your son?" Danzo grinned, as the Senju, instead, merely growled.

"You lie…and I won't believe you, ever again."

"But you'd believe your precious wife, wouldn't you? She always says the truth, doesn't she? Come on down, Senju-san, get the boy to understand his place!" Danzo was starting to grow nervous. He could keep the chakra drain on his arm with ease, but why wasn't his own Kotoamatsukami working? The boy should be pudding in his hands!

As Anko appeared from the shadows, she was clenching her hands together, trying a hesitant smile.

"Listen…Naruto-koi, please…Danzo-san is a good person, you have to believe in him, you know?"

"Fat chances, the Genjutsus are off, as is the brain meddling," Naruto retorted, his single eye never once leaving the form of Danzo.

"Please…I just had to do what the Hokage ordered me to!" Anko exclaimed, in tears, as the Senju merely muttered back.

"Oh…but I don't blame you for that. We are having a misunderstanding: I'm not blaming you for following orders. I'm blaming you for getting my brain repeatedly raped, for choosing the easy way out instead of the righteous one, and for condemning our son to live without eyes in a room underground, without ever seeing the sun! All for your personal gain! That is what I'm blaming you for: being an egoistic bitch! Caring only about yourself instead of others, and I must thank whoever invented the rule that rants must not be interrupted, because I had enough time to finish the sign-less summon!" and with that final exclamation, a massive wall of earth emerged from the ground behind them, trapping, effectively, the shinobis in the cave.

Then, suddenly, the walls, the floors, the entire cave, flashed pink, showing what looked like entrails, or innards of an animal, before actually hardening back to stone.

"This is Kamereon, the boss summons of chameleons, or at least, it's his stomach. From here, there is no escape, for neither of you! I am calling off the lies and the deceits! Today we shine a light of truth on you lot!"

Danzo gritted his teeth, staring with an angry face at the grey haired boy, as he gave his rant on truth. He just hoped Fu and Torune finished their enemies quickly, so they could immobilize the Senju brat. He would end up having to kill him otherwise, and that would send years of planning down the drain.

Just why had the boy decided to take the frontal assault, against him? Why couldn't he just sit in the back, and watch the show unfold?

This was going to make things more difficult. He had prepared the assassination of the Kazekage, to shift the blame on Minato's scheming, remove him from his position and have Naruto take his spot. Then he'd use the Kotoamatsukami to keep Naruto on a leash, as the new Hokage, after having Minato killed by none other than Orochimaru, or even Hiruzen. He'd turn the spoiled red haired princess into a weapon, and the Uzumaki woman could probably work well as breeding stock for those chakra chains. Maybe Orochimaru could even get that bloodline into other soldiers, and from there, he would have Mokuton and chakra chains Root members, powered by sharingans…just thinking of all that power, in his hand, was enough to make him plan ahead, a long way…and now it was all going to be ruined! All because the damn boy couldn't stay on his leash!

He should have tried directly controlling the Hokage, but the quick change in behavior would have made Hiruzen suspect. Instead, by using the boy, and molding him both externally and internally, there would have been no suspicion, no problems, nothing at all!

Meanwhile, Torune, the Root member of the Aburame clan, slowly let his gloves drop on the ground, his hands assuming a sickening purplish color, as he charged, trying to reach for the weaker of the two. Fu, seeing this, gave him cover, his hands already in the position of the Shintenshin no Jutsu, while aiming at Mangetsu.

Chojuro's sword shone with chakra, as taking in the form of a hammer, it came crashing down on the ground, sending shockwaves to impair Torune's movement, so that his comrade could try and hit him, with the needle-sword, Nuibari.

Mangetsu, however, suddenly stopped moving, as Fu's body limped on the ground. A second later, the Yamanaka was forcefully pulled away from the body of the Kirigakure's shinobi, and returning to his own, where he jumped back up, while holding his right hand covered in blood, like if a bunch of needles had tried to pierce through his skin.

"Nuibari, like any other sword of the seven swordsmen, obeys only the master it wills," Mangetsu muttered, with a chuckle, "and I do not bleed…so, where does that leave us?" adding to the question, with a smirk, the man showed his right hand, oozing water that slowly reformed.

"Chojuro! Careful on the other one! He's an Aburame clan with the Dokumushi!" as the Hozuki warned his comrade, Chojuro just barely managed to duck behind Hiramekarei's blade, as the Aburame's fist impacted against it, before spinning, and letting his right kick pass through the boy's defenses, sending him to skid on the ground and hit against the cave's floor.

Slowly, Chojuro got back up, coughing blood.

"I said not to get hit, you damn idiot!" Mangetsu snarled, before going through one handed signs, to howl seconds later, "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!" the water spewed out of the swordsman's mouth hit the ground, sending the bodies of the deceased Root members to impact against the other side of the cavern, while Torune and Fu were forced to jump back, to avoid the crushing tsunami, and to carefully stand on the small film of water and blood, that now covered the entire cave.

Chojuro stood back up, his breath ragged, before grinning.

"I'm fine sempai, he kicked me, but he had his sandals on at least," with that reply, Mangetsu chuckled.

"So you're fine being used as a doormat? Damn Chojuro, man up a bit!"

On Danzo and Naruto's side, instead, things were going bad.

Saplings and tree branches had grown from the very ground, trying to attack the Senju's clan's head, only for Naruto to retort with waves of water that froze upon contact. An ice forest was now becoming their battleground, as the Raijin no Ken cut through ice, wood and steel, trying to take Danzo down.

Anko was staring at the fight from a corner, her eyes looking at both men fighting. Who should she help? Why couldn't everything go back to the way it was before?

Why did they have to fight? Why couldn't her Koibito simply smile, accept her words, and then leave? Why was her heaven ending? Why was her paradise being broken down, destroyed, because of…because of who? Of what? Why? She had no answers…she only knew that she was losing everything, and, as the fight went on, tears began pooling down her cheeks.

"You brat! We could have ruled Konoha, brought her up on a new age! Do you realize the damage you will cause to the village!? If I die, then think of what will happen! Kiri won't back down after Minato makes his accusations! Come on! Open your eyes and stop this foolishness!" as Danzo's right hand moved to the side, creating slashes of wind that tore apart an incoming water bullet, Naruto's face grew angrier by the minute.

"So you and the Hokage were in this together!" at the roar of "Suiton: Teppodama!" another water bullet was spat out from the Senju's mouth, heading straight for the Yami of shinobis' position, only for Danzo to reply.

"Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku!" a massive sphere of air appeared in front of Danzo, tearing apart with searing blades of wind the water bullet, and the nearby frozen sprouts and trees, leveling the field once more.

"You think you can beat me, child? I trained you into what you are!" the Root leader howled, "You are a puppet I built!"

"No," Naruto replied, his left hand reaching for a seal on his armor, "I am someone you should have never underestimated: do you think I spent five days doing nothing?"

Within seconds, Danzo charged straight ahead, his right hand ready to pierce through the man's shoulder, only for Naruto to be faster, and releasing from his seal a scroll.

The Yami of shinobis entire body rocked backwards, a strong typhoon blowing from the scroll and hitting the man, sending him straight against the wall, where he would have, normally, ended up in paste.

Instead, he did not.

He slowly rose to his feet, one sharingan eye closing, on his right arm, and his gaze turning murderous.

"I am done playing, Senju. Accept your fate, or I will have to do without you," as the words came out cold, Anko gritted her teeth, trying to get her word's weight in too.

"Naruto! He has our daughters, and he didn't lie when he said he could kill Tobirama! Please, please! I know you hate me, I'm fine with it! But, please think about our son …"

"Oh shut up, Kaze no Yaiba!" Naruto snarled, before a blade of wind was sent… in the purple haired kunoichi's direction. Anko, by the strength of the attack, was sent against the wall. She could have dodged that, because the blade hadn't been strong, nor fast…but she…she didn't want to. If her Koibito wanted her dead then…then it was fine, really. She had earned this and worse.

So, as she stood there, against the wall, blood dripping down from her left shoulder, where the attack had hit, Anko couldn't help but close her eyes, and let darkness claim her…she didn't want to know what waited for her next time she woke up…she just didn't care anymore. Not without Naruto at her side, not without her daughters, her son, not without the love she was used to…and that now had been taken away from her. If she died there, then maybe, she could try in the afterlife to get forgiveness from Tobirama…probably.

Slowly, the nine nines number around her cursed heaven seal began to count down.

"So you reveal your true heartless self, Jinchuuriki?" at Danzo's question, Naruto merely smiled, before sighing, and shaking his head.

"Not yet." The Raijin was placed back into his hold, as Naruto's stance became similar to something that still then, haunted Danzo's dreams.

"That's…"

"Come on _Spiky_, let me show you how similar I am to your sensei," and with those words, Naruto's right foot pressed against the water, and in a moment, he was a blur of speed, skiing on the water's surface.

The right fist connected with Danzo's left side, sending the man to be pushed backwards, before Naruto disappeared again.

The left leg connected with the right arm, sending pain all over the man's body, as once more, Danzo was pushed in the opposite direction.

The left fist came from below, the right leg came from behind, twin fists hit at his chest, and for a second, the eye that Danzo saw wasn't the pure blue sky of the Senju, but the deep red of Tobirama, when he taught them Taijutsu's stances, when he taught them how to fight, how to be ruthless, how to hit to kill, to break, to maim, to destroy an enemy.

For a moment, Danzo was shocked, and that was the reason the hits managed to land. A second later, another eye closed, and the Yami of shinobi, once more in perfect conditions, began to parry and block.

"Pathetic! You are but a copy! A bad one too! A forgery!" as Danzo's left hand managed to hit Naruto in the stomach, the boy flipped backwards, letting his hands rest on the water, turning it to ice.

"Spiky, do you remember lesson number two? Ninjutsu works only if you have both space and time!" seals drew themselves on the ice, fiery red ink traced itself deep, and a wave of heat turned the water in fine mist.

"Lesson number three, Genjutsu works when it's subtle!" two blades, the kibas, drove themselves in Danzo's gut, only for the Yami of Shinobi to waste another eye, realizing it wasn't the truth.

"Lies and deceits, spiky! Lies and deceits make our world!" with the smashing of the rock below his feet, Danzo lost his balance, but this time, his eye narrowed down, his mind repulsing the Genjutsu, and refuting it. Seconds later, his own Kaze no Yaiba pierced the mist, hitting the glinting blue armor of Naruto.

"Lesson number four," Naruto spoke quietly, as his armor was discarded, to reveal the jacket below him, "Mobility makes the ninja," with those words, his speed increased, again.

"Stop this insanity this instant!" Danzo yelled, "You are not Tobirama-sensei! Fūton: Shinkūgyoku!" as the blades of wind drove themselves through, the grey haired Senju fell on the ground in a puddle of water, while the Yami merely managed to raise both of his hands to block the spin wheel left kick from Naruto.

"Lesson number five, Body!" the strength in Naruto's limbs increased, as if whatever was holding it back was now gone, overpowering Danzo, and making him end meters backwards, leaving a trail on the ground, where the man tried to hold his position.

"Lesson number six, Mind!" Naruto disappeared, the mist increasing in density. Noises came from every side, and every spot, and Danzo warily looked around. He wouldn't admit it, never, but he was slightly trembling. Did Tobirama manage to reincarnate himself? Was the second coming of the Nidaime actually the Nidaime reborn?

He had never won against the second Hokage, never. Was this going to be a repetition?

"Lesson number seven, Technique!" the yell came from behind, and as Danzo turned, the Kiba's soared down…from both sides.

The Yami jumped backwards, only for a kunai to impale itself in his back, or at least, it would have been, had another eye not been wasted.

"Damn you, Senju…Damn you…my dreams cannot end like this! Not here, not now!"

"You reap what you sow! You earn what you deserve!" Naruto spat back, his presence everywhere, and nowhere, "You thought you could control me? Think again! You thought you could rule unpunished? Think again! Power isn't granted! It's achieved through hard work, countless hours of study, and thousands of days of practice!"

"Fūton: Shinkū Renpa!" as Danzo's jutsu generated hundreds of air blades, that sliced around him, without an objective, the mist dispersed…because it was being used to power Naruto's Suiton.

"Lesson number eight, Spiky: follow the rules with a kind heart, not with the eye of a tyrant…Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu," both hands of the Senju were covered in what seemed like the head of a dragon, composed of water.

"A twin Suiton," was all that Danzo muttered, before both water dragons came crashing down against the Yami of shinobis, forcing him to use his eyes' powers once more.

As the water's strength didn't stop, another eye was consumed. The twin dragons kept trashing against him, the flow of water never once stopping from following him, like a flood that has no dam, it didn't stop.

At the third's eye lost, from the same technique, Danzo's eye opened in disbelief, as he dispelled the Genjutsu. There, standing in front of him, was Naruto, holding his Raijin in his hand, the thunder blade passing through his chest, the chest of Danzo, and letting the thunder fizzle as it came into contact with his blood. The eighth eye closed, as the Yami moved backwards, his mind fighting against his body's need to shake and tremble.

"This is impossible! You are but a kid! Against my experience, my battles, you are nothing!" Naruto merely looked at Danzo with disgust, before whispering.

"_Guide the people, and believe in them, for it's from among them that one will come who will carry on when your time is done_, Spiky…did you forget my words so quickly, that you can't even see the meaning of my legacy? The future generations will always defeat the older ones, that is the cycle of life," the words, the sentence, the phrasing…it was enough, Danzo bawled, as his right hand began to shift, uncontrolled.

"Fear is a human emotion, Spiky. You should learn not to fight it…but to accept it, and then, use it against your enemies," as Naruto kept talking, his voice icy and cold, he took a step forward, while the Yami of the shinobi took one backwards.

"No, you aren't…you're dead!" with those words, Danzo stared, as the armor seemingly reappeared on Naruto, but not like he was wearing it, no, like it was covering him, his face showing red markings, one for each cheek, and one at his chin. His face no longer had whisker marks, but he had his eyes again…and both were red.

"Death is but a checkpoint in life, Spiky…death can be defeated, I proved as much, didn't I?" the Senju insisted, the looming ghost of Tobirama actually becoming him, taking another step forward, "I defeated death, I mastered life, do you really think I can't be here, now?"

"No…no…You're lying! Tobirama is dead! Dead!" as Danzo yelled that, the Yami of shinobi's right hand began to sprout leaves and branches.

"Really? You should know better. Your thoughts are in disarray, you always thought too much and acted too little…you should have learned the correct balance, and strived forward. Instead…look around. Emotionless tools make no shinobis, Shimura! They make meat shields! Without heart, there is no mind! Without mind, there is no body! Without body, there is no technique! None can survive without the others, and look around! Your greatness lies in broken minds! Admit your defeat! Will you accept _your_ so called fate, that you so hastily call upon others? There is no fate, only destiny carved by one's own hands! I am free, from life and death, from lies and deceits, come on Spiky, you know the answer to the question! Who am I? Who am I!?"

With a howling scream, the right hand of Danzo detached itself from his arm, as the Yami of shinobis fell on the ground, to the side. His stump immediately rooted down, becoming a tree.

"Tobirama…sensei?" Danzo's whisper was barely hearable, but it sufficed, as Naruto merely nodded, before letting the Raijin swing down on the man's head. The thunder blade humming in glory, as it closed the distance to its target.

"Rest in peace, old fool…you should have lived with less lies, and more truths…in death, at least, seek peace…"

And with the Raijin splitting his head in half, the Yami of Shinobi died.

His last thoughts, before darkness engulfed him, went to how pitiful he had been, in sparring with his sensei, all that time…well, in the next cycle, there was always next time, right?

On the other side of the cave, the battle against the two Root members and the two swordsmen of the mist came to an end, as the death of Danzo was felt by Fu and Torune, both losing their tongue-seals and as they realized that, they too stopped moving.

"Huh?" Mangetsu muttered, eying the two perplexed, as both began going through complex hand signs together, in a set that…

"Shit! That's a detonation sequence! Chojuro! RUN!"

As both Kirigakure's shinobi ran towards the exit, the chameleon's stomach disappeared, swiftly unsummoned by Naruto, who turned to reach for Anko, still unconscious on the floor. By the time he reached her, however, a set of explosions rocked the T&I department, a couple re-opening the exit that the stone wall of Naruto had blocked, as the shinobis within, not knowing about the hidden entrance to the base of Root, began evacuating in earnest.

In the chaos that followed, it was relatively easy for the two Jounins from Kirigakure to escape unnoticed, as too did the two Root members, not even trying to avenge their leader, as if he had fallen, then it meant that both stood no chance against the Nidaime no Sairai.

As Naruto used an ice wall, to shield himself and Anko from the explosion's debris falling on them from the top of the cave, he sighed, taking a moment to breathe, and then, as the dust settled down, he turned to stare at his wife.

Only for Anko to stare back at him, golden hued eyes locking their gaze on the grey haired man, a feral smirk on her face.

The blue hued numbers on her shoulder had disappeared, and right then, Naruto realized just what the seal was holding at bay. Anko's skin turned scaly, as light shades of green and dark green took over the normally pink hue. Her eyes were slit like those of snakes. Her arms disproportionate towards the rest of her body, and within a moment, she was charging at him, with murder in her eyes.

Hastily, Naruto managed to get his arms up in a cross-defense, and let the attack send him flying backwards. Just then, Anko disappeared, to reappear behind him, and once more try the same maneuver.

Naruto exhaled a long gust of wind from his mouth, changing his trajectory, and barely avoiding a blow that would have, probably, broken his spine.

"Anko?" Naruto muttered, landing on the ground, breathing in raggedly, as the Genjutsu that showed him unscathed and as fresh as a rose gave away. To reveal his armor chipped, battered, gashes and blood oozing down from his arms, his chest, and the side of his left and right cheeks.

He had faked having dodged every attack of the Yami of Shinobis, and thanks to that, he had reinforced his idea of being untouchable to Danzo, who, in the end, had fallen prey to his own fears.

"They…you…you killed them…you killed…YOU," there were tears of blood, falling down Anko's face, as the wound on her shoulder closed up, before her hands extended wicked claws, that resembled those of the most fierce creatures. Poison dripped from their tip, as she dashed forward, once more.

"Shit," was all that Naruto managed to say, before ducking down, groaning in pain as his ribs pained him from the previous hit. The claws passed inches away from his head, and as Anko kept her momentum, probably not used to the form, Naruto charged forwards, his right hand glowing the green light of the chakra scalpels.

The right shoulder of Anko stopped responding, but her left arm managed to hit Naruto with unparalleled speed to the side, sending him to skid on the ground, and hit against the actual wall of the cave.

"_Okay, this isn't good. Ku-chan! Look, I'm sorry I have to wake you up, but this is important, kind of!"_

**I was slee…oh, fine, we're killing who today? No…wait a moment, YOU DIDN'T WAKE ME UP TO KILL DANZO!? I'm officially offended, I thought we were friends!**

"_You told me not to wake you up, since it would drain me of much necessary chakra, and would attract to our location anyone who could sense you…basically the entire Konoha."_

**Oh…well, what did you tell the whore? **

"_Calling her that isn't nice, Ku-chan…the egoistic woman is more refined."_

Jumping to the side, Naruto avoided two ferocious claw-swings that left deep gushes on the ground. Getting hit, again, wasn't going to cut it.

**Well, seems she'll need some willpower or my chakra. One of the two needs to be given back to her, for the seal to start going on again.**

"Because you think it's easy, huh?" Naruto muttered, before sidestepping a right clawing motion of Anko, and grabbing hold of said arm, to throw her forward, sending her to hit against the ground.

"Calm down Anko! Come on! This is not what it seems!" as the Senju kept the hold on the Kunoichi's mutated body, he could feel all her muscles tensing and moving, was that the strength achievable by that cursed seal? He had to check on Kiba, eventually, but right now, he had to avoid what looked like clearly poisoned claws.

"As long as she doesn't use…" her mouth opened, and with a hiss, threads of spider webbing erupted, trying to cover Naruto like a trapping net.

"This is getting ridiculous!" the grey haired Senju snapped, his Raijin cutting through the web with ease, only to find the fine strands touching his armor, and making it…fizzle?

"It's acidic? Oh sh…"

Anko pounced once more, her speed didn't even seem to be decreasing, her eyes still promised murder, and venom was copiously dripping from her extended claws. Whatever it was…it clearly wasn't going to be healthy, in the long run.

"Did she just use both arms again?" That meant only one thing, and, unluckily, it meant that subterfuge had to finish right there.

"Ku-chan, sorry," and with those words, Naruto took a deep breath, before letting his right arm extend. As Anko, once more, turned around to charge at him, her teeth deformed into wicked fangs, from Naruto's arm a blue furred claw shot forward, appearing from thin air, and slamming the kunoichi on the ground, before letting chakra flow within the purple haired woman's seal.

After a moment, Anko's transformation began reverting, and after a couple of moments of violent trashing, she finally calmed down enough for Naruto to move closer, and make the claw disappear.

With a gasp for air, and a set of coughs, the Senju fell on his knees, in the cave filled with water, blood, floating corpses, chunks of ice and branches, a tree, debris and his so called wife. Truly, a sight to behold…

With a deep breath, he moved closer, before finally falling on the ground, right next to Anko, and closing his eyes in tiredness.

"I overdid it," the Senju muttered, "and we're over, Anko…you need to accept it, and strive forward on your own…I'm sorry, really…I'm sorry," he whispered, "but you cannot always have everything in life…you win, and you lose…that's…all there is. So…I'm sorry," he added, before gently touching his armor's plate, on the spot where his heart was.

With a bit of blood, he activated the reverse summoning seal, and with a final, tired, sigh, they were out of the cave, where, in a few more minutes, Anbu would start pooling in, looking for the source of such a slaughter, and for the reason why such a secret base had existed, straight in the bowels of T&I.

They wouldn't find Naruto, or Anko, and even if Minato and Hiruzen both had felt the chakra of the Kyuubi…they both kept quiet, because with Danzo dead, a mastermind had left the field, and now…it was a new game that was going to be played.

*Kiba*

The pain on his neck was something atrocious. He had awoken with tremors, in Konoha's hospital, and had found no-one around to tell him what had happened. Had they lost the chuunin exams? Had they won? Did his team pass? Did they fail?

With a groan, he got up. All Inuzuka hated hospitals, but Kiba, hated them even more. The first reason was because of the pungent smell of disinfectant, of alcohol, of blood and of things best left unmentioned in the hospital's food. The second reason was because he couldn't, usually, get discharged without either his mother or his sister coming to get him…and he didn't want to see them. Not that soon, anyway.

Hesitantly, he wobbled to look for his stuff, around the room. He opened the bed desk, and got lucky at the first shot. Truthfully, his clothes had been even cleaned! That was something good, oh yes.

It took a couple of minutes, to dress up, and by then, the second question entered his mind: where was Akamaru?

Hospitals had a no pet policy, and only his mother actually got around that, because nobody kept Tsume away from Kuromaru, that much was sure. He suspected Hana had taken Akamaru to the Inuzuka compound or maybe to the Senju one…no, definitively to the Inuzuka one. So he'd be insulted a bit when he came to get him back.

Still, as he walked outside, being extra careful to avoid any of the nurses, or medics, he found himself stopping to a halt. There was the smell of a very familiar scent, in a room nearby, and that…that made him worried. With circumspect movements, he managed to pass by an unknowing chatting nurse, and enter the room the smell came from.

Inside, Anko Senju was currently resting from what seemed like chakra exhaustion, while sitting, red eyed and next to her, was Naruto, his sensei. His own wounds were mostly patched up, and even though he looked on the verge of falling down on the ground, he didn't seem to mind. He had his hands clasped together, and his eyes weren't leaving Anko's face, not even for a split second.

"Sensei?" Kiba asked, unsure, before seeing that Naruto turned both of his eyes to stare at Kiba. His two blue sky eyes were looking at him with a surprisingly clear and determined gaze.

"Your…your eye…it…grew back?" he stuttered in disbelief. The Senju merely nodded, before whispering to the young Inuzuka.

"Akamaru is running around the Senju compound…he's fine, and in the hands of Neji," he added, "Tomorrow there are the chuunin's finals…" he kept speaking, "I'm sorry you couldn't make it, I should have been there for…"

"Nah, it's not a big deal, really," Kiba replied, dismissing the issue with a hand wave, "Sure, the thing hurts like hell, but hey, I went against a sannin, and I'm still alive, I even look better than how you are, sensei…"

"Always optimistic, Kiba? Good…it's a good trait," Naruto nodded to himself, before hesitantly standing up, "listen...after the exams, I am going to remove Hinata from our team," at those words, the Inuzuka's mouth opened in disbelief, before exclaiming.

"What!? Wh…"

"Kiba, quiet," Naruto admonished, swiftly, before the boy managed to catch his tongue, and repeat, this time in a lower voice.

"Sensei, why? What happened?"

"She activated the caged bird seal on Neji's forehead, during the preliminary on the second round," he replied, monotonously, "And that…that I cannot forgive," he added.

"She…she did that?" Kiba knew the caged bird seal was basically a slavery mark, Naruto had spoken loads about it, and many times Hinata had agreed too. To use it against Neji…

"So…she's in the finals?"

"No, she lost. Neji triumphed," a small smile appeared on Naruto's lips, "I didn't know if there were going to be other main family Hyugas, taking the exams, so…I handed him a special chakra suppressing seal…but it's not the only reason…he never gave up, even after everything…"

"Did Katsumi pass?" Kiba queried, he at least hoped one of his team made it, and if no-one did it, then it wasn't that bad not having competed.

"That she did. She was paired up against Sakura…she's in a room nearby, as they had to carry her away with second degrees burns…backfire."

"Ah…well, this sucks. I had half expected we'd all go through this easily…and instead…" Kiba nervously chuckled, as Naruto merely shook his head with a sigh.

"There is always something unexpected that happens, Kiba…but yeah, I admit I had kind of hoped you'd all pass."

"Sensei…you're crying," as the Inuzuka pointed that out, the Senju merely swiped with the back of his right hand the tear lines on his cheeks.

"Oh…this? It's nothing…I'm just a bit sad…my daughters have gone with their grandmother on an unexplained trip…" the man whispered, before shaking his head, and replying, "No, I can't lie even if my life depends on it…listen Kiba…this is an S-rank secret, okay?"

The dog-boy nodded, moving closer to listen to his teacher's words.

"My daughters have been kidnapped, and it's possible that Tsunade had a part in it. To avoid panic in the population, and to avoid enemy shinobis from seeing Konoha weak, there is no missing-nin label on her, and by Hokage's orders I cannot have Anbus look for my little girls out of Konoha…so I'm stuck here too," he clenched both of his hands, "Furthermore, it has been discovered that the perpetrator of the Uchiha massacre and the framing of Itachi Uchiha had been Danzo, who also helped Orochimaru's escape and experiments…since today, Itachi Uchiha is no longer a missing-nin, and has been pardoned of all his crimes."

"Sasuke is going to be happy," Kiba whispered…before his eyes bulged in shock, when he realized what his sensei had said before, "Wait…what? Tsunade-san…your…oh…I…sensei!" what could the boy say? He didn't know what words would work, and he had been knocked out for a good while…so he had no idea what else had happened.

"Did anything else happen while I was out?" he asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Oh…yes, my wife was one month pregnant," Naruto muttered, a grim chuckle escaping his lips, "Turns out the seal on her shoulder failed because of some words I said, while I was…venting my anger…and when it did…it sent poisonous chakra around her pathways, and…well…" the hands clasped together, as the Senju's eyes didn't leave, for a second, the pale face of his wife…

"She lost the child, and now she's in coma."

"Sensei…" Kiba didn't know what to do, so, he merely brought his hand on Naruto's shoulder, and squeezed, in the universal gesture of understanding.

"It's fine, really…I just need to be here, in case the seal acts up again…" the man spoke quietly, "You should be in bed, you know? They'd probably discharge you tonight, if they find out you're being a good boy and staying in bed," he added, in a mere murmur.

"Hai sensei," was all that Kiba replied, before turning around and heading straight to bed. He hated hospitals, but he hated to be a problem for others more and, right then, if his teacher wanted to be alone, then he'd leave him alone. If only he had been stronger, then maybe both he and Katsumi could have made it to the finals, and then…he kind of wondered how they managed to get a scroll, however, as he lay in the hospital's bed…what team did they defeat?

*Nii Yugito*

"Sensei, we did as you told us…so it's A-rank pay, right?" a boy with very wide arms queried, his eyes squinting to get a better view of his sensei.

"Yes Mogura-kun, you did well. The Raikage was pretty clear in letting the Senju's team win, for some reason," Yugito replied in a whisper, as they stood inside a restaurant called Yakiniku Q, "Now eat up, all of you, tomorrow we'll catch a glimpse of the exam's finals, and then we'll be on the road back to Kumo."

"Do you think I could go on a shopping spree, and get paid afterwards?" Hayari queried, as Shinkansen took that moment to grab the entire meat portion of the table, eating it all in one swift movement, except Yugito's, because he didn't have a death wish.

"Shinkansen! That was dirty of you!" Mogura muttered, as the boy with the Swift release merely shrugged, munching down quickly.

That was one of the reasons Yugito didn't bring her team out to eat. The boy was a pit without end. You could stuff him with food, and he'd still be hungry moments later. It had to do with his release, probably. She didn't have the heart to tell her students that no, the Raikage had not given them a secret A-rank mission of making the Senju team win. Obviously, she had made the Senju team win because of orders from her organization, but she kind of wondered why the Inuzuka hadn't woken up in time for the preliminaries…

It wasn't part of the plan. The plan would have been sending the dog-boy to go a bit mad during the fight, then during the finals using him as a distraction for the Senju. Instead the seal had actually knocked the boy out for the days required to reach the tower. Giving the team the scroll had thus been for nothing. At least, she could give the three food…they'd need it, if they had to go back to Kumo without her.

Tomorrow…she was going to officially wear the Akatsuki cloak and renounce Kumo, the village that had trained her like a weapon since the age of two that had given her nothing more than borderline suicide missions, angry stares and problems: especially in the love life sector, specifically with a cat in heat in her head.

"I suppose you should wait until you actually cash in the check, Hayari-chan," the Nibi Jinchuuriki muttered, before ordering more food.

"Oh, yeah, I suppose…do you think pink is good for toe-nails?" the girl asked, trying to get some small chatter of fashion in, before the food arrived.

"I don't know, Hayari…as I told you before, if it's not useful in battle, I don't care," Yugito replied. Although she did think purple would be better, in her opinion, she couldn't, yet, start dressing casually. That would have to wait until she got to Amegakure. Every Jinchuuriki had been offered to leave normally, without being a weapon…she just couldn't wait to open her perfume boutique.

She'd probably call it "Chez Nibi," just to make Matatabi shut up about names for the store.

As more food arrived, she turned to her objective: Yakushi Kabuto, standing a couple of tables forward, and speaking with practiced ease with his Genin teammates. None of them had won, and their sensei, formerly a student of Orochimaru, wasn't at all worried. It was common. They'd just have to try again next time.

As she saw Kabuto stand up to leave, Yugito excused herself for the bathroom, before paying for the bill, and an extra serving of meat.

Silently, the Nibi Jinchuuriki prowled in the night, following the Akatsuki spy, who had given out information to the enemy. It didn't take long, for her to get to a vantage point…and then jump down, in the dark alleyway below her, to gut the man like a fish, without making a sound.

The only problem was the flash of green medical chakra, and her falling on the ground, her insides a mess that the Nibi's chakra began mending.

"My…I should probably inform the Hokage of an attempt at my life," Kabuto muttered, "But I suppose it can be forgiven, Kumo-Kunoichi…right?"

"Kabuto…your senses are as keen as ever, right?" Yugito muttered, barely hiding the smirk on her face.

"Indeed. Now…are you happy to see me, or were you testing my reflexes?" Kabuto queried, looking at her with a perplexed expression.

"Somebody's been selling information on the Akatsuki to Konoha…" Yugito started, and with that, the silver haired Genin merely smiled, pushing his round glasses up on his face once more.

"And you think I'd be the one?"

"No…" Well, yes, but she wasn't going to tell him that straight to his face, especially not when he was close, and they were in the middle of Konoha, "But you might know who, right?"

"I do know, but I think Sasori-sama believes it was I, so why should I tell you?" Kabuto grinned, before bringing his hands up in a sort of mock surrender, at the sight of the Jinchuuriki's growl.

"Fine, fine, calm down kitty: I have a couple of suspects…but there are no proofs, so it's my word against theirs…"

"Name them," at Yugito's deman, the medic-nin merely scoffed, before replying.

"Itachi and Orochimaru," the Genin replied, "the first has basically been pardoned of all crimes, and has no reason to keep being in Akatsuki…the latter…he only works for his own personal gains, and I know for sure he had contacts with Danzo."

"Wow, a lot of information and proofs…no wonder you're not the prime suspect," Yugito replied sarcastically, "Danzo will die tomorrow, during the finals, so we might as well ask him then."

"Ehm…no, that's not going to be possible," Kabuto replied, "He's dead, you see."

"What!?" the Kumogakure Kunoichi barely managed to hold her tongue in time, "Who did it? Kabuto, you had orders not to…"

"Ah, no, it wasn't me. Whoever was decided it would be fun to destroy half the forces of Root, kill Danzo, pluck one of his eyes out, and then leave."

"You mean Shishui's eye? The one Itachi spoke of?" Yugito replied.

"Yes, now, I know I said I had no proof…but only Itachi with the sharingan could have gone up against those many men, and survive."

"He didn't leave the base near Konoha, Kisame made sure of it," the Nibi retorted.

"Then I suspect Orochimaru-san," with those words, Kabuto looked around worriedly, before turning to leave, "I'm afraid I'm not in the mood for some make-out session, Nii-san, well…better luck with the next man that comes by."

As the medic-nin left in a slight hurry, the half-red and half angry Nibi Jinchuuriki growled slightly, before turning around to leave. The Anbu on the roof, in silence, mentally sighed: why did all the hot girls in heat have to belong to different countries, have a demon in their belly, and be on a prowling night when he was on shift?

He'd never know.

*Karin*

She was huddled in a corner of the room, with Yumi sitting next to her, enveloped in a tight hug. The red haired girl had finished the tears and the prayers, and was now doing her best to keep the little three years old calm.

She was the oldest one, so she had to protect her youngest sibling.

There were no auras around that she could sense, none outside of the room, at least. It was a perfectly white painted room, with light flower motifs, a comfortable bed and a bundle of picture books, some crayons and nothing more. Food arrived through a hole on one side, while there were no windows, but light came in from a lamp on the ceiling, that was turned off when the time for sleeping came. She didn't know how long they had been in there. She had lost count of time. If it was any indication, the lights had gone off at least five times, meaning it was now the fifth day.

She didn't know what to say to Yumi, who wanted nothing more than to leave, and go back to their father, but yet, they could not.

To make matters worse, that woman kept coming in, trying to make small talk. She had thought her grandmother was a kind person, yet she had basically brought them into a trap, and then…then they had ended up in this room. She knew they were being watched. She had used the small slip of paper for chameleon summons to conjure a small one, and then have him trot out when the door had opened. The poor thing hadn't been able to desummon in there.

Chakra blocking walls, chakra suppressing seals, if she hadn't had her bloodline, she was sure she would never have managed to summon the scrawny chameleon. With a bit of luck, her father would come to rescue them.

Yumi began to whimper again, as she looked tiredly at her older sister.

"Apple-chan…I wanna go home," she whined, "Otou-san comes soon?"

"Yeah Yumi-chan, he'll be here soon, really. Don't worry," with that, the girl began patting the youngest's hair, and, in playing gently with it…she looked at the root of her baby sister, before frowning slightly. It wasn't dark purple. She had done enough medic-nin training with her grandmother to know, for certain, that the root of the hair wasn't supposed to be of a different color than the tip. A bit darker? Yes, but a completely different color? No.

Still, with Yumi's hair growing, and she being still young, Karin filed it away under her sister simply having her hair darken with age. A lot of born blond children had their hair turn darker, with time.

As she began to mull over the thought in her head, to avoid going mad, she heard the door jolt open, and that woman enter, once more.

"Is everything alright?" Tsunade queried, taking a seat while closing the door behind her.

"No, we want out of here," Karin snapped back, holding Yumi tightly, the little girl wondering why her eldest sister didn't want her to go hug her grandmother.

"Not yet, I'm sorry, but we have to keep you both safe," the slug Sannin replied.

"Safe from what?" Karin sneered, "Our parents can protect us both with ease."

"No, if they'd meet this person…they'd die," the way Tsunade said that wasn't a lie, that much, Karin was sure of.

"Like if I'll believe you," the red haired girl replied, before muttering, "And it's degrading, not even a book worthy of being called that in here."

"I can get you a couple of books in here, if you want," Tsunade replied, "but I'm sorry, you can't leave: as long as you are within these four walls you're safe, at least, until Naruto becomes Hokage."

"Father's good, and everything…but he won't become Hokage tomorrow," Karin whispered back, were they going to stay in here for years? "And he's going to be angry at you, after what you did to us."

"I'm just keeping you safe," Tsunade shrugged, "and without Danzo knowing."

"You could tell father," Karin insisted, "or Kaa-san, at least."

"Your Kaa-san…" Tsunade whispered, "Shizune told me…no," shaking her head, the pig-tailed woman resumed her normal stern face, "No need to tell you that, now."

"What? What happened to Kaa-san?" Karin's voice grew a couple of levels, as Yumi began sobbing in fright.

"Calm down, you're frightening Yumi-chan," Tsunade snapped back at the girl, who, growling, began to cradle on her lap the three years old.

"She wouldn't be frightened, if she had her parents with her," the red eyed girl said, her tone barely controlled, "And what happened to mother?"

"You want to know?" Tsunade asked, seriousness in her voice, "But I warn you, once I tell you the story, there's no going back."

"Out with it, already," Karin muttered, "I want to know the truth."

"Don't we all…" Tsunade whispered, before taking a deep breath, and starting to talk.

"Yumi is not your sister," with those five words, Karin decided that she had had enough bullshit, until her eyes widened, at the seriousness of the woman's words, and at her aura…that didn't betray any lying colors.

"Wh…Well, I know that, I'm not really related by blood to…"

"No, she's not Anko's or Naruto's daughter either," Tsunade added again, eying the child who was looking worried, and perplexed, "I don't know what her mother wanted to call her, since she died at childbirth, but she's an Uchiha."

"Wait…stop, halt, she's not an Uchiha, she's Yumi! She's a Senju, and just when would…"

"Her mother was pregnant with her during the Uchiha massacre, Danzo kidnapped her before Itachi…or the Kiri shinobis could kill her," Tsunade spoke quietly, as Karin, instead, didn't understand what the Kiri shinobi mattered in this, "When you were attacked, out there in the open," Tsunade added, "It was done by Kiri shinobis wielding the sharingan."

"No," Karin replied, "That's a lie, and you know it too."

"Listen here brat, that's…" but Tsunade was interrupted by the red haired girl's snapping right back at her.

"No! Those men were not Kiri shinobis, father said as much!" that was a lie, but it was better than telling her grandmother the truth, about her aura reading powers. She could only trust her father, after all: nobody else.

"Fine then…the village believes it was the Kiri shinobis, thus after your father killed them," mentally, Karin made the victory sign in her head: she knew her father would never be defeated in battle, "Kiri was blamed for it, and for the Uchiha massacre. Itachi Uchiha is now no longer a missing-nin, and can come back to Konoha when he learns of this."

"What does that have to do with Yumi-chan?" Karin queried, once more.

"She was just convenient to have around…at first, the man who did this wanted nothing more than to have an army of privately trained Uchihas…but with the death of the woman, he had no choice but to resort to another method, one that involved using Yumi…and that required my help," Tsunade took a deep breath, before continuing her tale, "He called Orochimaru, the S-rank missing Nin of Konoha, my former teammate, and had him work for him, using his skills to insert in the yet to be born child the Mokuton ability," Karin's eyes widened.

"But…wait…"

"Yumi was born one month before your real brother: Tobirama," Tsunade whispered, "And I was asked to lie about the newborn's sex, to make the exchange easier."

"That's impossible! Kaa-san wouldn't have…"

"She was a part of it," Tsunade added, "She was on a…she currently is on a seduction mission."

"Seduction…" Karin's eyes, already wide, widened even more, before she brought a hand to her throat, to gasp for air, "No…" tears began to form, as Tsunade merely nodded.

"Danzo was the one who firstly sent a message, to get me back to Konoha, he was also the one who actually suggested me to adopt Naruto, and who went through all the Konoha's archives looking for laws that would make my case sound. All the while, he also suggested the exchange, in order to keep Anko in linen, and not have her confess anything to Naruto…but mostly, it was also so that Konoha could prosper," Tsunade's words seemed to be forced, "And that he had a sharingan capable of doing the deal helped him, a lot."

"But she was…he was your grandson!" Yumi began crying, she didn't know why Apple-chan was yelling, or Tsunade was looking sick, but she just wanted it to stop.

"I know, but he said, Danzo, that it would help bringing Naruto on the seat of the Hokage, and that Tobirama would be released afterwards…in the end, I wanted to avoid Naruto knowing that your mother, Anko, was on that mission…I already would have broken his heart, I couldn't let him suffer more, if there was a way to avoid it…so I burned down the archives, destroying mission's reports and taking for me the details of Anko's mission."

"Yumi-chan, calm down, please," Karin whispered, gently stroking the kid's hair, before looking at Tsunade, with disbelief in her eyes, "Why? Why do this?"

"The sharingan Danzo possessed had a special power," Tsunade replied, "It enabled the user to have fake memories implanted within, and force one to be manipulated without even knowing it…he did the same with me, to convince me to play along. He did the same with your father, to ignore any actions that were suspicious of Anko, he did this to tie down Naruto to Konoha, so that he wouldn't leave…and I did the same, by hiding the details of the woman's mission, as I am doing this now, by keeping you in here. Because, as long as you are here, he won't leave, and when he'll be named Hokage, tomorrow, then he'll have no choice but to stay."

"Why are you so sure he'll be Hokage tomorrow?" Karin whispered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Because tomorrow, Minato Namikaze will die fighting Orochimaru, and the Sandaime Hokage will most certainly nominate Naruto as the most apt successor of the will of fire," the slug sannin whispered, "and then, all we have to hope is for him to actually accept the title."

"But…the Yondaime…" Tsunade shook her head slowly, before whispering back.

"The Yondaime will die, facing Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, that is coming to Konoha looking for the second half of the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki…who is Katsumi," with those words, Karin's eyes bulged once more, before shaking, furiously, her head.

"No! You think Otou-san would go along with this plan!? He'd never let one of his students suffer through that if he could avoid it!"

"Your father…my precious son," Tsunade whispered, "will know of this, certainly…but by tomorrow, I'll be off gambling my fortune in the land of rivers, and so, everything will be fine."

"What if father comes here, then?" Karin asked, "What if he comes here and frees us?"

"I doubt he could," the Senju woman smirked, "There are enough wards around us to stop him from coming here."

"Oh…I wouldn't be so sure about it…" Karin whispered back, "my father is known to be unpredictable, right?"

"Yes…but if he is, I'd take full blame, and everything would fall into place moments later," the slug Sannin said, before standing up and turning to leave, "once more…I'm sorry."

"Don't ask forgiveness from me," Karin replied, "Otou-san is the one who you should speak to, for what you have done, what you are doing, and what you intend to do."

"You think he'd forgive me?"

"I would stick the Raijin through your guts…" Karin whispered, "But Otou-san would never do that, would he?"

"No…I suppose not, Karin," Tsunade whispered, before reaching for the doorway, only for Karin to ask, once more.

"What happened to 'mother'? You never answered…"

"She lost her child due to complications with a seal…that's as much as I know," and that, that Tsunade knew was a lie. She had been old of Danzo's death, and the events had to have been correlated. The seal had probably acted up, after the discovery of Tobirama's disappearance, and then Anko had, alone, destroyed the entire Root headquarters. It was something improbable, but not impossible…Orochimaru himself had told her that the cursed seal was strong, and powerful, especially the first prototype.

As she walked out of the room, she shook her head. Anko had probably been the one to gouge out Danzo's sharingan eye, and had probably hidden it, to use it later to keep Naruto close. To think that their plan, of giving the fault to Danzo for the Kazekage's death, and proof of his allying with Orochimaru, was going to waste…yet it also solved the problem of Naruto no longer being mind-controlled. But when would he start regaining all his memories? They couldn't bet on it, and if he still had some insurance of Danzo within his brain, it could turn badly.

That was why they had kidnapped his daughters, to keep them safe from Danzo's underlings, since some had to still be around, and from Minato's possible backpedalling on the plan, and from the Akatsuki's maneuvers. Yet Itachi was the biggest incognita…

On whose side was he? He had told them of his failed attempts at making Naruto see reason, he had told the same thing to Akatsuki, and yet…there was something, in the boy, that Orochimaru didn't trust.

Why her former teammate had told her that, during one of their meetings…she didn't know. However, she knew something bad was going to happen, if tomorrow didn't go as planned…a lot of things could go badly, everything needed to move like a clock, everything.

Every tiny detail had to go right.

As soon as the door closed, to the light sobs of Yumi, the tears of Karin soon followed.

That was the reason the ocean was crying. Father knew. Father knew all along what was going on. That was the reason the ocean was turning black, and covered with storms. Father's aura had been so kind, so blue, so pure. They had tainted it with their lies and deceits, they had made it darker and grim.

But father would show them, Karin was sure of it: father was no longer the same as before…and that made her cry, because father knew where they were, she knew it, and yet he hadn't come yet.

Did he too think they'd need to be kept safe? Did he go off to face Danzo, thinking he was the one who had kidnapped them?

To hell with stupid Kiri shinobis, Karin knew those had to be root members, just like Sai. To hell with her so called grandmother, her mother or anyone else…she had Yumi-chan, she had her father, and that was enough. She wouldn't trust anyone else, no matter who he or she was.

"Calm down Yumi-chan, calm down…I'm here, okay?" as Karin gently let her right hand caress the little girl's cheek, the three year old whispered, between sobs and tears.

"Kaa-san…I want Kaa-san!"

"I…" the girl was still young, and Anko hadn't been much around her, was there still time? Karin bit her lip, before hugging the little three years old tightly, "I'm here, Yumi-chan…your Kaa-san is here."

*Gaara*

He looked at Itachi, who couldn't look back at him, because, after all, he had bandaged around both of his eyes. Something about off-setting the Mangekyou's damage with another pair of eyes belonging to a next of kin, or something like that.

What he did know, was that the Uchiha had disappeared for a while, to reappear with two Kirigakure shinobis, and a pair of sharingan eyes.

Who had given him the eyes, where the two Kirigakure shinobis had been before…he hadn't answered at all: on the plus side, Zabuza had vouched for the two as members of the swordsmen of the mist.

Since Kiri was now belonging to Akatsuki, because of Yagura's removal and of Mei's placement as the next Mizukage, thanks in no little part to them, the two had become allies of the organization.

Guren, on the other side, kept her worries and wits hidden, but they were there, the red haired Gaara knew as much.

"Are you going to go watch your sister's match, tomorrow?" Guren queried, as Gaara merely thought about it, for a moment, before nodding.

"It's been a while…I'd like to know how she fights now…so if I have to fight her, I can knock her out quickly."

"Your brother too made it to the finals," Guren added, only to earn another nod from the boy.

"Then I'll watch him too…"

They stood in silence, before, a couple of minutes later, Kisame entered the small cave just barely outside of Konoha, to grin widely as he brought down a sack, with…Sushi, of all things, within.

"Tea?" Itachi queried, from his position.

"It's not easy to get tea when you look like me, Itachi," Kisame replied, "Next time, send Guren in, or go yourself: you've been excused of all crimes, Konoha blames Kiri now."

"Tsk, I should thank Kami we're taking the Yondaime down," Mangetsu snarled, before taking a bite of what seemed like salmon, "the Godaime seemed a nice fellow."

"As long as no-one interrupts in the fight," Orochimaru mused, coming out from the shadows, "There will be a new Godaime on Konoha, and I'll get to even the score with the Yondaime."

"Did Suna really have to mobilize?" Gaara queried, looking at Orochimaru, who nodded.

"It was necessary, Gaara-kun, when they suffer a defeat, in the battle of tomorrow, they will need strength. You will then march straight into Suna, demanding the Kazekage's hat, and offering in exchange your power, and that of Akatsuki…with you on the seat of Suna, Kiri with us, Otogakure under my command and Amegakure, and with Konoha having Naruto on the spot…we could crush Iwa, and give Roshi and Han their homes back…and then move to Kumo. Slowly, the elemental countries would have no choice but to accept peace, as the power of Akatsuki would grow to new heights…"

"You are a scary fellow, Orochimaru," Kisame muttered, taking a deep bite at an enormous tuna, which seemed to have been directly fished out of a river.

"Sensei was far worse when he was young," Itachi muttered, only for Orochimaru to fake a mocked hurt expression.

"Itachi…You wound me…by the way…Danzo has been killed, but I suppose you knew it already…you got his eye, didn't you?"

"He had more than one free," the Uchiha replied, "His right arm was filled with them."

"I know, I implanted them there to begin with," the snake sannin retorted, "Twas fun, a pity Tobirama wasn't there for me to capture."

"Well…we still have to try and take the Inuzuka. We need some leverage with the Senju, to make him listen…" Guren spoke again, "And he is fiercely protective of his students."

"The Hyuga heiress has fallen from grace, however…which brings me to the next question, Orochimaru…how's the new body going, hun?" Deidara, who had remained silent until then, spoke, while plastering a bird of clay in a corner.

"He is preparing himself…to think all he asked was his daughter to be brought back to life…"

"The Edo Tensei?" Itachi whispered, "You'd require a sacrifice, for it, right?"

"It seems the eldest fell from grace far more than what the fatherly pity could take…Kukuku…"

"Oh…"

And with that, silence reigned in the cave.

The next day was going to be a really busy, hectic, and important day…and everything had to be going like a clockwork, because, if it didn't…then all hell would break loose.

*Somewhere*

"Sir, troops are in position."

"Tomorrow, at dusk…the Yellow Flash falls…revenge for the fallen!"

"Revenge for the fallen!"

"Revenge for the fallen!"

"Revenge for the fallen!" as the chorus echoed throughout the hidden, and soundproof cave, thousands stood in wait, and in the glinting light of the torches nearby…

The symbol of Iwagakure stood proudly shining on their foreheads.

**Author's notes**

**Cause this is Cliffhanger, cliffhanger-no-jutsu, cliffhanger-no-jutsu night!**

**(cause this is thriller, thriller night,)**

**Another chapter rolls by!**

**And there it goes!**

***swoosh***

**We start seeing more truths!**

**Don't we?**

**So we round the corner, and the end of another arc is near…but what do my eyes see? Something else is approaching! May kami have mercy on our souls!**

**Q&A**

**Danzo had sixteen sharingan wielding shinobis… they weren't in the base.**

**Whose side is whose!?- good luck next chapter!**

**Hope you liked.**

**Next chapter will come!**

**(Maybe I'll take a two months rest…*Whistles evilly*) (joking)**


	20. CD: Concluding

**Warning. Character Death. Major ones. You have been warned.**

**Secondly: Actions, a lot of them, happen at the same time, or in the same lapses. Others, instead, happen before or afterwards determined events. I know it might seem 'troublesome'…but it was the best I could do.**

**Reuploaded because it wasn't being read. (I hope second time's the charm)  
**

Chapter Twentieth

The sun timidly decided to rise in the sky, being pushed forcefully upwards by the laws that governed the universe. The clouds that surrounded the village of Konoha seemed to be intent on staying, their appearance turning grimmer and darker by the second, rather than be swept away by the high gales in the upper level of the stratosphere. The sun, thus feeling betrayed, decided that all that the village hidden in the leaves needed, for that day, was but a pale flicker of light. No use trying to go all-out, when nobody was there to see him shine.

Watching from his bedroom the darkening clouds, Minato Namikaze's head turned gently behind him, taking one last look at the sleeping form of his wife, before gulping down a sip of water, and then disappearing in a flicker of light, to the office of the Hokage.

He wasted no time in getting things in order: everything had to go smoothly. It had to be so smooth there wasn't going to be even the tiniest bit of doubt, when things came down to it.

Today was important: extremely important…there was no other way around it…today had to go flawlessly. Once it was over, then he could rest at ease…because he'd have paid all his crimes, all his errors, all his mistakes. After this day, his soul would be free: not clean or less dirty, but at least, it would be free.

Kilometers away, a veritable army of white clay birds was being prepared by a blond haired man, with an Iwagakure forehead protector that had a single horizontal line on it, symbol of being a missing-nin, while near him, Itachi Uchiha was stoically standing, looking in silence at Kisame, Mangetsu and Chojuro, the three swordsmen of the mist speaking of strategies to adopt, in the narrow streets of Konoha.

Today was extremely important and everything, everything had to be perfect. As the wind blew, and a drop of rain fell on a paling hand, the Iwagakure kunoichi, owner of said hand and also barely made chuunin, looked at the darkening sky from her spot as a scout, and took a deep breath. The village of Konoha was just then waking up…but would it fall asleep, that night?

The Yellow Flash would pay, that much was the thought in the shinobi's minds, that much was the will of their Tsuchikage. She never fought the previous war: she was too young for that. She had heard tales of those who had however, she had heard the rants of fear and the frightened faces of those who had actually faced the now Yondaime Hokage, and she couldn't help but be glad she was a scout…she wouldn't be entering the battle: she was just there to act as a messenger.

In another spot, in the middle of the vast forest, Suna shinobis looked at each other tensely, while murmurs running through their crowds, promised that today, a great village would fall. For their leader, they would face and destroy their foes. In a corner, smirking, Orochimaru wearing the Kazekage's skin gave the final orders. For today, he would play the part, and tomorrow, when chaos would be at the order of the day, he'd be on his way.

The wind blew, as always, and as the morning birds chirped, and the drops of water fell, a light drizzle turned into a downpour moments later…and with that, the day that would be the Chuunin's Exams came to the its full glory.

As everyone prepared, everyone went through their plans, their decisions, their thoughts, a single man, with grey hair and two clear blue eyes, looked at the falling rain from the window of the hospital, where mere moments ago, Anko had groaned, signaling that she was waking up.

"So…you woke up," Naruto whispered, looking back at the woman, who merely brought both her hands to her face, before pushing them for a while against her forehead, a blinding headache probably the cause, and then letting them fall, limp, against her sides.

"Was I run over by a truck?" Anko whispered back, her eyes looking with a mixture of worry and perplexity to Naruto, who simply shook his head, slowly.

"No…I admit most of your injuries were my doing," the Senju whispered, "But you brought the worse ones upon yourself, Anko," the tone was cold, chilling, even, as the boy's right hand lightly rose, to then gently drop down limp at his side, once more.

"W…What are you talking about, Koi?" the purple haired girl tried to make a cheerful tone, but it came out…wrong, it came out…fake and void. She did try to smile, but it was just…nauseating, to even think about it. There was nothing happy in that day, in that place, in that room…why were they to begin with? Couldn't her Koibito bring her elsewhere? Why was she standing in a hospital gown? What had happened!?

"Danzo is dead, his eyes are no more," Naruto whispered, "There is no more deceit, no more mind control between me and you…I am free," he added, slowly, "And you…" his voice broke off, as the woman's eyes began to tear, and her head to fall down, her shoulders trembling as the crushing weight of despair fell, all in one quick swoop, when the kunoichi realized just what had happened…or better yet, remembered, what had happened. Her fingers pressed against the surface of the hospital's bed's sheets, while her tongue twisted in her mouth that seemed just so dry, that day. Bile was menacing to come out quickly, and as she realized she was panicking, she closed her eyes for a moment, forcing her hurricane of emotions to calm down.

"I…I understand," Anko replied, carefully, "I'll move out by tonight…can I still see the kids? Will you be there for…him?" as her hand rested on her stomach, she touched it slightly, before frowning, hadn't it been slightly bigger? Wasn't there the movement of fluids through the umbilical cord that her hand could easily trace? A thought, an utterly horrible thought crossed her mind, and then…then she looked with extreme fear at Naruto, who moved closer, slowly. It was worse than if he had simply left, and never come back. It was worse than if he had killed her, and it was worse than anything else she could have envisioned.

There wasn't anger in Naruto's face, not that Anko could see…there was pity, and sadness. That hurt more than anything else, because it just meant how much he was something else, something she had, and now would have no more…had he always been an unreachable goal, a prize to catch?

"No…" the woman shook her head, touching her lower stomach again, "No…No…no…nonono…_**NO**_!" as tears kept falling down, the grey haired man let his arms enclose around the woman…pain spared no-one, and seeing her so frail, after all that had gone through…how could he simply forget years of love, like that?

He could hate her… that was so easy. He just had to forget all the mornings, waking up with her cuddled against him. He just had to forget the nights spent not sleeping because of Yumi's cries. He just had to forget the morning kisses, the 'welcome back home from mission' parties, the smiling face, he just had to forget all of those happy moments, all those instants that he had felt loved, and remember.

He just had to remember the lies, the mind altering, the façade, he just had to remember Tobirama, the betrayals, the fights that had been removed from his mind, and that now poured back in. He just had to forget one side of his life and remember the other, he just had to act just like her, forget the things that hurt him, while remembering the ones that didn't...

So why was it so difficult to do both? Because it wasn't easy? Were these his reflexes, which brought him to hug a crying Anko? Was this his still altered mind? Was this his will? Was it the force of habit? Was this love, hate, anger, forgiveness? Was this anything? Did this mean anything?

He didn't know, but he knew, deep down he knew, he couldn't leave her to simply cry alone. He had already cried his tears; he had already come to term with his loss. He had already gone through all the possible scenarios he could have done, but had instead chosen not to, blinded by rage and resentment.

He had let the life yet to be fulfilled of a baby, his son or daughter to be, be destroyed by his own actions. Was there any forgiveness to be had, in that? Was there anyone to ask it to? No, there wasn't. He had made something worse than a mistake. Mistakes were those things you solved with a bit of eraser, some white paint, or a couple of drops of water. This hadn't been a mistake. It had been something _worse_.

"Why?" Anko muttered between her tears, "Just…why?"

"The cursed seal," Naruto whispered back, "When you renounced your will to live, it flared active…and when it did, it poisoned…"

"Leave me alone," the kunoichi whispered, suddenly jerking away from the Senju's arms, "Leave me alone…" Just whose reason was it, after all, that they had lost their child? Naruto should have just acted like always. Meek, submissive, bowing his head and listening to her with a half-smile on his face. Like always, he should have listened to her, he should have been there for her, and instead…instead he hadn't. He hadn't listened, he hadn't followed her. This was _his_ fault…yet it felt so wrong and so horrible to give it to him.

With a mere nod, Naruto turned to leave, and as his back disappeared from view, Anko's back fell down against the bed's surface, her eyes lingering on the hospital's ceiling. She felt…empty. The room was eerily quiet without him, so cold and bare in its whiteness. The smell of alcohol and disinfectant, the smell of hospital…it was something she never liked. She looked at the window, the water drops hitting against the glass, and she closed her eyes. A flash of a memory came to her mind, two teenagers, both lying on the bed.

"_Will you be my friend?"_

What a friend had she been? A girlfriend, a wife, a mother of his child? She had used him, she had repeatedly abused his kindness, his gentleness, and his actions…she hadn't been there _together_ with him. Sure, she had hugged him when he came from some missions devastated, for the amount of blood spilled and the innocents dead because he hadn't been fast enough, or strong enough, to save them.

She had laughed with him, when he had been subjected to a barrage of furry mutts playing with him, all strays, and she had consoled him, so to say, when said mutts had been delivered to the Inuzuka compound. She had been there for him…but not always. She had been selfish. He should have lived also for himself, like she did, but while she had nights with her friends, he had to stay at home. While she had freedom, he had shackles. Shackles that she had built for him and that he had worn because she had been afraid…afraid he'd be able to escape and go away.

Away from the cage that she had placed for him…because when you love the colors of a bird, you build a cage for him, to keep him always in check, always around you…but as you do that, you don't realize how much the bird actually stops singing, how much his feathers stop shining…until it's too late, and the bird dies.

Was this then his fault? Was this Naruto's fault that they had lost the child? Anko's eyes fluttered close, as she took a deep breath. She didn't want to remember, she didn't want to recall the blade hitting her on the shoulder, a non-lethal hit, clearly…he had never wanted to kill her…but she hadn't seen that, not on the moment: for that she had given in to despair.

Was this his fault, then? Was this his fault, for having lost their child?

"_That is what I'm blaming you for: being an egoistic bitch! Caring only about yourself instead of others!"_

Those words rammed into her skull with the strength of a sledgehammer, as she gripped the hospital's sheets strongly.

It wasn't only his fault. It was hers too, especially hers. She could have left, and Naruto wouldn't have hit her with his technique. She could have stayed quiet. She could have told him the truth before. She could have done a thousands of things, one better than the other…and she hadn't. She had chosen not to, and thus, right there and then…she paid the price that her paradise had brought up. The bill had to be paid, and she was now paying it, in full.

Was this how it was going to be? Was she going to mope in that bed, for the rest of her life? Maybe not, but still…what could she do? Naruto probably didn't love her anymore…who would _love_ someone like her? Maybe she should just pack up and leave, maybe go to Wave for a vacation? She wasn't feeling all too well…but she needed air. She needed time. She needed space.

So she stood up, wobbling on her feet, and quietly, she left the room too.

Naruto, on the other hand, had exited the hospital, his eyes scanning around, bile menacing to come out from his mouth. The tension was overbearing. Everything was for today: everything, every sacrifice, every action, every single thought and plan…for today.

"Senju!" the call made him stop on a street near the hospital, and turn around, to face the drenched Tsume, who was eying him with murder in her eyes. The Inuzuka matriarch was wearing her usual Jounin outfit, but an empty bottle of sake was in her right hand. At least, what remained of it, because it looked like it had been broken…the woman appeared drunk, but was she, really?

Naruto had known that Tsume had lost her husband years ago, when Kiba was young. One of the reasons he had to babysit the kid had been because the woman had to take care of important clan related things, and she didn't trust Hana, or any other of the clan, to take care of the child.

Maybe it was then, that she had started to drink like a sponge. Naruto remembered that Kiba had always been a boisterous little thing, running around, Akamaru on his head, looking at him and Itachi with awe, proclaiming he'd be as strong as them. Instead he always became quiet, he always walked in his room in silence, every time his mother came back home. Even if Tsume appeared cheerful, Kiba's eyes always showed but one emotion, when she looked at him: fear.

Once or twice, Hana had actually been there, to make small talk with Anko, or to watch her baby brother play. The few times Kiba had moved closer to her, be it by mistake or because he had to grab a ball of sorts, the look on the girl's face had been of disgust.

Naruto knew all this, but couldn't act on it. He couldn't, because Kiba himself didn't want anyone to have anything to do with it. He recalled having to speak privately to Shino, out of all people, because the boy had always been too smart for his own good…and to Shikamaru, since the boy had already been asking how to denounce family abuse. He was not one to be _troubled_, except when it came down to his friends. Yet…Kiba hadn't wanted to, and nothing could be done.

After all, he would just need to refute everything, and claim training mishaps…what was there to do?

"Inuzuka-san?" Naruto's gaze lingered on her form, already in the position to clash, like she was just about to charge. Next to her, Kuromaru was showing a sort of apologetic look, albeit, in the rain, it seemed more like he was showing a pissed off look too. The wolf-dog had an eye-patch, covering his right eye, and was the closest thing to a friend that Tsume actually had. Sure, she had _friends_, like other clan's heads, but close friends? Kuromaru was probably the only one who could tell Tsume no and keep on breathing, and living, next to her.

"I told you to keep him safe!" the Inuzuka matriarch exclaimed, her breath ragged, probably from the alcohol running its course in her system, "And then I hear he's in the hospital!?" Naruto's eyes narrowed, so it was about Kiba…good. Maybe he would be overstepping his boundaries, and maybe Kiba would probably hate him…but there was no need to keep the ball bouncing back and forth any longer.

"Speaks the woman who broke his ribs during training?" the Senju retorted, taking a step forward. He had always kept quiet, about everything. He had let things run their course for too long…but after today, he could no longer. Couldn't the woman understand what losing one's own child was like? Did she really think that Kiba wasn't going to leave her, eventually, with all that she had done to him?

"Kid, no, really, don't anger her, she's already drun…" Kuromaru tried to speak, but it was too late: Tsume, her mind set on having the young Senju understand who he was pissing off, charged. When she did, she did so with the speed and the ferocity of a fully trained, lethal, and fierce Inuzuka. Drunk as she was, the outcome should have already been decided, as nothing could have managed to reach that speed, and then counter her attacks, and truly, Tsume's right fist made contact…with a wall of water that rose from the wet ground. The wall was as solid as steel, blocking the attack and pushing the woman backwards, as water tendrils sprouted from it, forcing her to backflip, to avoid taking damage. Tsume held her right wrist with her left hand, the pain that she felt, the possibly broken wrist, was enough to sober her up.

She had tried, and she had failed, to attack the boy, or better yet, the man, in front of her. This could but mean one thing. Either she had lost her edge, or the Senju was good. So she became just like a dog which faces an unknown opponent: wary, while growling and starting to circle around him, for an opening.

"I'm his mother! I have all the rights in the world!" the woman snarled, slowly but surely reaching for the man's side. She had heard he had lost an eye, and yet he now had both…was one a Genjutsu?

"What rights do you have, after all you've done to him, to be his mother?" Naruto continued, as his feet gently lifted themselves from the ground, and onto the water droplets that had fallen upon the cobblestones that composed the road in front of the hospital. It was a simple trick of Suiton mastery, instead of water walking, it was more…levitating on the water droplets on hard surfaces, and by deciding the direction chakra was expelled by the feet, it increased the speed by having one actually *ski* on wet surfaces.

"Kid, please, stop angeri…" as Kuromaru tried, once more, Tsume howled, before spinning wildly while in mid-air, for a second charge.

"Tsuga!" The basic attack of the Inuzuka clan was something simple, it merely consisted of the user spinning around, his hands formed to resemble claws, and tearing apart the enemy through the strength of the spin. In the hands of a master of the style, it had the strength of a bull, a flying, rotating and piercing bull that could pass through anything and crush everything on its path.

So Naruto moved his right hand, and the water wall _moved_, while letting Tsume's attack impact against it, before making a single hand sign… just like that, the water's consistency was no longer solid, but slippery and…syrupy. The more strength Tsume applied on the wall now turned pond, the more strong the gel-like substance attacked her and kept her still.

"I'd stay still," Naruto suggested, "You're going to tear your clothes away," he added, "And in this rain, going around naked isn't befitting a clan's matriarch," as his tone suggested a light chuckle, it suddenly turned to steel, "And I'd avoid putting pressure on the broken wrist."

"Kuromaru!" Tsume yelled, only for the giant wolf-dog to shake his head.

"Tsume, I'm doing you a favor: you can't attack fellow shinobis of the leaf…in the middle of the street, near the hospital."

"I will not forget this, Senju!" and just then, just as the feral voice of the Inuzuka matriarch reached him, so too did the Senju move closer, and seconds later, a loud slap sound echoed through the street that now had people looking at the scene with awe, and shock.

Because, in the world of possible, impossible, probable and improbable, Naruto Senju, tired, with a lack of sleep, tense and nervous, did the only thing his already grated nerve could think of: he slapped, hard, Tsume on the face. The rain didn't even soften the sound that propagated throughout the air, and just like that, the Inuzuka matriarch stopped her rants, and stared, in shock, at the grey haired man.

"I am tired of seeing egoistic, hypocrite, spoiled women trying to get their way! _Shut the fuck up_!" at the yell, even Kuromaru's eyes bulged. Those were balls, clearly, since guts could bring a man only so far…those were pure _steel_ balls. He should have moved in to defend Tsume, but he followed the pack mentality. If the Alpha had been defeated, what hope would _he_ have? None…and deep down, he hoped that Naruto would somehow manage to make Tsume go back to her previous self: the still rash, but bearable woman who didn't get drunk from morning to night.

"You have no right to get _anything_ out of me, and especially, _you_ have no right to get anything out of Kiba!" as the Senju kept on ranting, Tsume tried to retort, only for another slap to shut her up again, and this time, seeing the murder in the Senju's eyes, she decided to keep being quiet.

"He _defended_ you for years, he stood up for all the hate you threw at him and for everything you did he had an excuse ready! You think I don't care about him? He's my student! He's like a son to me! You think that taking your rage out on others is going to work?! You think that hitting people fixes things!? You think that yelling, crying, raging to the world works!?"

Tsume didn't have anything to say, but still, she tried, once more, to get her view across. She hadn't been _hitting_ him! She had been _training_ him. So _maybe_, while drunk, she hadn't dosed her strength well enough, but that was an accident. So maybe she let Hana vent her frustrations on him, but the girl too needed to…another slap, again. Was the man ever going to let her talk?

"Shut up, and never show yourself in front of me or Kiba in this sorry state ever again," he whispered, menacingly, "Or I'll _beat_ you to the ground until you sober up, _again_, and _again_, until you understand your lesson. You lost him, Tsume, you lost him the moment you let your anger get the better of you, you lost him the moment you let your grief send you in the wrong direction, the wrong way…so _stop_, stop and start again, in another way...because this way won't bring you nothing but pain," and with that, Naruto Senju turned to leave, his hands clenched tightly into fists.

"The Jutsu should stop working in a couple of minutes; bring her home by then, Kuromaru…" Naruto spoke softly, turning his head barely to look at the wolf-dog, before adding, "next time…if you will still act like this, Tsume-san, I _will_ use lethal force to defend myself," and with a threat, that was in truth a promise, the grey haired man walked out of sight of the Inuzuka's matriarch, who stood there, dumbstruck, while waiting for the syrupy substance to stop holding her down.

"You know, Tsume…" Kuromaru started, "I think you got lucky getting out of this alive."

"I…I think so too," Tsume whispered back, before nervously chuckling, "you sure he's only Nineteen?"

"Tsume…"

"What!? I'm sober now!"

"Well…you're taking this surprisingly well," Kuromaru added, "I thought you'd swear vengeance."

"Hey, I'm a Jounin, not a Genin! I know when I'm overstepping my bounds…I'm not taking a chance against the next Hokage," Tsume muttered, as finally the thick substance gave way, collapsing back into water, and letting the woman stand back on her feet.

"Next Hokage? Already thinking that far? There are better candidates around, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't care. He wants my vote? He gets it. I might ask him out for dinner though…"

"He's married," Kuromaru deadpanned, only for the Inuzuka matriarch to laugh out hard.

"So what?"

With a deafening sigh, the wolf-dog began trudging alongside the woman, as they entered the hospital, to get her wrist fixed, and to look for Kiba's room…only to find out he had been discharged the night before, and was thus, probably, already in the Senju compound.

*Senju Compound*

Kiba had woken up with a devastating headache. On the bright side, he had little to do, except go watch his teammate fight against Neji…who was his housemate, for the moment. Something about defusing a potentially devastating situation of dread…or something like that, happening in the Hyuga house.

In the end, he hadn't quite cared, since when he had been discharged, Naruto had merely sent him to the Senju compound, to get rest. He hadn't even been surprised by Neji being there, actually. The servants' house did have a lot of bunk beds, and the Hyuga hadn't even bothered asking what Kiba was doing there.

Since Neji had taken care of Akamaru, and the dog didn't seem malnourished, wounded, crying or otherwise harmed, Kiba had decided not to say a single word about him beating up Hinata. If his sensei had made him understand anything, it was that truly, Hinata had been the one out of the line, and not Neji.

"Ehm…can I ask you a favor?" Kiba queried, as Neji was just about to leave for the stadium, but stopping to listen anyway.

"If this is about letting the Namikaze win…" the Hyuga started, only for the Inuzuka to hastily dismiss the issue with his arms swaying.

"No, no! Nothing of the sort, Katsumi would kill me if I told you to go easy on her because she's a girl…"

"Fine then, what is the favor?" Neji queried, eying with curiosity the Inuzuka. The boy was keeping his eyes half-closed, while massaging his temples. Probably he had taken some sort of flu or disease of sorts…something that Neji hoped wasn't infectious…especially not for that day!

"Can you tell me if this seal is doing something to me, when I mold my chakra? I kind of had sensei tell me it sends something poisonous around and…well, you have the Byakugan and all," to that, the Hyuga stared, perplexed at the two seals. The Inuzuka obviously hadn't explained it well enough: there were two seals. One was the seal that Neji had seen on the shoulder of Anko, once or twice, during his training with Naruto, the other was instead a containing seal, something that had probably been placed there by the Senju head himself…nodding quickly, the boy activated his byakugan, letting the colors drain from the world, as the chakra pathways came into view.

"Mold the chakra," Neji instructed, and as Kiba set his hands in the ram sign, the Hyuga's eyes blinked, once, twice, before finally shaking his head, "No…it seems to be doing nothing of the sorts."

"Good, then sensei's seal works!" as the Inuzuka exclaimed that, he quickly added, "You mind waiting for me, so we go to the arena together?" Truly, Kiba didn't feel like going to the arena alone, but he had to cheer for his teammate, so he _had_ to be present, even with the headache.

"Fine," Neji rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance…but in truth, he was relieved. He had the feeling that what was gnawing at his stomach wasn't just the stress for the chuunin exam…it was something else. Today, he'd put the trust of his sensei to test, today was the day the branch family either freed itself, or died.

Strangely, the Chuunin exams didn't matter anymore: all in all, he just hoped that his sensei knew what he was doing.

So he was relieved, when Kiba offered to accompany him out in the drizzle, at least his mind wouldn't wonder far on what could go wrong, because, truly…a lot of things could go wrong.

As the two walked towards the arena, a set of running noises came to an abrupt halt straight in front of the Senju's compound's gates, and Sasuke Uchiha stood there, panting, and looking at the two coming out from there. He was wearing his normal outfit that, however, showed traces of having been dyed in green…and then dyed hastily back in blue. Sasuke, truthfully, was going to kill Maito Gai.

"Where is Naruto-sensei!?" Sasuke practically growled, only for Neji to shrug, and Kiba to reply while shaking his head.

"Sensei…he has things to do," the Inuzuka whispered, his tone serious.

"Did he hear about Itachi? I mean, it was Kiri all along, and yet they blamed him for it! Why didn't he just try and defend himself? I just…I don't know what to make of it," the Uchiha muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Just don't trouble sensei today…he's having it tough," Kiba added.

"Fine mutt-boy, out with it," Neji snapped, "Yesterday you looked like a wet dog, and I didn't pry since you were probably moping about not making it to the finals, but if it concerns sensei, you'd better spit it out now," as the Hyuga, and, by consequence, the Uchiha, turned to stare at Kiba, the Inuzuka raised his hands in a sort of 'calm down' motion.

"He…his wife was pregnant, okay?"

"Was?" the time of the verb wasn't wasted on the two other Genins, who looked at each other with grim looks, before Kiba nodded silently, giving them the confirmation they needed.

"Is he going to hold a funeral?" Neji queried, worry in his voice.

"There's no way I'm losing the exams today," Sasuke replied with determination, "listen here, Hyuga, we have to become chuunins, the two of us. Let's show sensei that his teachings haven't gone to waste with us."

"I agree, Uchiha, for once…we'd better kick everyone else's ass," and with those words, Kiba stared with shock at Neji.

"Okay. Who are you? You just said something…crude."

"We're going to be late if we keep staying here, let's make a run for it," Sasuke replied, ignoring Kiba's remark, and together with the other two, the small trio began running towards the arena.

As they neared the stadium, Sasuke and Neji took the contestant's entry, while Kiba went towards the spectator's side. He'd seat in a Senju seat, just to stay away from the Inuzuka's side.

As the light drizzle kept falling and the stadium began filling up, in the Kage box, the Kazekage and the Hokage exchanged the usual pleasantries, while in the Sarutobi area, a seat was left empty next to Hiruzen. With a sad sigh, the Kami of Shinobis looked at the empty spot and couldn't help but shake his head. Probably, by the end of the day, who knew if he'd be reunited with his friend, rival, and probably brother in all but blood?

Tsume Inuzuka had arrived with her cheeks swollen, but nobody, in her clan, had even said a word about it: they valued their life. Next to her was an empty seat, while on the other side Hana was looking with a contrived expression to the seats that should have held the Senju clan.

"He's sitting there, the mutt," Hana muttered, gritting her teeth, "at least he has the decency not to show his face after failing."

"Hana," Tsume said, with a surprisingly emotionless tone, for the Inuzuka matriarch, "Shut up."

The Inuzuka's clan's heiress looked with a mixture of surprise and shock at her mother, before merely nodding and keeping her tongue in her mouth…maybe she was in a bad mood?

Hiashi, meanwhile, was sitting at his spot, tightening his hands around his knees. While unbecoming of the clan leader, the tension was clearly hearable around. Many of the main family had outright demanded the blood of the Senju for having found a way around the caged bird seal.

He was sure that, as of tomorrow, there were going to be assassination attempts that he wouldn't be able to stave off, because such a hubris concerning the Hyuga clan wasn't something that could pass off without a qualm.

Still…he couldn't repress a small smile. Soon, it would no longer be any of his concerns. He'd go and do something extremely selfish, maybe, but for him, the clan could rot in hell, because finally…finally he would be free too.

As the contestants stood down below, in the arena, the rain slowly falling on them, their proctor, this time Genma Shiranui, looked at them with a slightly raised eyebrow, counting them in his mind.

"_So there's the Uchiha, the Hyuga, the Namikaze, the Nara, that medic-nin Yakushi, the clone of Maito Gai against the Misumi creep, then there's the Aburame and those two from Sand. The matches are going to be interesting, I suppose."_ Genma's mind also reasoned that, since there were quite a bit of clan's heirs, down there…he'd have to play just his favorite sport: make sure no political accident happen.

Minutes later, the Hokage stood up, ready to give his speech, while from the balcony, a bandaged Sakura and a slightly coughing Ino both sat down in the free Senju seats. Kiba had been kind enough to offer them a place, since it was kind of creepy, sitting alone in those spots.

"You sure Senju-san isn't going to mind?" Ino asked, between racking coughs, as she sat down. Kabuto had won by injecting in her a virulent form a cold, something that had brought her down with coughing fits and forced her to withdraw, to get the cure. She could have gone to where her parents and her clan's seats were, but her father wasn't going to be there, since he had been busy lately, doing all-nighters for some ultra-secret stuff... so since she had some flirting-freedom, why not take it? And the Senju's side was closer to the contestant's area than the Yamanaka's one, so she could reach her Sasuke-kun faster, cheer him faster, and maybe manage to catch a glimpse of…she blushed, before giggling for a while.

"Nah, Aniki will probably be busy for a while," the Inuzuka retorted, looking perplexed at the variety of emotions on the Yamanaka's face, "He had some troubles in the hospital," he carefully added, trying not to give away too much.

"Yeah…Katsumi-chan told me," Sakura muttered, he voice much somber, and her eyes downcast, "It's just so sad…"

"What?" Ino asked with curiosity filling her voice, obviously, she had not known what had happened.

"I'll tell you later, Ino-pig," Sakura snapped back, closing the argument.

"You could tell me now, Sakura-forehead!" the Yamanaka retorted, not wanting to be kept in the dark.

"It's…complicated," Kiba said, "But they're about to start, so quiet down, will you?"

At that, both girls shut up, turning their eyes to the Kage's box, where Minato Namikaze was about to give a small speech of encouragement.

"Let the will of fire guide you through this final trial, and may you shine through this test with the values that Konoha prides upon! Fight not as if you were fighting enemies, but as if you were sparring with friends! This exam represents a bright tomorrow, and not just mere carnage. Today you will be tested, to see if you have what it takes to become a chuunin, a leader of squads. You will need to display your skills, your strengths, and you will reveal your weakness, whether you realize it or not. So fight, but never forget that after a fight, you will be friends again!" as he finished speaking, Minato Namikaze sat next to the Kazekage, who merely whispered, after a moment.

"Interesting…speech, Hokage-sama," with those words, Minato merely smiled back.

"Obviously, Kazekage-sama, just like the Genins down below…both of your children are there, right?"

"Ah yes…Kankuro and Temari, my two…prides," Orochimaru let the word come out of his mouth like it was an insult, more than a compliment. He didn't even know those kids. Heck, he'd rather watch his old students fight, than these runts. Those were his prides…a pity that things had gone in such a drastically different way.

Genma, from down below, raised his hand, getting the attention of the Genins.

"The first match is between Katsumi Namikaze and Neji Hyuga: the others must step out of the arena."

*Katsumi Namikaze Vs Neji Hyuga*

Neji slid into his battle stance with practiced ease, ignoring the piercing glares of the Hyuga side, and especially of the elders.

On the other side, Katsumi held a kunai in her hand, before looking straight ahead at Neji, the first apprentice Naruto had ever had. She was going against a veritable prodigy, a genius, at least, those were the words her mother had told her the night before. Her father had offered little advice, but the most important had been to be extremely careful about the fox.

If it ever riled up, she had to stop the match, immediately. If she didn't, and her secret was out, then things would turn messy.

"I believe this match will have to be interrupted twice," Neji pointed out, "For that, I apologize," he added, carefully.

"Hm? There is no interrupting the match, kid," Genma replied, "It's not like you can ask for a pause to catch your breath."

"You misunderstand," Neji retorted, "it is just that things will happen that will force you to interrupt it twice…that much Sensei told me."

Up in the balcony, Gai's eyes narrowed a bit. Obviously the sensei part wasn't being referred to him. So, if that was the case, who was the boy talking of? Naruto? What was the Senju referring to, then?

Lee, who was down below next to the other contestants, looked up to the green spandex clad man, who returned a perplexed expression. Next to the Jounin, Mikoto turned to stare with curiosity at Gai, who, finding himself under the lovely and absolutely youthful gaze of his girlfriend couldn't help but give out a bright smile…while not knowing the answer to the strange behavior of Neji.

"I have no idea, my dear flame of sparkling…"

"_**SHUT UP OR I'LL KILL YOU!**_" the roar came from the Uchiha scion, down below, who had turned too to stare at the couple, murder in his eyes.

"Sasuke-san! It is un-youthful to say that to my sensei!" Lee exclaimed, only for Sasuke to merely growl back.

Genma shrugged, maybe it was psychological trickery, but if it was the case, he had no idea what it would account to.

Within the seconds of the speech, however, Katsumi had already swapped herself with a Kage Bunshin. The girl must have learned that technique in one day, Genma supposed, which was a veritable feat…and already had learned how to use it effectively. The match had started, so the Hyuga had nothing to complain about, when he found out the trick.

A pity Neji simply smirked, activating his byakugan, and then jumping backwards. As he did that, Katsumi, the real one, popped up from the ground, kunai in hand.

"Relying on the eyes alone is a sign of weakness," Neji taunted, before closing in with speed, in a blur of white.

Murmurs ran through the crowd of the Hyugas, and the branch member couldn't help but grin wider. Everything was going according to plan.

As Katsumi expected the attack to come from the front, her Kage Bunshin moved next to her, to try and block the incoming barrage of punches. Neji, however, jumped in mid-air, while performing a spin that so much resembled the Inuzuka's Tsuga, landing straight behind the two girls, and hitting them both on the back.

The attack would have been frowned upon, and considered wasteful by the Hyugas, as the Tenketsu point on the back wasn't blocking anything major, meaning it was merely a hit in, and nothing more.

"You could have gone for the knock-out," Genma pointed out, looking at the scene with a puzzled expression.

"First time," Neji merely replied with a light chuckle, charging once more. First time? Wait, was the boy…

"_He's toying with her…but why?"_ Still, the proctor realized what the boy meant with interrupting the match. Genma could interrupt it if a clear winner was visible, but then…just what had the boy planned?

As soon as the thought crossed the proctor's mind, Katsumi growled, before letting her right hand backwards, and then forward, with a deafening roar.

"Kaze no Yaiba!" in the hands of Naruto, the attack was a silent blade, the assassin's favorite, quiet, lethal, piercing. In the hands of an overly charged with chakra Katsumi, the attack was a gale, a veritable mass of air moved with the same speed of a train. Yet, Neji rolled to the side, using his hands on the ground, to push him away from the area of impact.

Touching the ground with the hands was something horrendous for the Hyugas, it was just like…

"_He's insulting the clan with every move he's doing…"_ as it hit Genma with the strength of a brick, the murmur in the Hyuga's side grew even louder, and with that, Neji finally united his hands in symbols for a jutsu.

"_He wants to win without using the Juken style…he's spitting on everything his clan stands for…"_

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" as the fire balls launched forward, their heat searing through the air, aiming at the ground in front of Katsumi, the red haired girl coughed, as the dust exploded upwards, blinding her long enough for Neji to charge straight through it, and hit her in the stomach with his right fist.

Not while using the Juken style, no. As Katsumi reeled forward, her stomach menacing to churn out its contents, she grinned, before disappearing in smoke.

Neji frowned, for a second, before rolling backwards, while avoiding a Katsumi that once more emerged from the ground. Then, seconds later, another one appeared from where Neji was supposed to have been ending up…only for the clone to hit the air, as the Hyuga merely spun, while hitting the second Katsumi in the side of the stomach, and sending her, since it was the real one, to hit the ground a couple of meters away.

Katsumi's kage bunshin charged, only for a quick hit to the girl's arms, raised to block, to dispel it.

"You yet have to pin the technique completely down, right?" Neji retorted with a soft chuckle, "But don't worry…it isn't because of fate, that I'm winning…"

"You're strong…how much did you train?" Katsumi muttered, standing back up, a cheesy smile on her face, albeit her lower lip seemed to have been busted.

"Countless hours, endless days, uncountable months," the Hyuga whispered back, "Hard work requires sacrifice, and yields back results, with time. You are doing surprisingly well…but there is a reason, that you aren't winning…and it's not only because I'm stronger than you."

Neji charged once more, disappearing in a blur of speed, and like that, noises began to occur on the Hyuga's rows.

"Why are they making such a fuss?" Genma muttered, turning around and then…stopping to stare, as another group of Hyugas, these ones with their forehead protectors on the right side of their arms, tied and in display, arrived on the balconies, and slowly, but surely, sat down straight in the Senju's rows.

Genma knew a couple of them. They had done Anbu together…and they weren't…they weren't of the main house…yet why…there…

"This is the second time you'll have to interrupt the match," Neji replied, smoothly, appearing behind Katsumi, with a smile that could rival that of Maito Gai in his best days.

Indeed, the main family elders were looking with complete fury at the others, and then, as pearly white eyes stared back at other white eyes…realization clicked in for many: there was no longer a caged bird seal on them.

The branch house was sitting in the Senju rows, their clothes a dark blue and dark green color, and while on the right arm they sported the forehead protector of Konoha…on the left, emblazoned at shoulder height…stood the symbol of the Senju clan.

"Sensei did say you'd have to interrupt the match, eventually," the Hyuga shrugged his shoulders, "I drew the match on as long as needed…so…I _**FORFEIT**_!" and with that, the boy gently touched his forehead, where, after a light application of chakra, the caged bird seal, the fake one that Naruto had implanted on him to fool the main branch…gave away.

The howls, the rage, the anger of the main family was cut short by Minato's paling features, as he appeared straight in the middle of the rows, where the main family, and the branch family, were going to face one other off.

"Tokuma! Hoheto! Even you two betray the clan's ideal!? We taught you better!" an elder yelled, as two Anbu clad Hyuga…no, Senju members looked back with anger.

"You taught us nothing but lies! We are through with this! We are no longer Hyugas! Your clan can rot in hell for all we care! We are Senjus now!"

"We aren't going to recognize this! For your impudence…" and just as Minato tried to have a main clan member back down, a dragon made of water grabbed the man, and spinning him around in its maws, smashed it against the walls of the arena. Slowly, sickeningly, it spun, crushing the Hyuga to paste, while the screams were gurgled down by the stream of water. It happened slowly, and yet it had been extremely fast. It was just like someone pushing a cigarette against the ground, or a surface, to turn it off. Only it was a living being that had been snuffed out.

Minato, the Yellow flash…stared in silence, and shock, at the man who had done such a feat. The cameras that normally would have been set on the arena's grounds, moved to show the full front view of Naruto Senju, who was the originator of the Suiton jutsu.

"Sensei's mad," Neji pointed out, loud enough to be heard, "I wouldn't anger him if I were you…then again, I hope you do!"

"Neji! You could have kept going, you know!?" Naruto retorted, standing with his feet on the rail, while the young Hyuga merely appeared right next to him, with a shunshin.

"And miss this show? Please sensei…history is in the making, I'd rather be here, than down there," Neji muttered, and as he did that, Minato's eyes looked straight at Naruto.

"What is the meaning of this, Naruto?" with the question, the Yondaime Hokage pointed at…everything, letting his arms span wide to indicate the entire mess that was happening in that precise moment.

"My…I found myself offered a group of clanless shinobis, loyal to Konoha, and I took them in…they had this really nasty seal on them, a slavery seal, you see…and by the laws of Konoha I could remove it, and since it was a clan matter, hey, you cannot say shit about it…better this way?" Naruto chuckled, vividly, before raising his hand and staring at the Hyuga main family side.

"Listen up you bastards, Hiashi excluded," as he said that, many winced…from both sides. Why was Hiashi excluded, to begin with?

"The head of your clan signed a document, granting clan-less status to the branch family, and its descendants," if people could have their pupil-less eyes enlarge themselves anymore, both sides would have done that, "Thus, I, as head of the Senju clan, was legally enabled to adopt them, through the clan's acts that your very own ancestor forced Hashirama to sign…want a copy? I even have the original versions: Tobirama was quite picky in making enemies…and in keeping notes on how to make them pay."

"This cannot stand! Hiashi! Surely he lies!" the elder that spoke was replied with a tired gaze from Hiashi, who merely bowed his head.

"He does not, Hokage-sama, I signed the document myself," Hiashi replied, "and for once…I don't actually care what happens afterwards."

"Hiashi…no, one at the time, Senju-san," Minato turned to Naruto, "Explain why you killed that Hyuga in cold blood, right here?"

"By clan laws, intimidation, menaces, physical aggressions and every, single, damn, thing that concerns fighting between clans can only be regulated between clans…meaning that, right here, right now, if these fuckers, Hiashi excluded," this time, less people winced, but many on the main family side scowled, "keep it up, I can legally take them all on, kill them, harness their souls with my terrifically supreme Kyuubi powers, and force them to a live of hell and pain in my guts, with the Kyuubi. How's that sounds, for you?" as Naruto's eyes briefly…eye-smiled, in a gesture so similar to the copy-cat ninja, the color drenched from the faces of everyone, all those who had actually heard him actually stopped breathing. The only sound that came down was that of the rain, gently falling on the ground, as thoughts process lost themselves in the mixture of what Naruto had just said.

He was…bluffing, right?

But Naruto hated lies. He'd never lie. So…he wasn't lying.

Meaning he could use the Kyuubi to grab their souls.

The dead body smashed against the arena's wall didn't even matter anymore. He at least got to get his soul out free.

"We should probably suspend the exams, and talk this over," one of the Hyuga elders muttered, only for Minato to suddenly shake himself out of his stupor, and reply.

"No, if he is within the law, then, no matter how bloody, or stupid it is, there is nothing I can do about it…afterwards, after the exams, we will decide on the consequences of having certain clan laws limiting the Hokage's powers," Minato replied, "Right now…just, you two," Pointing at two casual chuunins, "remove the body, clean the mess, and let the exams go on. And to avoid repercussions, no Hyuga, now Senju or not, can leave the arena for the time being," and with that, Minato Namikaze was back upwards, in the Kage box. Leaving behind two warily gazing at each other sides of the family that slowly got back to their seats…luckily far away one from the other.

Neji refrained from pointing out how insanity might have run in the family, because just one look at Naruto made him realize that the little display of cruelty, and coldness…was done precisely for that point.

"That was a cruel display, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed out, moving closer to the man in question, who simply got down from the rail, and smiled back at the Kami of Shinobis.

"Have mercy for those who are merciful, but show no hesitation in striking down wicked enemies," Naruto retorted, before showing a small grin, "A pity I can't stay…things to do, people to see, laundry to wash," and as he moved to leave, Hiruzen shot him a perplexed look, before shaking his head.

The boy was joking, clearly.

Neji, on the other hand, sat down close to Kiba, who had his mouth half opened in shock, and smiled.

"Close your mouth, please," the now Senju white-eyed boy replied with half a grin.

"That's…not fair! I want in too!" Kiba whined, only for the Neji to blink for a moment, and extend from within his jacket an adoption paper.

"We had a couple extra," he pointed out, only for the roar of Tsume to echo from the other side of the arena.

"Don't you even dare think about it! I need to talk to you later, boy!" at that, Kiba winced, and sighed…hopefully she'd renounce him too, right?

Meanwhile, down below, Katsumi had walked, tiredly, back to the bench where the others contestant stood in wait. She had been left to pass…and Sasuke had been seething with rage, internally.

"The Hyuga promised he'd become a chuunin together with me!" the Uchiha's mutter were met with Shino's monotonous tone.

"Sasuke-san, forfeiting the match after such a display of skills has a high chance of never the less landing Neji-san with the rank," as soon as he said that, Sasuke sighed.

"Yeah, but I wanted to do that too! Now I'm stuck going through the entire tournament!" the Uchiha whined, "And if I do the same stuff, it'll be like copying it! You realize that shinobis are already biased for that damn Copy-cat…they'd think I'm just like him!"

"Since when do you care about copying or not?" the Nara queried perplexed…he too had planned on surrendering during his match, and now…

"Nothing, it just doesn't…" but the Uchiha was cut short by the monotonous words of Shino.

"He seems interested in his teammate, Sakura-san, who hates people who copy others."

"That's not true!"

"Oh…I have to tell Sakura-chan!" Katsumi giggled, only for the proctor of the exam to yell, once more.

"Temari of Suna and Shikamaru Nara! Come to the stage!"

With those words from the proctor, the next two contestants entered the arena…and Sarutobi quickly excused himself, since his wards, in his home, had been going off.

*Sarutobi Compound*

Powerful wards set up to protect the area could do nothing, when the chakra was forcefully removed from their seals. Barriers crumbled to fine dust, as Samehada ate through the stale chakra of the fields of force, and reached into the inner compounds of the Sarutobi clan.

Kisame grinned fiercely, a grin that was shared by both Mangetsu and Chojuro, albeit the latter had more of a sort of forced grin that wasn't at all scary. At least, that was the general opinion of the matter from the two older swordsmen of the mist.

"Remember, we have to look for possible Jinchuuriki candidates…they should either be as old as the Senju or as young as a newborn, so, nineteen years going down," Kisame pointed out to the two, as Mangetsu nodded, before becoming a puddle of water, and starting to slip through the cracks in the wooden floor, to look out for secret rooms below.

As Kisame took to scurrying through the rooms on the left side of the corridors, Chojuro took the right ones. Yet, there was seemingly no presence in the compound. Everyone was probably at the exams, thus the reason the compound was deserted.

Still, somebody should have been around, only to guard it from possible thieves…or were they really expecting nobody to get past those wards?

Kisame caught a startled gurgle just a moment before Chojuro came crashing in the room he had been looking through…by that, it meant that the Kirigakure shinobi with Hiramekarei had been flung through a couple of walls, leaving a hole behind.

"Let me guess…trap?" Kisame queried, hopeful.

"Guess again," the eerily quiet and calm voice of the Sandaime was more than enough to make the blue skinned Akatsuki tense.

"Please tell me it's a programmed mud clone," the shark-man pleaded to Kami, while swinging down his sword with a surprisingly fast motion. The sword grated against the third Hokage, turning him into mud.

"Thank Kami, Choju…" and then a sharp kick to the side sent him tumbling through a couple of rooms, while the Sandaime grabbed his pipe, and lit it on.

"Youngsters, these days…"

"Don't look down on the Kirigakure no Kaijin!" Kisame snarled, as a massive flood of water was sent right back at the Sandaime, tearing down walls and engulfing the entirety of the compound in one giant mass of water.

To his defense, Kisame had overreacted in an effort to save his skin against fighting someone known to be extremely strong, and in his haste, he had poured too much chakra in the jutsu: the giant water dome was thus something pretty visible, and therefore… Deidara saw it.

And since Deidara saw it, the Iwagakure missing-nin shinobi looked to his army of white clay birds, and pointed forward. That was, obviously, because if Kisame was in trouble, so much trouble to use one of his most flashy, and visible techniques, then the man needed help.

As the clay birds began bombing, dropping minor clay constructs on the city, the explosion's noise unsettled the Sunagakure shinobis, who thinking this was part of the plan, went through the hand signs to summon the giant snakes that would help them on their side.

As they did that, however, the scouts from Iwagakure reported bombings, and misinterpreting it as a sign that their saboteurs had started earlier, the order for the charge was given.

From the very ground of Konoha masses of Iwagakure shinobis emerged, passing beneath the ground, just as, at the same time, Sunagakure shinobis came crashing through the walls. All the while, Akatsuki's member Yugito Nii began to sweep the village for the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and for the 'future' of Konoha.

In his defense…Kisame hadn't expected that.

In the giant dome of water, the view of the village took away one's breath. Not because it was beautiful, but because of the sheer chaos, violence, and screams, that seemed to reach everywhere.

This wasn't what they had planned. As Kisame turned to face Hiruzen, he realized that he hadn't been actually fighting the Third Hokage at all. No, he had merely been played by him…and he realized that lesson, when a dragon of earth rose straight from the very ground, splitting in two the giant water semi-sphere, and putting the Sandaime atop of it.

Kisame didn't waste time, merging with Samehada, to assume a half-shark and half-humanoid appearance, before quickly trying to run away.

To hell with the plan: something bigger was going on, and he just hoped Chojuro and Mangetsu would survive that.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" as an uncountable number of shurikens flew, piercing through the water that Kisame was using to quicken his escape, the shark-man from Kirigakure decided to forget about the other two. He had to survive, first…and he was the one with the shortest end of the stick.

"Suiton: Goshokuzame!" as five sharks of chakra rose behind him, to protect him from the barrage, or from most of it, the earth dragon on which Hiruzen stood opened its jaws.

"Doton: Doryūdan!" bullets of compacted mud, earth and pieces of rock flew straight out of the dragon, passing through the water shield like it wasn't even there, hitting Kisame and pushing him to crash on the ground.

He had really picked the wrong straw. Water was weak against earth…and the third Hokage was a master of earth techniques…and fire ones, and thunder ones, and…everything, since he was nicknamed the professor.

"I must end this quickly," Hiruzen muttered, with a sort of condolence tone, like he was saddened by the fact he had to kill the blue skinned man.

"Dot…"

"Kesshō: Rokkaku Shuriken!" Guren roared, from a nearby rooftop, letting hexagon-like shurikens fly in the air, aimed at the sandaime Hokage.

"Shoton?" Hiruzen jumped down from his earth dragon, just as the shurikens hit the earthen construct, and, with a couple of quick hand signs…the dragon turned to crystal.

"Shōton: Hashō Kōryū!" the dragon, now completely made of crystal, with pale green eyes, roared down on the falling Hiruzen, who simply back flipped, while a wall of earth rose from the very ground to impact against the charging beast, halting it for enough time to let the old man land on the ground.

"Guren! What are you doing here!?" Kisame yelled, looking at the woman.

"Saving your pathetic ass! We're pulling out! Gaara's holding the Senju, while Orochimaru and Itachi are taking care of the Yondaime!" at that, Hiruzen gasped.

Itachi? No, he was supposed to be coming back to defend Konoha! In that way he'd be freed of all charges…and considered a hero like he was meant to be…why did he enter the fight!?

As the third Hokage mulled over his thoughts…

*Elsewhere, couple of minutes before*

"Temari of Suna and Shikamaru Nara! Come to the stage!"

With those words from the proctor, the next two contestants entered the arena…and Naruto Senju stood, arms crossed, staring at the red haired boy who was on top of a nearby building, a sand eye floating nearby.

Next to him, the light purple haired woman, named Guren, was standing in a defensive position right next to the boy, who seemed unfazed.

"Gaara, we have a problem," Guren muttered, as the Ichibi Jinchuuriki merely nodded, before turning around and dispersing the sand eye.

"Nothing flashy or we'll attract attention," the woman kept talking, as Naruto, instead, raised an eyebrow.

"Before I attack, I have a question," Naruto started, eying the two, "Did you take Tobirama from Danzo?" the question was simple, there wasn't even the barest of threats in his voice, but at the same time…it was like the air itself had frozen over.

"Why should we answer that?" Guren queried, and just like that, she used a single hand sign, to yell, "Kesshō: Rokkaku Shuriken: Ranbu!"

Shurikens made of crystal began to spin wildly around her, forming from thin air, and being thrown forward to attack Naruto, who raised his right hand, letting a strong gust of wind deflect the incoming barrage.

"Depending on the answer…I will not kill you," Naruto replied, "I don't frankly care what you do…as long as you keep away from Konoha, from my family, and from my people…so…did you kidnap my son?"

"We did not," Gaara commented, "We tried to, but Orochimaru never got to him in time."

"Gaara!" Guren exclaimed, looking with shock at the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, who looked back at the woman with perplexity.

"He said he wouldn't kill us…" at that, as an excuse, Naruto nodded.

"As long as…" and then, hell broke loose.

Naruto himself waited for a moment, before turning for a second his gaze to the mass of white flying birds that seemed to be raining hell down.

On his village, on its people, but most importantly…his eyes darted to where the Sarutobi compound was, and as his heart clenched for a moment, wisps of blue chakra emerged straight from his entire frame.

"Guren…go warn Kisame we are leaving," Gaara whispered, his sand rising to form a small wave, "I'll delay him for as long as it takes."

"Gaa…" the sharp eye that Gaara gave her was more than enough, and she swiftly ran away. Gaara's sand barely managed to block the incoming blue furred claw that seemed so intent on piercing the woman's back, but as it did that, it fell on the ground, lifeless.

The roof on which they stood started to creak, and with that, Naruto muttered.

"Yin and Yang chakra compose the world," he began, blue flames sprouting through his entire body, "it coats people, things, objects…everything," he added, and just like that, Gaara's sand charged forward in the form of a hand, only for it to be turned to glass, by the burning blue flames, and shatter.

"It is the basis of all jutsus, of all life," he added, "Mastery of life is mastery of chakra in its finest form…" with that, Naruto disappeared, leaving behind only a trail of blue flames.

Gaara's eyes widened, turning to stare in the direction Guren had taken…he had said he would delay him, but how could he delay something that was death, at the mere touch!?

He would have followed, that much, Gaara would have done, to try and stall him…but first he decided to warn Deidara that they had to pull out.

As he began floating upwards, to get a better view, he saw the Iwagakure shinobis pointing…something, towards the sky, before a veritable barrage of rock lances came flying through. The lances easily soared through the air, taking down some of the white clay birds, which exploded upon contact.

"That's not fair, hun!" Deidara exclaimed, directing with a hand gesture some of his clay birds to fall straight against a side of Konoha, only for Gaara's sand to block them, taking the full blows.

"Gaara!? What are you doing, blocking them!" as the blond haired guy spoke, the red-haired one finally reached him.

"That was the hospital area right there," Gaara deadpanned, before turning to stare at the Iwagakure front…that was actually charging through the most damage-yielding zones first.

"Hum…bad thing then…good thing you stopped me…still…Iwa? Here? Maybe the old Oonoki is here too?"

"We have to retreat," Gaara replied, "The plan is off…Guren went for Kisame."

"Orochimaru?" at the blond man's question, the Ichibi Jinchuuriki pointed to the distance, where a purplish barrier stood.

"Busy…Itachi went that way too."

"He should have been keeping the Senju busy!" Deidara retorted.

"The Senju…is heading towards Kisame…we must attack from far with momentum to disable him, he can remove chakra from his surroundings," with those words, Gaara turned to look at the Iwagakure front, "So much blood…"

"Well…since we do have to pull out, and it would be a waste to leave my creations to be destroyed…oh, those there are the guys from Suna…they're in the less populated area, right?" with that question asked, Gaara merely nodded.

"Good, you take Iwagakure's side, and tell them Deidara sent you, and I take the Suna side…for the plan to be successful, they do need to be defeated," clenching his fists, Gaara nodded again, before letting his hand escape his gourd.

"Let's soften them up a bit…explosion is an art, KATSU!" as the birds suddenly jerked to a still, except the one Deidara was on, they began to drop down, heading towards the giant snake summons, and the Sunagakure lines.

*Kushina*

Kushina Namikaze woke up with a light yawn, before slowly getting off the bed. Half asleep, she looked around for a moment, not seeing her husband, and then, with a slight groan, turned to look at the clock.

Ten in the morning was the verdict. Wasn't the tournament supposed to start sooner than…

"Oh sh…" in a couple of minutes, the red hot Habanero was dressed, and running for something to eat in the fridge. As she did that, however, grabbing the bottle of milk, she saw a letter attached with scotch tape to the fridge's side.

_To my beautiful Hime._

Rolling her eyes, while mentally giving bonus points to Minato for the romance, she grabbed the letter, opening it slowly to look at what her husband had to say for not waking her up, that morning.

_Well…where do I start? I love you, I love Katsumi-chan, and I can't go on living like this, while the guilt of what I did consumes me. I know it's melodramatic. I know it's extremely selfish on my part, but at the same time, I know it must be done. I should have given you, in last night's meal, enough sedatives to keep you asleep for the entire morning. This is a secret I hope you won't tell anyone, but I had previously asked Danzo to use some assassins to kill me during the tournament, and later on have him and Hiruzen convince the council to put Naruto in charge. Yeah, our little boy will be the next Hokage. I ruled more than enough, and the paperwork will finally stop haunting my dreams. When I say kill me, referred to the assassins, I obviously mean fake-killing me, so there won't be any problem later on...considering Danzo's probable death and all, I suppose Hiruzen will take care of it. Just be mindful of the letters coming from a certain Arashi of the land of the Moon, and that should be all._

_If, considering your Uzumaki vitality, you wake up before I'm actually *done*, please, don't interrupt. Pretty please? Please? Please! _

_Thank you._

_Love, Minato Namikaze._

The letter was torn to tatters by a furious Kushina, who proceeded to burn the shredded pieces, before marching straight to grab her Jounin stuff.

"So, the bastard thinks he can leave like that, huh? Fat chance mister! This must be the most stupid, idiotic plan I have ever read about! If you have a suicide wish, I'll be coming to…" and just as she finally strapped on the sword, she tensed, feeling the chakra run around the entire Hokage's mansion, before swiftly jumping out of the window. Seconds later, a large explosion covered the entire mansion.

"Iwagakure explosion corps! Report!" a man with spiky brown hair roared, as a group of Iwa shinobis moved closer, standing on attention.

"Sir, the Hokage compound has been razed to the ground!" one of the shinobis reported, probably the squad leader.

"Good! Let us…" a chain made of chakra pierced through the leader of the mission, passing him from side to side, before another group of those tore through the explosion corps members, leaving only one behind, surrounded by chains.

"Iwagakure?" Kushina asked, looking murderous at the single remaining man.

"Gah!" as the chains constricted around the man, taking away his breath, the red-haired woman, keeping her sword at hand, and clenching it tightly, asked.

"What is Iwagakure doing here? How did you reach us so quickly?"

"You'd like to know, huh, bitch of the Hokage!" as a nervous tick mark appeared on Kushina's head, the man was crushed to a paste by the chains, before they disappeared.

"Aw…now I need to find someone else to ask…but first, Minato," and with that, Kushina began running in the direction of the arena…she just had to be fast enough. She should be able to…

"Bakuton: Jiraiken!" as a man with spiky, light-brown hair and prominent jaw-lines roared that, Kushina stopped, barely avoiding the explosive blast, and turning to face her enemy. He had green eyes and was wearing the standard Iwagakure flak jacket with a single-sleeved shirt underneath, while leaving the entirety of his right arm exposed except for the presence of his forehead protector, wrapped around the upper portion of the arm. He also had the traditional lapel hanging from the right side of his pants.

"Let me pass," Kushina growled, her chains rattling, only for the man to smirk.

"I am Gari, head of the Iwagakure explosion corps, and I will stop you here! For Iwa! Death to Konoha!" as the man punched the very ground, the explosion moved underground, cracking the dirt and sending debris and rocks upwards, to block the woman's view before charging through.

As the chains tried to form a barrier, the man's fist hit against them, turning them to wisps of chakra, as the explosion pierced through, throwing Kushina backwards.

"Konoha has grown soft, while Iwa has taken time to prepare!" the man roared again, letting a string emerge from one of his pockets, tied around small ceramic marbles, and beginning to let it twirl around.

"I said…to let me pass," Kushina's chains increased in number, before flinging themselves forward with incredible speed and ferocity. The wire filled with the ceramic marbles was thrown forward, as once more, the Iwagakure shinobi let his fist impact against the upcoming chains, destroying them with the strength of the blast, and sending the wire up, in the air.

"You know what was in those marbles?" Gari queried with a small smile on his face, turning wicked by the second.

"What?" And just then, sizzling acid began pouring down from the sky. An enormous quantity of acid was released, upon the marbles' destruction, showering the area on which Kushina was standing.

In a split second, the chakra chains formed a barrier to stop the liquid from harming her, but in doing so, Gari managed to close in, his right punch aiming straight at the woman's stomach…

And without enough speed to dodge, Kushina Namikaze took the full blow, and with blood, oozing out of her mouth, she fell backwards on the ground, gurgling for air.

"I thought I would destroy you to ashes…" Gari muttered, "Doesn't matter…you'll bleed to death soon enough," and with that, the shinobi left quickly.

As the red haired woman stood there, in a pool of her own blood, life seeping away with every ragged breath, she cried tears of frustration. Why was this happening now? Why was this thing going on right then? Why…what had she done? At least…at least Katsumi would still have Naruto…right?

Darkness swallowed her, and just as it did, just as she closed her eyes, her breathing slowly coming to a halt, a pair of glowing green hands moved to take care of the wound…

*Anko*

So, she had quickly managed, in the morning, to get her stuff, after avoiding the brats. There hadn't even been a problem leaving the village, and, truly, she had been a long way towards Wave, when the first thoughts of something going wrong hit her.

"I'm leaving everything behind," she muttered, tightly clenching with her hands the straps of the backpack, "I mean…what is there, in Konoha, still?" she added as a thought, before shaking her head, and slapping her cheeks with strength with both her hands.

"Come on, Anko…Mitarashi, we've got places to be, bars to get drunk to…things to do. Maybe find a clue on a Root base, look for Tobirama around…things like that. I've got S-rank money after all, let's spend it all then," yeah, the filthy money she had put apart…so disgusting that she hadn't even wanted to use it for herself…till then. Now, she was already a horrid person: what was the problem?

There wasn't, except, in her haste of leaving Konoha, she had forgotten to withdraw the amount from the bank.

"No…Damn it," the purple haired Kunoichi hissed, "Now I have to turn around…damn."

As she just did that, and began running in the opposite direction, her eyes finally settled back on the horizon, where Konoha was supposed to be located, only to find tall columns of smoke coming from that direction.

"Wh…" and with the words dying in her mouth, just like that, the snake mistress increased her pace. She had barely left: she was no more than a day away! Surely Naruto wouldn't have gone on a rampage afterwards? Right? Surely this…wasn't her fault, right?

With her pace quickening by the second, she still managed to roll to the side, and avoid a barrage of kunais coming down in front of her.

A picket, obviously, composed of a patrol of Suna shinobis, was preventing any Konoha ninjas from going further. They must had placed it while she had already left, meaning that, if she wanted to move forward, she'd have to treat this as enemy territory.

She slowly slid into her Taijutsu stance. Sure…it had been a while since her last fight, but it shouldn't pose too much of a problem. What was there, four chuunins? She was a Jounin…Tokubetsu one, but still…she'd manage.

With that in mind, and a kunai sliding silently in her right hand, she pounced at the first target, covered in the typical Suna garb, even though they were no longer in the desert, and there should have been no need for the white veil that covered the lower half of his face.

As kunai met kunai, and sparks flew, the purple haired Kunoichi smirked, letting her left hand, instead, rise and point towards another enemy, who had tried to flank her from the side. Snakes jumped from her forearm, Ninjatos and Tantos in their mouths, as they skewered the unsuspecting enemy, who startled, didn't manage to dodge in time.

Swiftly, her kunai that was parrying the enemy's slid upwards, while the woman moved to the side, suddenly jerking the weapon backwards, and thus striking straight in the throat the second chuunin.

The two remaining had armed themselves with Tantos, and as they both fell down from the tree branches, to charge at her, Anko merely smirked, before letting the thin wire that she had dropped before, and attached to an explosive tag, conduct her chakra. Said explosive tag had been carefully placed on the bodies of the two already fallen shinobis, both with her close combat, and thanks to her snakes.

Since the two still alive enemies of the picket had to move through the corpses, the explosions were more than sufficient to send them both, charred and bleeding to their death, backwards.

"Suna attacked…they were supposed to be allied with Konoha…" as she muttered that, she sharply turned her gaze towards the village, a light pain running through her shoulder…she had to hurry. Her Ko…Her ex-husband seemed to be…enraged.

Nothing good would come out of that, clearly.

*Arena – Earlier*

Minato had expected a Root operative to make the attempt on his life, possibly with something flashy. That, or someone hired by Hiruzen, since, after all, with Danzo dead maybe Root would no longer complete its missions.

Instead, he had found himself being hurled away from the Kage box to avoid an incredibly fast detonation, thrown on a rooftop, and encased in a purple barrier that held four individuals at its corners.

Worse, the Kazekage was in front of him, Konoha was being invaded on two…no, three fronts, and Itachi Uchiha appeared in a murder of crow right in the middle of the two.

He had expected something completely different, but so too had Orochimaru, and even Itachi, for all his goodness, hadn't expected Iwagakure.

"Itachi…what are you doing here!?" Minato exclaimed, deciding to take care of the first priority, "Never mind, you know you have been forgiven of your…"

"My crime…my only regret, was that I believed in the wrong Hokage," Itachi whispered, as his eyes, spinning to reflect the tomoes of the sharingan, locked straight with those of the Yondaime, or at least, tried to. The fourth Hokage however hadn't been looking, knowing all too well to only gaze at the clothes, and not the face, of an Uchiha. The way the boy had spoken had clearly given Minato all he needed to know: the boy wasn't there as his ally…but here on revenge.

"Itachi! You should be holding off the Senju!" the Kazekage spoke with barely contained anger, in his voice, only for Itachi to shake his head, before replying in a monotonous voice.

"Orochimaru-sensei…you too haven't been loyal to the plan…was Iwa a part of it too? What did they offer?"

"Orochimaru!?" This time it was Minato's turn to be shocked, but only a little, as the snake sannin, quietly, removed the face of the Kazekage, and its body, from himself.

"Iwagakure was _not_ part of my plan," the snake Sannin hissed, "I suspect it was part of _yours_."

"So it seems you won't plead guilty…it is a real _pity_, sensei," Itachi's right hand went to his ninjato, readying himself for a three way battle.

"I am not going to stand idly by and let Konoha burn, Itachi, Orochimaru…I'll have to kill you both!" as Minato's three pronged kunai sailed into the air, Itachi's response was exhaling a giant fireball of fire, while the snake Sannin instead resorted to increase the strength of the fire jutsu, by adding his own wind element to it.

The giant fireball aimed at the Yondaime didn't hit the man, as a wide arc of kunais sailed in the air, the fourth Hokage appearing right next to them, before they could hit the ceiling of the barrier and turn to dust. Whatever the barrier was, it didn't take kindly on people leaving it.

With Minato soaring in the air, Itachi charged at Orochimaru, his ninjato in his right hand…and in his left…

"Chidori!" the technique of lightning was easily created by the Uchiha prodigy, who dashed through the battleground letting the tiles of the roof splinter away from his passage, aiming to slam it straight into the Sannin's chest. It was then that Orochimaru's arms both jolted forward, letting masses of wriggling snakes emerge from there, his right ones trying to kill, or at least slow, the Uchiha, while the left ones trying to incapacitate the still falling Yondaime.

Minato, taking the occasion, formed a Rasengan into both of his hands, while descending quickly, using the spiraling ball of chakra in his left hand to drill to smithereens the upcoming snakes, and then, once landed, trying to push the right one against the Sannin, just as Itachi's chidori connected with the man's chest.

Both hits taken, Orochimaru's jaw dislodged, as the sannin swiftly emerged, unscathed, from within the now destroyed body. His lower half that of a snake, the pale golden eyed man recoiled to a corner of the barrier, while Itachi, now close to Minato, pushed his Ninjato against the blond Hokage, only to have said man grab a Kunai and parry the attack.

"I trusted the Hokage to do the right thing!" Itachi muttered, "And instead…you gave leeway to slaughter and bloodshed!"

"I did what I had to do to guarantee peace in the village!" Minato replied, "Danzo was too strong to tackle!"

"Darkness is only as strong as the light lets it become!" the Uchiha retorted, before moving his left leg to kick the Hokage, and break the stalemate, while at the same time sidestepping, and avoiding another ravenous mass of snakes coming at the two.

"Mandara no Jin!" Orochimaru bellowed, before letting the snakes take care of the two bickering men in front of him…and proceed to the plan, only with a slight variation: instead of killing one Hokage, he'd kill one Hokage and a traitor.

The snake Sannin wasted no more time going through a set of hand seals, using the time it took for the two enemies in front of him to destroy the vast majority of his snakes, to perform the jutsu he had in mind… swiftly, he slammed his hands on the ground, a wicked grin on his face.

"Kukuku…I didn't consider you in the middle of it, Itachi…but it doesn't matter! Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Edo Tensei!" The ground itself split apart, as three coffins swiftly jerked themselves upwards, the numbers one, two and three upon them. For a moment, Itachi held his breath, then, quickly, he jumped backwards to get space from the Yondaime.

"What is that!?" just as Minato's hands went to another one of his kunais, Itachi's eyes flared the Mangekyou, before a single word escaped his lips.

"Amaterasu!" the coffin with the number one was soon engulfed in flames, black flames that didn't extinguish themselves, not until the wooden block and its contents had been all but turned to dust. When Itachi's eyes moved to the other two, in an effort to probably destroy them, it was too late.

Both lids slid out, revealing two persons within. One wore an old and clearly worn by the ages blue armor. His skin seemed to have been cracked in various spots, his eyes were read, and tribal like paint stood on his cheeks and his chin. His hair was grey, and, all in all, Tobirama Senju's eyes seemed devoid of life, yet his body was there…moving. Itachi stood quiet. Sure, he had heard the murmurs of Naruto being similar to the Nidaime Hokage…but he had never thought it would be…that fitting.

The other one, instead, had long, white and spiky hair. He was wearing wooden sandals, and red attire, with a forehead protector that had the Kanji for Oil on top of it. It was Minato's turn to stare, stare in surprise and shock, as the man was eying him pretty badly, with an all too familiar frown.

"Sen…sei…" Minato's words left his mouth in a gurgle, as Jiraiya of the sannin, or at least, his moving body, stood there, in front of the two.

"Touching reunion, isn't it?" Orochimaru teased, with a good tone of amusement in his voice, as two kunais suddenly found themselves being pushed inside the back of the two.

With that, the two dead men walking suddenly came to life, their eyes gaining at least a bit of intelligence…and then, Tobirama spoke.

"Oh…interesting, they added faces to the mountain…" as the man commented on that quietly, his eyes settled on the two in front of him, "So, an Uchiha and…face on the mountain? So you're the Hokage number…four, is paperwork still a problem?" there was some sort of conversational like tone that seemed to make Orochimaru puzzled. The seals should have worked in removing their personalities, right? Probably he just had to give the orders for them to move…he'd investigate it later. For the moment, he wanted to see what they'd do.

"Minato here became the Yondaime Hokage at age twenty-two, but…why are we here!? I mean, wasn't I supposed to be…well, dead!? Sealing the Kyuubi and all?" as Jiraiya exclaimed that, Tobirama frowned.

"The Kyuubi? Wasn't it inside of Mito? Did she die? Well, obviously she'd dead or 'Uzumaki longevity' would quite actually turn to immortality, but still, who took her place? And…oh, who's the genius that used the Shiki Fuin? Let me guess…no time? You couldn't…" as Tobirama began blabbering, Jiraiya sported a nervous tick mark, on his ceramic-like skin.

"They always depicted you as a quiet one!" the toad sannin's remark was met with a light chuckle from the grey haired dead man.

"Yeah, because I _asked_ them to: lies and deceits makes the world go round…and the faces on the other kages when they realized I wasn't a cold hearted lump of iron, stone and ice hell-bent on extermination was priceless…really, they didn't even enjoy the brownies, when I offered them some! Freshly baked, too!" For a moment, silence was all that reigned on the rooftop, until, in the end, the snake sannin decided to stop his 'testing'.

"Kukuku…such a _heartfelt_ reunion," Orochimaru pointed out, "but anyway…kill those two!" as the snake sannin raised his hand to point at the two in question, Jiraiya's face contorted into a frown, as his body moved against his will.

"Minato! Dodge! Rasengan!" as the sphere of twirling blue chakra appeared in the old man's hand, the Yondaime Hokage took just a brief second to get out of his shock-induced paralysis, and do as he was being told.

The Rasengan hit against the ground, creating a small crater, while the blond haired Hokage merely threw his kunai towards Orochimaru, and then using Hiraishin to appear right next to the snake sannin. Only for the black flames of Amaterasu to sprout, and block his way, forcing him to disappear again, and appear back at the starting position…where a seal had been placed by him quietly at the beginning of the confrontation.

"Itachi, on whose side are you?" Minato muttered.

"I think it is clear that I'm not on either of your sides!" The Uchiha roared, before charging head on against the Nidaime, who, with a strange smile on his face…disappeared, to reappear right behind the Yondaime. Tobirama had seemingly hijacked the Hiraishin technique, how he had actually done that, without seals, or hand signs or anything more than a little smile…was a mystery.

"Space and time manipulation? Please…I was hailed as a master of the art! I can do this with my eyes closed!" Minato barely ducked down, avoiding a punch on the back, "If only I had my Raijin!" Tobirama mock-whined, "The things I could do!"

"Shouldn't you be fighting this jutsu's effect, instead of toying around!?" Jiraiya exclaimed, only for the Nidaime to shake his head, while at the same time doing a backflip, and avoiding a slash from the Yondaime's kunai.

"There is no need to dodge, Nidaime, or to fight it, Jiraiya! This is the Edo Tensei…not even killing me will stop it! You'll have to force me to release it! And until then, you will have unlimited chakra and unyielding regeneration!" as Orochimaru cackled, Tobirama…chuckled.

"Yeah…that, or being the creator of the jutsu, knowing the hand signs…and releasing it for one's self!" and just like that, the Senju merely went through a single fluid movement, and the kunai that had been embedded on his back popped out. For a split second, again, the rooftop stood quiet, before Tobirama's mouth opened, to release a thick jet of water straight against the Yondaime, and the others, moving himself in such a position to create a square-like confrontation, with Jiraiya right next to him.

"Let me ask you…who taught this technique to you?" Tobirama grinned, before slamming his right hand straight into the unsuspecting stomach of the Toad Sannin, and removing from his neck the binding kunai with his left.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you properly, whoever you are, but if you taught a Hokage, it's for the best you leave this fight early," the Nidaime whispered at the ears of Jiraiya, who merely let his head slump down, his last murmur being only for Tobirama's ears.

'_Say to Naruto…that I'm sorry…'_

"But that's…that's impossible. The seal should…" Orochimaru's words failed to come out, as Itachi, this time, let out a small laugh.

The fact that the normally monotonous, silent Uchiha had actually chuckled made everyone, on the rooftop, stop for yet another moment, to take in the sight: Itachi's right eye seemed to have closed itself, blood oozing out of it, as his left, showing a strangely formed sclera, similar to a shuriken, stood still open.

"Kotoamatsukami, your plan was probably to remove their emotions…but when you spoke of using this technique in battle, _sensei_, I knew I had to plan ahead…thankfully, Naruto-kun had access to Tobirama-san's laboratory," with those words, the grey haired man blinked. Naruto was the same name the white haired guy had said, probably they were the same person…he had to investigate on this…quickly, because staying in a ceramic-like body was outright _creepy_.

"He found out? How did he get in there? Raijin, armor and blood are required you know…I think I did put that at least one had to be a Senju in the guest entrance too, so he had to at least have Senju blood in him…descendant of mine? I swear if Koharu got in my pants after I died, I'm going to incinerate my tomb…that woman was _mad_, I tell you, _mad_!" as Tobirama ranted, Orochimaru's eyes burned with fury.

"So what, you gave him back his will?"

"No, I instructed him to go through the hand signs…and gave him the memories of all that has happened till now," the second Hokage scoffed, at the sight of Jiraiya slowly turning to dust, his soul being released.

"Mah…I was better off sleeping, but I do know now that I need to burn my body. Yeah…still, who taught you the Edo Tensei, pale-guy? You used a wrong sealing kunai, by the way, whoever taught you that was wrong," with the question asked, the snake sannin smiled sweetly, albeit inwardly, he was frowning...his sources had never been wrong.

"Wouldn't you want to know…" a small cough attracted the attention of everyone, as it was Minato, who spoke next.

"There are excerpts on your works on the Edo Tensei, in the library…restricted section, of course."

"Oh, so this charade is because you couldn't do as I frigging said, and burn all my notes on the stuff?" Tobirama's voice showed a hint of annoyance, before letting his gaze wander back on the snake sannin.

"So, I get it he's the bad guy," pointing at the golden eyed sannin, "And you're the Hokage," looking at Minato, "But who's the Uchiha fighting for? He didn't mention it in the memories."

"Itachi?" as Minato's gaze turned to the Uchiha's clothes, the heir of the clan merely shook his head.

"I'm fighting for the Godaime Hokage," and just then, his second eye closed with blood oozing down his face, "And for him, I'll gladly take the blindness again..."

"On with the show then!" Tobirama yelled, both hands clasping together, as water began to form around the purplish barrier, electricity running through it in a veritable maelstrom of power and destruction.

"I never completed this technique, you know, too much chakra required…" Tobirama began talking, a sort of amused expression on his face, "But after all, now that I've got no limits to my chakra…I want to test it out," he added, with an extremely devious grin.

"Mastery of death is the Edo Tensei," the Nidaime began talking, "But what is the mastery of life?"

"Immortality," Orochimaru replied immediately, as his Kusanagi began to extend. He didn't know what the Nidaime was going to do, but he just hoped the barrier would hold…because if it didn't whatever it was would destroy them too.

"Minato! We have to stop him!" how quick could alliances change? Itachi didn't even bother to say anything, standing, his eyes closed, in wait.

"Orochimaru, why should I? Itachi said…" and that was when Minato realized that he shouldn't have, actually, trusted Itachi's words.

"Too late, Yondaime," Itachi's barely audible whisper was more than enough, as the veritable maelstrom of water and thunder detonated, scattering its projectile in a wide radius, and letting the rain drops fall while glittering with electricity.

The barrier fizzled, and then…it disappeared.

The Kusanagi slowly returned to its normal form, while Tobirama merely slumped on the ground, before turning to ashes.

Minato looked perplexed, as he saw Orochimaru trashing around, holding his head with his hands, gasps and screams of pain emerging from his throat in piercing shrieks of pain.

"Mastery of life…is control over chakra itself," Itachi's single whisper was all that was needed, as Minato realized, much to his dismay, that the Uchiha had taken that single moment of distraction to pierce him through the stomach, in a diagonal angle, breaking as many blood vessels as possible with the blow. The Yondaime Hokage had had no way to escape the attack. Kawarimi, his Hiraishin, his jutsus…they didn't work. So he was hit. So he felt the blood reach his mouth. So the sword passed through him.

"Die, Minato Namikaze, revenge for the innocents slain will pass through your blood," was all Itachi whispered, before removing the sword, and letting the man fall on the ground.

"I'm…sorry," the Yondaime whispered, and he was sorry. He was sorry he had done those things in the past, he was sorry it had come to this, he was sorry Konoha was being attacked, he was sorry this was his selfish whim to atone for his crimes…and as light left his eyes, and he exhaled his last breath, falling down, Minato Namikaze couldn't help but hope...hope that Naruto would be able to pick up after him.

Behind him, a giant white skinned snake burst from the body of Orochimaru, or the corpse that the snake sannin had been using.

"Without chakra…what is this…this thing!?" the yell of pain of the sannin didn't stop, as he could feel his own head being torn in two. Orochimaru needed the chakra for his technique of immortality…without it…he was…no, not doomed. He just had to leave the premises.

His Sound Four were still there, they could help him: they had to!

At least…that much was what he hoped for.

*Arena – Earlier, Others*

"Temari of Suna and Shikamaru Nara! Come to the stage!"

With those words from the proctor, the next two contestants entered the arena…and as the two stared at each other, Sasuke muttered lip-curses towards Maito Gai, who seemed to be ignoring him, in favor of flirting with the boy's mother.

Katsumi, meanwhile, was looking at her father, and smiled when he waved at her…the two in the center had barely begun that…she felt sleepy, and thus her eyes closed, just as Sasuke's eyes seemed to spin with the sharingan…why would he have a worried expression like that?

Minutes later, Katsumi's eyes jolted wide open, and the scenery had drastically changed. Firstly, the rows were in disarray, with sand shinobis incoming from the walls, the destroyed walls, and in the distance fires were sprouting, together with more sounds of explosions.

Sasuke had touched her on the shoulder, and had been yelling something for a while, but she hadn't been listening. She had turned to watch where her father was…and had found the Kage box destroyed, and her father…on a nearby roof, surrounded by a purple barrier…speaking to the Kazekage and…another figure.

"KATSUMI!" a slap to the face later, and Katsumi's head jerked to watch Sasuke, who had in the meantime managed a scowl on his face.

"We have to help defend the city!"

"We're Genins, that is impractical," Shino retorted, as his bugs suddenly flew away of the Suna Genin that supposedly should have been an ally.

The Aburame had been extremely quick and ruthless: the moment the first Suna shinobi had appeared from within the broken arena walls, his Kikaichus had pounced at the chakra within the boy next to him, Kankuro. Less than a minute, and the boy was no longer a trouble. Now his concern went to Shikamaru, something that also brought Chouji, who had been up in the spectators rows, to move quickly down to reach the boy.

The Nara had managed to entrap in a Kagemane the girl from Suna, taking into account the moment of shock of the girl, with the pouring in from the wall cracks of Suna shinobi.

Something about *Not the right time*, was all that he needed to hear.

"So, care to explain?" Shikamaru muttered, unfazed by the Genjutsu.

"There's nothing to explain, Konoha scum!" Temari retorted, "You're soon going to face off against the wrath of the sand, and that's…"

Another set of explosions, and this time, it was Iwagakure shinobis that began to pour in from another direction.

"That's…not…possible?"

"Oh…_shit_." Shikamaru didn't waste time, in letting go of Temari. There were far more important things to do, like _retreating_.

"Shika!" Chouji had been running towards him, in the open, and just as the Akimichi was about to near him, a piece of shrapnel hit the big boy at the side, probably the result of a nearby explosion, something not even aimed at him.

Shell-shock was the specialty of the Iwagakure shinobis. Loud noises, loud tremors, explosions, vast and uncontrolled amount of pure fire, destruction and heat coupled with concussive forces…that was the might of Iwa.

There was no finesse, only destruction, and to maximize it, the most populated area had to go first. Their bombs thus were always equipped with shrapnel, to maim, to wound and to kill without discrimination.

Suna was different: they aimed with precision, having less numbers, and thus they would resort to surgically strike in order to control.

There were plans to counter one or the other…but both at the same time, from opposing forces? There was only one option left: reform, retreat and regroup.

At least that was the plan, the plan that Shikamaru had come up with quickly, before the shrapnel dug itself into the flesh of his friend, the friend he had grown up next to for years, the one that was there to bring him to school on his back that always smiled and was always kind hearted.

There hadn't even been a battle. He had just…run towards him, and then…fallen, on the ground, in a puddle of blood. It was so…so _pathetic_…it wasn't even funny…it was…it was impossible.

"_**Chouji**_!" Asuma-sensei had seen the fight, obviously, and was now running towards his student, trench knives in hand. Most importantly, however, he also grabbed Shikamaru by the neck, seeing how the boy was standing still, probably shocked beyond belief.

Sasuke too was staring, his sharingan active…and that, that he came to realize was a curse. He would never forget now.

Katsumi's hands were in front of her mouth, but then the bile suddenly went back down, as she closed her eyes, her clear blue eyes…to re-open them, red and with slits.

Red malevolent chakra twirled around the red haired girl's form, and with a deafening roar, the Genin pounced upon the first enemy she saw, piercing through with her right hand, now sporting claws, and then moving forward, leaving behind a trail of blood and intestines.

Shino was quick to move next to their sensei, looking at the man with worry, for once, his Kikaichu in agitation, as for once, the Aburame didn't care about deafening his emotions. Asuma's eyes closed, after a moment, and a hand passed over the Akimichi's eyes, closing them.

"He's dead," those were two words. That was all that was required to break Shikamaru out of his shock.

"N…No!" the Nara refuted said truth, it just…it wasn't _possible_. They were speaking about _Chouji_, not about someone else. Chouji was…he was _kind_, and _gentle_ and _good_ and was a _Genin_, for Kami's sake, a Genin, not a chuunin or a Jounin sent on high rank missions. He was a Genin! He was his friend!

"Shikamaru, listen to me: he's dead, I'm sorry, I should have protected him, I didn't see him till then, so please, snap out of it, we have to evacuate the civilians to the shelters," Asuma had barely spoken, that Shino had turned his Kikaichus to shield them from an explosion coming nearer.

"Asuma-sensei, we are attracting fire," Shino muttered.

"We have to go," Asuma nodded, standing up.

"I'm not leaving him here," Shikamaru retorted, moving closer to Chouji.

"Shika, leave him. He was hit in the heart by the shrapnel…it was quick…you have to leave him," the Sarutobi spoke again, his voice harsh. He was suffering too, dammit, but this wasn't a game. Konoha was under attack, the Hokage was fighting against the Kazekage, and somehow, Iwagakure had entered the midst.

"I'll take care of this," the tense voice of Kabuto broke the silent confrontation of stares between sensei and students, and Asuma let out a sigh of relief: he could leave it to the older Genin and his teammate, Misumi: the two had been Chuunin in all but name, a pity the exams had to end like this.

Misumi was carrying Kankuro on his shoulder, knocked out and bound, probably to leave him to the tender care of Ibiki. As for the boy's elder sister, she had probably left the arena, heading towards the Suna's rally point…if they captured her too then the Kazekage's dynasty would certainly end with them.

"Right, Yakushi-san, bring them to the refuges, they…" and then, Asuma cursed, because, obviously, he had missed the disappearance of Sasuke from the arena, who had been trailing behind a mass of corpses left by Katsumi.

"Do not worry, Sarutobi-san, I'll take care of everything," and with that, Kabuto grabbed a hold of a scroll, and unrolled it to push Chouji in it, before re-closing it with a quick gesture. It had been precise and quick.

Handing the scroll over to Shikamaru, Kabuto whispered.

"Here…I am sorry for your loss, but now, we have to move."

Cradling the scroll like it was a newborn, Shikamaru nodded, and finally, for once…he moved.

Meanwhile, up in the rows, the branch family had actually left the arena at the first signs of explosions. The Main family of the Hyugas, who had wanted to take opportunity of the chaos to get their revenge, found themselves missing both the ex-branch family, and Hiashi, who seemed to have disappeared.

So, lacking their enemies, they decided to prove their worth to Konoha, engaging in the fight against the invading forces: at least, those who could fight.

As that went on, Neji had grabbed Sakura, still wounded, and had asked Kiba to do the same with Ino, too weak to run.

"We have to get to the Senju compound!" Neji yelled, the branch family members in front of them opening a road, "There's a safe house in there."

"Kiba!" the yell of Tsume from the other side of the arena was heard by the boy, but the Inuzuka didn't stop, at all, his eyes set on the destination in front of him, as buildings collapsed and…white clay birds fell.

In a moment, the concussive force of a nearby explosion sent him to fly, Ino swept out of his arms by the force of the blow, and he flew, actually, for a good moment…before crashing against a broken wall, and landing meters away, his flesh scorched and his breathing ragged.

He coughed blood, as his vision was swarmed with stars… was he going to die like that? He didn't want to die…he could feel someone moving closer to him, the familiar noises of coughs belonging to Ino, as the blond haired girl merely scuttled closer to the boy, and lay down, coughing on his side.

"Ne…mutt-boy, *coff*," Ino muttered, "I think I…have a…thing…in my back…hurts…"

"Sorry…should have…held you tighter…"

With the remaining strengths, Kiba's eyes looked above, trying to focus…and there it was, another white clay bird, falling on them.

Well…it was a good way to die, with someone pretty within one's arms…right?

"Raikiri!" was the last thing the Inuzuka heard, before letting the darkness claim him.

*Kakashi*

Something was off. The moment the first explosion had started, the branch family had all but jolted out of the arena, and with an invasion incoming, the order of the Yondaime had been forgotten. On one side, Kakashi could actually believe the Hyuga had nothing to do with it, and had instead being following a preplanned plan from Naruto in case things went to hell.

Naruto was keen in forming contingency plans for nearly anything, so it wouldn't be that much of a long shot. On the other hand, Neji had actually led the escape and given the orders…and it did seem that the charade with the Hyuga family had been planned. In any event, he was bound on following them, just to make sure they reached the refuge safely. Instead, the group had all but aimed in the direction of the Senju compound, which, by the position of the armies, was straightly through the territory of the invading Iwagakure.

He heard a growling sound coming to his side, and turning for a brief moment, his sharingan active for the dire situation, he couldn't help but grin inwardly. Tsume Inuzuka was going along with him, and Kuromaru was in tow. Well, at least he had backup.

"Kiba!" the Inuzuka woman yelled, once, but the boy didn't seem to have heard her, instead following the once Hyugas, and now Senjus, out of the arena, and through the half-collapsed and half-collapsing buildings.

"Tsume-san! Careful of the falling explosives!" Kakashi's warning came just in time to allow the Inuzuka matriarch to avoid a falling down white bird that exploded with uncontrolled power in a nearby alley, razing down the buildings and sending the two to take a detour through a dust filled back end. When they emerged, once more, in the main road, Kakashi had barely the time to roar for the Raikiri, breaking it against the ground to create a dishevelment, big enough to let the two fall in the cracks, and, with hope, avoid the worst of the explosion.

The clay bird landed with a soft thud on the ground, and, for a moment, Kakashi and Tsume held their breath. It hadn't exploded. It hadn't gone off.

They didn't want to stay and try to see why, so they just hurried, to grab the two kids, pushing away the strange construct, before…

"Chakra," Kakashi muttered, looking at the falling spheres of water and electricity… "It's…gone."

"Let's not waste time, Hatake!" Tsume growled, grabbing Kiba, while Kuromaru's mouth took care of Akamaru, and the copy-cat held Ino in his arms.

"Yeah…Neji yelled something about a Senju safe-house, let's go there," with a nod of understanding, both set in that direction. Hoping to Kami that whatever Naruto had cooked for protecting his family would work for anyone.

*Naruto*

The rain that fell down from the heavens was a veritable wall of water that still did nothing to stop him from achieving his objective: reach for his daughters.

The third tail appeared within a moment, and as pure blue chakra covered his entire body, the water around him froze, destroying itself along the jinchuuriki's passage.

There was a contingent of Iwagakure and Suna shinobi, both having met in the middle of Konoha, and eying each other with perplexity. They had no idea whether it was a Genjutsu, a strange occurrence, or something of the matter. All they knew was that they had to wait for words from higher ups, before attacking a potential new-found ally.

By the time Naruto arrived in their midst, in the middle of reaching towards the Sarutobi compound, four tails stood proudly, now attached to his spine, and flailing wildly while at their tips mini representations of the Kyuubi's jaws stood jerking around, opening and closing their maws in a sickening desire of flesh, chakra, and hunger.

The first second, a wave of tiredness passed over the shinobis, enemy of Konoha. The next second, thousands of small skeletal-like hands clawed themselves out of the ground, tearing through the men's bodies and removing chunks of their flesh and meat. The screams of pain echoed throughout the village, as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki marched forward, leaving behind withered skeletons and husks of former shinobis.

Yet…it wasn't enough to placate his hunger.

His eyes were dead set on a source of chakra, right in front of him. He would consume it. He had to. He…

The four tails receded back to the three, and the three back to the two. Within a moment, Naruto's eyes blinked, before he crashed on the ground, his tails disappearing. His eyes jolted upwards, at the falling downpour, his heart starting to beat more slowly, calmly even.

**Have you calmed down?**

"_Yes…but…I need to hurry,"_ Naruto thought, slowly getting back up. He was near. He just had to reach a couple more meters, a couple more steps.

**You've ended up on four tails. You're not in the condition to go forward.**

"_I'm not leaving them there, alone, and scared,"_ he pointed out in his mind, as he took another step.

**I'm not for it too, but there's no choice. You're going to die if you go in there alone.**

"_Well, it's not like help is going to…"_ a red blur tackled him on the ground, tears coming out from the face of Katsumi.

"Ouch…" Naruto muttered, landing heavily on the ground, the Namikaze on top of him, tears falling down copiously on her face, barely visible, due to the heavy rain.

"Oniisan! Oniisan! Otou-san is fighting! There's nothing…there's…I'm scared…I'm scared..." as she muttered that, the girl finally looked at her hands, covered in blood, and with that final straw, she retched to the side, falling on all fours as Naruto got back up, panting heavily, and leaning his body against a small rubble pile.

"Naruto-san!" Sasuke reached a couple of seconds later, panting and with a ragged breath, "what's going on!? Suna and Iwa are attacking, and they're invading Konoha!"

"Yeah…" Naruto nodded, "And there are members of the Akatsuki around…listen, you two have to go help evacuate the hospital and the academy. Understood?"

The two looked uneasy, after all, they didn't actually want to go alone, through a village ravaged by infightings.

"Listen to me!" Naruto snarled, getting the two's attentions, "This is war, this is your village we are speaking of: move your damn asses and get going! Sasuke, you head to the academy, when and if it gets evacuated, aim for the hospital, understood!?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Now GO! Right _now_!" with a slight hesitation, and a quick look at Katsumi, he dashed off.

"You, did you use _that_?" at the question, Katsumi's face blanched, before a small nod was made.

"How?" Naruto queried, and, with a bit of uneasiness, the red haired girl replied.

"I…Chouji died," it was enough to make Naruto shiver, for a moment, before he dropped a hand on Katsumi's head.

"I…he was watching the fights, probably with his family, and then…the battle started, and he came down, to go near Shikamaru, and…and he died, he fell on the ground, lifeless, and…" as Katsumi kept speaking, Naruto merely nodded, letting the wisps of red chakra pass through the girl's head, and reach into his own body.

"And then…I attacked, I…I just went and destroyed…I…I felt pulled to come here and…" Naruto sighed, before ruffling the girl's hair, drenched with the rain, and muttering.

"Listen, go to the refuges, let the older shinobis take care of the fights. If you find other Genins, tell them the same thing. Instead, if you see Chuunins or Jounins, direct them to rally point Alpha: they'll know what it means," Katsumi muttered the words rally point and Jounin, and then quickly nodded.

"Good, now go…and stay alive," and then, Naruto simply hugged the girl tightly, "You're my precious sister, don't die on me."

And without another word, the Senju was off, leaving behind a flustered, babbling incoherently and red as a tomato girl, who, however, was no longer afraid…and that, that was all that mattered.

Naruto reached for the Sarutobi compound just in time to see a veritable battleground of crystals, water, earth, lingering fire, electricity and sparks. Both sides looked terribly battered, but at the sight of the Jinchuuriki, Guren growled once more.

"Let us leave, old bastard!" Guren yelled, as once more walls of crystal rose from the ground, only for a stream of fire to destroy them, and force the two, the girl and Kisame, to roll out of the way.

"Naruto-kun," Hiruzen commented, breathing slowly. Only his training, and his decades of experience made it so that he wasn't showing any weakness, of tiredness, "I'd require help."

"Karin and Yumi," Naruto snapped back, "Are they safe?"

"You…You knew?" the old man's eyes widened, before hastily replying, "Yes they are. They were moved down together with Tsunade and…"

"So you were the one Tsunade took orders from," Naruto retorted, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me…I'm not going to let you go easily, this time…but that can wait: first, the enemies that paid a damn country to attack Konoha."

"We didn't! That's what we're trying to say to this old goat! We're retreating! Just let us go!" the Senju raised an eyebrow, before slowly pointing to the sky.

"You have him on your side, correct?" as Deidara was actually bombing the hell out of the village, both Guren and Kisame cursed under their breath.

"Listen, we just planned on looking for the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki other half! We didn't plan a war! We don't want wars!" Guren practically screeched.

"Then you chose the wrong way to act," Hiruzen pointed out, and just as he was about to complete the seals for one last earth dragon, the water suddenly became electrified…and everything crumbled.

The crystals that had sprouted from the ground crumbled, as Kisame was forcefully separated by Samehada with a piercing shriek from both sides.

"Hehe," Naruto chuckled, "huhu," the laughter that erupted from the grey haired man was anything but normal, and as it did come out, so too did he put his right hand through his hair.

"Well done, Itachi! Well done! Now we can wrap this up nicely!" and just like that, the Raijin no Ken hummed into existence, finally remembered by the boy.

"Chakra…is _gone_," and with those fateful words, Naruto Senju charged forward, his sword piercing straight through Guren's stomach. Not because of chakra enhanced speed. Not because of shunshin, or any other jutsu. No…because he had the _body_ to do so.

"Body, Mind, Technique," Naruto whispered, as Guren's mouth coughed blood, before the sizzling of the Raijin tore her apart, in a gruesome display of blood and molten flesh.

"Do you understand now?" as both his eyes turned to stare at Kisame, the monster of the mist gripped Samehada, who was eerily silent, and prepared himself.

Hiruzen, instead, slumped on the ground. Without the chakra that he used to enhance his muscles, he was nothing more than an old man.

And as every other old man…he could do nothing but watch. As he could feel the waves of fatigue hitting him, the pain on his side, the damages from the concussions and everything else piling up, he coughed, before taking deep breathes…and then, just like it didn't even matter that he was the Sandaime Hokage…he slumped on the ground, his heart giving away to the accumulated stress, and with no healing Jutsu working…because, after all, there was no chakra useable.

"Hashirama's final technique was the Mokuton: Kajukai Kōrin, the advent of a world of flowering trees," Naruto began speaking, "It was mastery over the element of the Mokuton, the _creation_ of life…but it wasn't the mastery of _life_ itself. What was, after all, life? Was it chakra? Was it the muscles? The bones? The blood? Was it the Body that sustained us, the Mind that guided us, the Technique that made us better? What was it? In the end, Tobirama came up with the answer to the problem. Chakra was at the base of everything, thus…mastery over life would have had to work in relation with that, with the suppression of chakra, in a wide area, and the disruption of any and all things related to it…one could claim to have mastered life," as he said that, the Raijin hummed peacefully, "Obviously, being a shinobi, Tobirama realized that some time, you need some sort of edge…and the Raijin was born. The sword created by a thunder bolt itself…immune to the technique, to grant the user…invincibility, in a battle."

Kisame tightened his grip on Samehada, readying himself: he knew that the Raijin could pretty much cut through anything, just like Samehada could grate through anything.

So, within seconds, both charged, and both began to dance with their blades.

The Senju pushed in closer, conscious that having less reach, he needed to back it up with speed and close quarters. Thanks to his armor, he could actually tolerate getting hit once, or twice, but he didn't know how much the Samehada could actually inflict, without chakra to enhance its scales. Still, the thing actually _was_ a living creature. If the amounts of saliva the maws of the…sword were dripping were of any indication, it was also a very hungry creature.

The Raijin, still, didn't manage to cut through, but where it hit, the scales turned brownish with cracks, while the Samehada cried pitifully under the stress of the battle.

"I still have to pay you back for having broken my bones, during that mission with the cyphers," Naruto remarked, as his right kick extended forward, hitting the shark-man in the guts, only for Kisame to jump backwards, and dull the hit.

"We're two to zero, kid, there's no way you're going to get even," Kisame retorted.

"It's one to zero," Naruto replied, before closing in once more, dodging the downward swipe of Samehada, that left a small crater in the ground, and then closing in for a horizontal slash, only for the Akatsuki member to raise the hilt of the sword, leaving a bigger ditch in the ground, but parrying the attack.

"You're good, not really as good as me, but still," and with a small chuckle, the swordsman spun around, using Samehada like it was a batting mace, to push or at least try to push, against the defense of the grey haired man.

Naruto didn't parry, instead choosing to duck beneath the soaring blade, and then press forward, to pierce at the blue skinned shark-man. Kisame saw the attack coming, but not being able to use the sword to parry, moved to the side, letting the Raijin pierce his shoulder, which was better, considering otherwise it would have been the head.

As electricity flew through the man's arm, Kisame jumped backwards, once more, and this time, holding the sword only with his left arm, since the right one was busted, he gritted his teeth.

"Well, it's two to one, I suppose," the Kirigakure shinobi pointed out, as Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I am not letting you leave…" and then he stopped, because a fist slammed itself straight at the side of his face, sending him to skid on the ground, and land meters away.

A very female, very blond woman stood there, the Kumogakure forehead protector on, and a sort of pissed off expression.

"Kisame, we have to leave, now!" with a quick and agile leap, the Nibi Jinchuuriki was already running out of there.

"Told you, I'm giving you the win because I'm retreating…never say I am not honorable, brat," Kisame chuckled, glad that, without chakra, the Kami of shinobi had taken that moment to have a nap, far behind. With a couple of quick breathes, the Kirigakure shinobi was long gone. Mangetsu was going to be fine, and Chojuro too…at least, he supposed.

*Gaara*

Iwagakure's shinobi made his sand explode, they tried to destroy it, turn it to smithereens, and yet, unperturbed, Gaara kept going with his squashing.

Blood, the crimson liquid, was now covering his sand, bringing back to him the unpleasant memories of the past…but he had to go on. He was protecting innocent people. Even though they had no idea he was actually doing it.

Well, some did, and said nothing, instead actually helping him out. It was strange, but if you were a missing-nin with a sword covered in blood in hand, they'd first assume you killed someone, and later ask if it was the truth…but if you were actually crushing invading Nins, in their village, they tended to close their eyes on the forehead protector that had a horizontal gash on it.

He had been doing well, he supposed, at least, until his sand crumbled beneath him…and Gaara _fell_ towards the ground. Sure, before it had been raining, but he hadn't even felt the water. Now, instead, he could see the rain that was falling. It seemed to sparkle, with bits and pieces of electricity flying around…and it was having the same effect of jutsu suppressor to the enemies...and the allies. At least, when his sand had crumbled, he had been near the ground.

However now there was the problem: he was without his primary mean of attack, even worst, he was without _any_ means of attack.

For all purposes, he was now a dead boy walking. Considering some still alive Iwagakure shinobis charging at him, the red haired boy had no idea how to defend himself. He was going to die there. As the first kunai hit him on the shoulder, he felt, for the first time in years, _pain_, physical pain, and blood being drawn…his blood. Yet, Shukaku didn't roar, nor scream, nor yell…it simply…_ceased_ to speak.

He knew the kunai had drawn blood, but for once, Gaara hadn't moved. He had stood there, shocked and silent. He no longer had his sand around him. He no longer had protection. He no longer had Shukaku in his head. There was nothing but silence, around him; that…and the upcoming wave of Iwagakure shinobis.

So, when he felt himself being grabbed by the neck of the clothes he was wearing, he didn't even resist, nor when the dark brown haired woman with a Senju symbol on her shoulder appeared into his view, neither when he could feel another Kunai hitting him on the back. It didn't matter: he'd just…let the woman carry him.

Shizune, on the other hand, had seen the child in the middle of the street, shocked and scared, and had inwardly cursed the gods that had decided that Tsunade should turn mad and disappear, together with Naruto's daughters. She had even been left behind, and when the attack had come, she had rushed over to the hospital immediately.

Patients had to be moved, but in a couple of minutes…the hospital was gone. Crumbled to dust, like it was never there to begin with…the few that had escaped had been the lucky ones, those near the exits, and thankfully many hadn't been there at all, to watch the chuunin exams. Those who had been there, instead, had suffered only one of two fates: buried alive, or crushed to death. Shizune had been outside, carrying one of the more critical patients, when the explosion had razed the building to the ground.

The evacuation had halted, and she had found herself in the delicate situation of having to fight, to actually save her own skin. She hated to take lives, and yet…she had had no choice.

The Iwagakure shinobis had been ruthless…so she had been worse.

The 'Sand man', whoever he was, had helped them. For a while, they had thought Sunagakure had a rogue in their midst, maybe a spy from Konoha who had revealed its allegiance…that was until Shizune had seen the boy actually fall on the ground, as the healing jutsus had begun to fizzle and die out.

Chakra…simply ceased to be useable. Yet the rain kept falling, harder and harder. With the rubbles, the streets were now beginning to resemble swamps, rather than roads, and the few remaining patients _had_ to be evacuated.

Yet she couldn't leave the boy there. How old was he? Twelve? Thirteen? Yet he had helped defend the hospital, and the patients who still needed to be moved…at least, before it had crumpled down.

Now he was nothing more than a child. Whatever it was that had nullified chakra in such a wide area had done two things. First, it had taken away the invaders' ways of detonating buildings and defenses, and that was a sore blow on Iwagakure's offensive capacity…but at the same time, it had taken away the healing of the medic-nin, meaning that patches and stitches had now to be applied, and they would be low on blood soon.

As Shizune jumped to the side, avoiding a set of kunais with explosive tags, she realized that there had been no explosions…even the seals had gone off. There was no chakra working in the air, or around…meaning wards, and the rest, was now…meaningless.

*Karin*

Karin had been doing her best, to keep Yumi quiet and happy. It was difficult, when they had been moved further underground, and with their so called grandmother in the same room.

"Listen, Karin…" Tsunade began, trying to keep a soft tone, "This is not a game: you must understand that this is a fulcrum point in Konoha's history, one that would bring your father to new heights…"

"Achieved through blood, lies and deceits…it will be something Otou-san will never like," the red haired girl whispered back, holding her tears in her eyes, as she gripped firmly Yumi.

"Ah…I give up trying to convince you!" the pig tailed woman retorted, raising her hands up in the air, "At least we could have our last time together without Yumi crying, okay?"

"It wouldn't be the last time, if you simply had told Otou-san the truth!" Karin snapped straight back at the slug sannin, as Yumi muttered.

"I need bathroom…" at that, Tsunade stood up, only for Karin to growl at the sannin.

"You are not leaving the room, and she's safe with me," the woman replied, calmly.

"As if: I'm going with her," Karin insisted, standing up with the little girl in her arms, "What are you afraid of, you're a sannin for Kami's sake, we're just what, a Genin and a toddler?"

"Fine," as Tsunade rolled her eyes, opening the door and stepping outside, she kept her eyes on Karin, who walked ahead, slowly. There were no windows, that deep underground, so there wasn't a risk of her entering the bathroom and disappearing. When the door closed, the Sannin stood guard, in wait.

A couple of minutes later, Karin came out, Yumi asleep within her arms, and a sour look on her face. Tsunade merely rolled her eyes, before muttering.

"You really thought I'd disappear after a couple of minutes?" the red haired girl was about to retort, when strong quakes shook the underground corridor, making Karin stumble, but keep her hold on her baby sister, as Tsunade, instead, gritted her teeth.

"Get in now!" grabbing Karin by the arm, she pushed her back in the safe room, before closing the door and locking the two in.

"Wait in here!" The sannin turned to leave, worry crossing her mind, but showing none in her face. The fight shouldn't have reached that far, it should have been quelled quickly!

As Tsunade left the two girls alone, Karin took her chance, biting down on her thumb, and tracing a small blood circle, to summon.

"Okay…theoretically, this should work. Father is going to throw a fit, but it should get us out of here, understood?" as the red haired girl said that, Yumi merely looked with a bit of worry at her sister's bloodied hand.

"Apple-chan," the little girl muttered, "You're wounded."

"Doesn't matter: let's get out of here," and with that, Karin poured chakra into the circle, hoping that it would work…because if it didn't, she would have been wasting her father's Fuinjutsu lessons, and that was worse than actually dying from a faulty reverse-summoning circle. At least, in her opinion, it _was_ worse.

Moments later, the door of safe room would open to reveal Mangetsu, who had just then managed to infiltrate the deepest levels, by turning himself into water.

Tsunade, instead, had barely gotten upstairs, that she had been forced to jump out of the way, as the battle between her former sensei and Kisame seemed to be going full-out.

That wasn't the problem, however…the problem was that there didn't seem to be, except that impeding fight, signs of war…just as Tsunade was resorting to try and go back downstairs, said signs of war arrived moments later, as if on cue.

Had she taken time to look in the bathroom, she would have found out that an ingenious use of explosive tags with low yield but high noise had been the cause of her misunderstanding on the situation.

A pity she didn't…and now she had no way to get back down, with the entrance blocked and what not by the fight and the giant dome of water. The next thing she knew, she was heading towards the hospital. Carrying a blue haired man slumped on her shoulder. Whoever he was, he didn't even seem to have a normal face, beaten to a pulp by the probable fall of the debris during the destruction of the Sarutobi's main house, but he did sport a Kirigakure forehead protector, probably the only thing that avoided him death because of a smashed skull, and possibly, the only insight in this mess that there was. If, obviously, he knew anything of it at all…

Tsunade's entire body came to a halt, at the shocking sight of the hospital literally being vaporized by a set of detonations, and its debris scattered throughout the adjacent city block. She began to shiver. She hadn't expected that much. She hadn't expected such destruction. Was this Suna? Suna shouldn't have been able to do this mess! Suna was weaker than Konoha, there was…there was no way. She turned, to stare at the explosion coming from the Hokage's mansion, and hoped it was empty. The Sarutobi compound wasn't that far, actually…but as she heard sound of battles, she had to make a choice: go and look, or stay with the Kirigakure shinobi.

After a moment, seeing chakra chains flickering up in the sky…she decided to go and have a look. Kushina wasn't the best of mothers, but she still was family. She didn't want to lose another family member, if she could avoid it.

*Itachi*

Silence didn't last. Yells of pain, screams of promised murder. Swears and 'trash' echoing through it all. Yet…he didn't move. He didn't move as he could feel people converging on his position. He didn't move at all, not even when he distinctively heard the snake sannin's last belches of pain, as his former sensei was brought away.

He didn't even mind the Anbus that had arrived, and were looking at him suspiciously…and why not? His sword was covered in blood. He had been pardoned for his so called crimes, and maybe, that was the reason he hadn't been immediately killed.

Yet he could hear it, in the distance, clashes still going on. Yells, sounds, screams…everything, but at least, for once, he couldn't see it. It was enough of a grace, when the Anbu, it had to be an Anbu, apprehended him.

"Itachi Uchiha," the voice wasn't of an Anbu, the eldest Uchiha realized: it belonged to Maito Gai. Probably the only shinobi that he knew of, that was going to have an easy way around town, without chakra, "You have much explaining to do."

"Maybe, but I do not intend to run," Itachi replied, "However, I suggest you take the advantage while you have it. There is no chakra in a wide radius around the village of Konoha, if you are quick enough, you could deal the death blow to Orochimaru before he escapes. That, or help in destroying the invader's forces."

"You seem to know of the Jutsu that has been used," Maito retorted, his face and his voice was serious, for once, as the green clad shinobi was actually debating what to do. The Uchiha was blind, and he wasn't going to be moving any time soon. He didn't even think the man was lying to begin with, there was just no other reason he'd be there, except to be captured.

"You will stay here?" Maito queried, once more.

"I no longer intend to run," Itachi whispered back. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Maito was no longer on the roof, having run after the snake sannin.

With a dejected sigh, Itachi sat down. If only he'd have some tea now, everything would be fine.

He didn't even bother with the rain: it was sort of soothing, coming down on his face, his body, drenching his clothes. It was…calming…and he felt so tired.

Were the people being evacuated? Was Suna, or Iwa, in retreat? Who had called Iwagakure to begin with? Danzo? Orochimaru? Kabuto? Someone had to have called them, but who?

"What the hell happened here!?" the voice was that of a female, one that Itachi recognized, having heard it quite a few times, before.

"Itachi! What's going on?" Yugito Nii moved closer, staring at the destruction, before trying to get the Uchiha on his feet, "We have to leave…we're pulling out, is that…shit, you killed the Yondaime?"

"Nii-san…I have to stay here," Itachi whispered back, falling down and removing, slowly, his ring from his finger, "I'd just…slow you down. There is no need for me any longer, without chakra...you can't carry me…"

"Who did this to you? Was it the Yondaime? Wasn't that supposed to be Orochimaru's job?" Yugito's voice laid beneath it a tinge of worry. Still, she did take the ring without a problem. Itachi was covered in blood, albeit not his, and the rain was making it difficult to decide whether or not the man was lying about his impending death.

"Orochimaru…he…betrayed…us, his sword…was poisoned," the eldest Uchiha whispered, as his breathing began to slow down.

"I'll…I'll avenge you…rest in peace, Itachi…" and with a voice that creaked of sadness, the Nibi Jinchuuriki was gone. The Uchiha stayed down, now. Better to act like a corpse, at least for the time being. At least until all the loose ends were cut.

Quietly, he waited, until a set of footstep he recognized came nearer, and moved right next to him.

"Faking death? Not on my turn…everything went according to plan?" the voice whispered, opening the Uchiha's eyes to empty them of the two useless eye balls, and preparing the replacements.

"Yes…but…revenge is hollow," Itachi muttered, "And…it leaves a bitter taste on the tongue."

"I told you so…didn't believe me, huh? Well, I went along: after all, we have our promise, right?" two squelching sounds, the eyeballs of Shishui probably being destroyed. Better not have that power around any longer…it was just…too troublesome, to quote a Nara.

"Did Kisame…die?"

"No, but the Sandaime…he had a heart attack. Probably fighting and then being deprived of chakra was all that his heart needed," the voice retorted.

"You don't seem saddened," the raven haired boy spoke quietly.

"Why would I? I forgave him once…and he did this never the less…still, I didn't expect Iwa…you?"

"Me neither," Itachi whispered back, "Someone sold them the info on the patrols: otherwise they wouldn't have been able to reach till here quickly and unnoticed."

"Yeah…I know…I'm piss tired, I think I lost my right hand sensibility, and I still have to go to rally point Alpha and lead the counterattack, want to swap?" the voice came with a light chuckle.

"Maito Gai was pursuing Orochimaru…I do not know if he managed to subdue them," the Uchiha retorted.

"Don't worry…and…this is going to hurt for a while," a moment later, it actually hurt, as darkness left the place to light, to colors, to fuzzy images, that little by little increased their definitions, until, in the end, the face of Naruto Senju stood there, calmly looking down on Itachi.

"Well then, how does it look like?"

"You look horrible…are these…"

"Sharingan eyes? Yes. Danzo activated only eight out of ten of his arm, so…I don't know who they belonged to, but I did steal them from the morgue, since nobody else was going to use them," Naruto retorted, helping Itachi up, and having one of his arms pass over his shoulders.

"Well…we have a village to save," Naruto added, trying a joking tone.

"Naruto," Itachi started, "Your daughters…"

"They weren't there," the grey haired boy muttered, his voice betraying, for once, the emotions that were being bottled up in the man, "I was too late and they weren't there. Mangetsu was, and there was blood…and you know what they say about Kiri and cannibalism…and…Yumi was just three, and Karin was…she was…"

"Naruto…calm down. They were too valuable to be eaten…they probably were taken away: there were three swordsman of the mist. Chojuro was the third one. Did you see him?"

"No…I actually didn't," Naruto replied with a sigh of relief, "You think he got them?"

"We can suspect as much," Itachi replied, "So…where are you bringing me?"

"I thought of going to the cinema. You know, watch a movie, while Konoha burns," the Senju retorted, sarcastically, before hopping down the building, using a kunai to slow down the fall against the wall, "A pity we don't have chakra."

"How long does it last?" Itachi mused, perplexed.

"Until the rain stops pouring," Naruto replied, moving towards the Senju compound, "you know…I kind of actually have a son too," as he began speaking, the Uchiha merely sighed. It was going to be a long trek.

"I know…Tobirama, right? Orochimaru said he wasn't in Root when he went to get him," Itachi retorted, and that…that brought Naruto to a halt.

"He wasn't there?"

"No…why?"

"Then…you didn't get him?"

"I thought you had him…you thought I had him?"

"It was my only clue! You or Hiruzen! Hiruzen had the safe house empty, and if Orochimaru and you don't have him, then who the hell has my son!?"

"Naruto," Itachi whispered, "We have company."

"I don't care!" Naruto snapped, turning his gaze to the upcoming shinobis. Two from Sunagakure, wounded, probably trying to reach a rally point for their army. They came to a halt when they saw who was on the other side of the street and stood still.

"Warn your brethren, Suna scum! The Nidaime no Sairai has defeated your jutsus! I have mastery over the very own chakra that runs through your coils! Leave and never come back, or face my wrath!" one moment, Naruto was weak, pathetical, and carrying Itachi. The next, he was standing tall, Itachi leaning on him completely, like the Senju was an unbreakable pillar, a support to all, and the Raijin had found its way into his hand, standing proudly fizzling with electricity.

It was all that was needed for the two shinobis from Suna to turn tails and run.

"Now, if I can convince someone from Iwagakure too, we'd be set," Naruto muttered, as he wobbled on his legs, literally crashing down and letting Itachi sit next to him.

"Do you really plan on going to rally point Alpha?" the Uchiha queried, "You're in no conditions to fight."

"I just need to be there to sound the charge, Itachi, not to…"

"ITACHI!" the yell brought the two shinobis to wince, as Sasuke seemed to have taken that moment to reappear. A battered Sasuke, his sharingan spinning wildly, a kunai encrusted with dried blood, just like most of his clothes. He had probably decided to go and help.

"Yeah, I'll definitively be heading to the Alpha point," Naruto mused, standing up shakily, "Sasuke, you and your brother catch up: but no killing each other, I have a village to conquer back."

"But…sensei, he, we, the…" as Sasuke was lost on what was going on, he automatically obeyed Itachi's gesture to get closer, and, after a poke to the head, to sit and listen.

It didn't even matter that it was raining, as the two siblings spoke to one another after years…it didn't matter, because for once, a quest was over.

*Rally point Alpha*

The park was diagonally in front of the Hokage's mountain, meaning that the refuges that stood within the mountain were protected just as long as the rally point was kept. The sort of annulment field of jutsus, that was surrounding Konoha, was actually working on their favor, as without explosive tags, or explosion jutsus, it was relatively easy for Konoha to hold the line.

The problem was that it took all they had, to keep it. The rest of the village was subject to infighting, but the Suna front appeared to have been softened enough by, probably, Iwagakure's bombardments, and Akatsuki's actions. On one hand, the streets were littered with bodies, and Konoha was being devastated, on the other, tales of the Kyuubi going on a murderous rampage against the enemies forces had rallied the morale of the troop. On the dark side, when an Anbu had reported the death of the Hokage, and the escape of Orochimaru, things had looked grim. There wasn't even a clear picture of who had done what.

The first moment, the mass of water was twirling around the barrier, blocking view, the next one, chakra was off limits and the Hokage was down, while Orochimaru was screaming curses.

The Anbus couldn't even stay there, because they had to engage the private guards of the snake Sannin, and go in pursuit, while one remained behind to report to the point Alpha.

It had been the Senju's idea to report to the principal rally point, at least if one listened to the Uchiha's boy, who had referred the order. Shikaku Nara had actually accepted it, because it was a sound strategy: being it closest to the Suna entering point, it had less risks of being rigged with explosives, and being in the corner of the village, it had more defendable sides than any other rally point.

Still, the Nara couldn't help but think that the Senju had planned it, knowing that, by accepting his decision, he had subtly implied he was following his orders. It was just an afterthought, but when more and more shinobis had started to arrive, claiming the Nidaime reborn had come to help them in their fights, with the Raijin at his hand, he had started to doubt this was merely a speculation.

There was no sight of the Hyuga branch family, of the Hyuga family head, or heiress, and of the Inuzuka matriarch. Even the Yamanaka girl was missing, much to Inoichi's dismay.

Chouja had been hit hard, and was now mostly unresponsive. Not because he had been wounded, but because he had lost his son. The man was a mess, and was probably faulting himself, something that Asuma too was doing.

Shikaku wasn't an idiot, however: somebody had to have given the patrol routes to the Iwagakure shinobis, as well as the most damage yielding positions out first, and their coordinates. There was probably more than a spy, in their midst…the problem was finding it out before it did more damage.

All in all, the line was being hold, but the rain didn't seem to be going away any time sooner.

It was then, that a startled gasp got his attention. Everyone around him had turned to stare at the Nidaime no Sairai making his entrance, Raijin no Ken in hand, and holding the Hokage's hat and mantle on his back. Looking at him like that, there was little thought that the previous speculation had become true…he really had grabbed the hat.

"Might I inquire what this action is about?" Shikaku asked, as he could already feel the two old councilors, Homura and Koharu, arriving between exclamations of indignation.

"The Yondaime Hokage is dead," Naruto retorted, "While I'm sure you might think I'm overstepping the bounds, you have a choice…either we go out there and reclaim the village, with me at the head to increase morale, or we stay here, bicker for the next Hokage, and wait while they destroy Konoha. The Sunagakure line is in disarray, I took care of that, and I'm pretty sure they'll be pulling back any minute. Sarutobi is dead," at that, the shock flew through the entire shinobi line that was near them, "but I already took care to avenge him," roars of cheers echoed through the encampment, as the Nara couldn't help but stare into the eyes of the grey haired man, for confirmation, which, indeed, he found.

"We can't have someone as…" as Koharu was about to retort, Naruto shut her down.

"Oh shut it, _Yandy_! We don't need bickering, we need action: The Yondaime Hokage left us in deep, deep hell, and I've got enough stuff that Inoichi will later confirm that can pretty much burrow down the entire civilian council thrice," at that, some members of the council actually winced at the implication, "This is a mere formality: name me Godaime Hokage, and we'll reclaim Konoha. Refuse and I'll have to name myself that, after destroying the Iwagakure front, reclaiming the village, and mentioning to the Daimyo your inability to formulate a plan while the village _burns_!"

It was enough. It was enough for the shinobis in the line to roar out, holding their kunais in their hands, the name of their new Godaime. This had been a display of strength, a careful action, a precise motion. With people separated, the civilian council in the refuges, and the state of alert, what mattered was the will of those nearby. And those nearby were those that Naruto himself had saved from the heat of the battles and the skirmishes in the village, those he had spoken with during his so casual walks around the village, those he had served together during boring patrols, had done missions together to become Jounin or that merely knew him.

The will of Fire was second only to the will of the people, and the people wanted him.

Thus, Naruto Senju walked into the Rally point Alpha as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, as the Nidaime no Sairai, as the Ghost lance and as the frozen wave…but he walked out of there, at the head of the Konoha's shinobi population that had rallied, as the Godaime Hokage, Naruto Senju: the Murasaki Hokage. That being because his armor, normally blue, had been so much covered in blood to actually give it a dark red color, and the mixture of blue and red was _purple_.

The Iwagakure forces had expected to take the fight to a vastly destroyed city, since their tactics worked best on wide areas, but with the strange chakra annulment rain, that was now out of the equation. All the Iwagakure shinobis had managed to do was disheveling the field, and bringing many to fight with only kunais, in enclosed areas, where Konoha was mostly apt in, thanks to their usually in-between trees training, wasn't a smart move.

The Raijin no Ken itself equated the power-field, and when the Iwagakure population found itself battling a man that resembled a deceased Hokage, there was no doubt that fear and fright played a role, a decisive role, in the end of the battle. By the time Konoha's front reached once more its walls, or what remained of it, Iwa was on the run, and all that remained were the few stragglers that were offered terms of surrendering.

That was because the Senjus had been actually following the plan, attacking from the side the Iwagakure's men and cutting off the retreat of many, taking them down.

Out of the one thousand, probably, of shinobis of Iwa, only less than three hundred would return home to spin the tale. On the Sunagakure side, instead, the shinobis had automatically surrendered, upon discovery of the Kazekage's actual status: dead, by the hands of Orochimaru, probably.

In the end, when the rain finally ended, the sun wasn't at all shining brightly on Konoha, because it had already been setting…and a crimson night now showed itself over the village, basking it in an eerily red glow…but the battle was over, and Konoha had emerged victorious, albeit grievously injured.

Many actually looked to one another with tired eyes, with sadness, with grief over the lost ones. Others prepared curses to the heavens, and vowed revenge. Still, all of this was secondary, because, in the Hokage's tower, and more precisely in the council's chambers, Naruto Senju stood at the Hokage's seat with controlled ease, even though the numbers he had been seeing were worrisome.

"We lost…a good number of men, civilians, and buildings…" Naruto began, carefully, "I know many, in the council, believe that I wrestled my position here as the Hokage, without any actual clan support," many looked at him with a serious expression, clearly hinting that yes, they thought as much, "however, what Konoha needs now _is_ a strong Hokage, and the shinobis that have bled and died today need to be avenged by a strong village. To be strong, however, we _must_ be united under the same banner. That is why, we will now formally vote on whether you want me as a Hokage, or not. Since I may not represent myself and my clan, Neji Senju, albeit young, will be the representative of the Senju clan at this council."

The Hyuga representative winced, letting a small snarl escape his lips, but keeping the rest of his words in his throat. He had seen the power of the Senju leader. He didn't want to end up crushed against a wall.

"There is little to say," Homura spoke quietly, "After said charade there is nothing we can do but accept you as the Godaime Hokage, refuting that would display us as weak, and we cannot have weakness, not after the display of today…we are probably going to lose standing with various nobles, and we might risk a civil war, if we actually vote someone else."

"I say we need someone older," the Hyuga elder spoke, "Someone with more experience, and who can actually talk, instead of destroying."

For once, the one who snapped back at the Hyuga…was Tsume.

"Shut it, you old man!" The Inuzuka matriarch bellowed, "I say it was high time we got someone with balls to hold the hat! No offense to the Sandaime or the Yondaime, but they were big softies, and look now where that brought us! Hadn't it been for the Senju's plan, Iwa would have certainly reduced us to rubbles by the end of the day!"

"Inuzuka-san brings forth a good argument, albeit unintentionally," Shikaku Nara pointed out, interrupting the probable upcoming bickering, "was any of this planned? And if so, how?"

"A mere coincidence," Naruto retorted, "I had planned a contingency in case the Hyuga family tried to attack _my_ family during the exams, thus ordering them that, at the first sight of trouble, to head to the Senju safe house, I do not know whether to blame myself for the losses that followed, since we did lose three members of our house during the move, or say that I was lucky, because with the Iwa front so close, once they were safe, and I passed by to look for them, they were in the perfect position to ambush the enemy forces…"

"Luck is all you're good at," the Hyuga elder spoke, "A Hokage needs diplomacy," he added.

"Something slavers have no right to proclaim," Naruto rebutted, eying pretty badly the elder, "And wasn't it the perfect display of diplomacy, freeing people without incurring in the laws? Subtlety is a bitch, when it hits you in the back, right?"

"Anyway, we are pretty much clear that, be it coincidence or not, we'll vote in favor of keeping you as the Godaime…obviously, not having any previous training…" as Koharu was about to keep on speaking, Naruto coughed once.

"Stripe underwear," a second later, Koharu stood quiet, before furiously blushing like a teenager, something that a fifty and more years old shouldn't have been able to do, and then swiftly adding.

"Although, we should expect the Senju clan's head to be trained in such arts, thus I doubt any help will actually be needed."

"Look at it! He's bullying his way through the council!" as the Hyuga elder spoke again, pointing his finger at the Senju; Naruto rolled his eyes, before addressing the man next to him, the Yamanaka clan head.

"Is he annoying you too with his ramblings?"

"He is," Inoichi retorted, "esteemed elder, maybe you should calm down, and address the Hokage with the respect he is due."

Inoichi Yamanaka had been a broken man, when at the rally point his little girl hadn't been there. He had later on completely swapped personalities, when he had heard that Ino was safe and sound, in the Senju's safehouse. Not knowing all the details, he had obviously assumed the Senjus to have saved his baby-girl…and from there, the blond clan leader had decided to follow the man.

"Still, I fear for the safety of my clan! He clearly cannot be objective, and…" and then he was cut short, because Mikoto Uchiha entered the council's rooms in a hurry. Then she stopped, for a minute, and looked at Naruto, who looked back at the woman with perplexity. The entire council was actually looking at the raven haired woman, with surprise. They had thought the Uchiha's missing the council was because of problems, or even because she had been wounded.

"I…I express my gratitude towards the Senju clan, and defer my vote to them for the reminder of the day…no, scrap that, week, that's all, sorry," and with a small bowing of the head, she was out.

"The Aburame clan sees that it is pointless to keep on discussing the matter, why is that? Because a Hokage needs to be loyal, and Senju-san is loyal, because a Hokage needs to be loved by the people, and Senju-san is loved by the people, thus the Aburame clans vote for Naruto Senju as the Hokage," Shibi spoke quietly, glad to have used that moment of silence to make his intentions due.

"What are we going to do about Iwa and Suna?" Choza asked, his voice contained, as the big man was still in his armor.

"Suna was used, and they are as much victims as we are, in this. However they are not to be excused, but with sufficient reparations, we will forgive them. That, and Konoha will benefit to the addition of several wind affinity users, since we have so few in our ranks," Naruto replied, before adding, "However…Iwagakure has attacked without reason, with force and strength and without mercy. They have aimed a blow not to destroy us, but to make us suffer. They have targeted the hospitals, the orphanages, the residential areas, and for that…for that they will pay until the last of the Iwagakure population has choked in its own blood, this I swear…Iwagakure will pay until their very own rocks begin to bleed blood."

"The Akimichi clan is with the Hokage," Choza muttered, clenching his fists. Chouji would be avenged, that much, his father would make sure of.

"There are still some clans missing, like the Uzumaki and Namikaze…technically Kushina Namikaze counts for…" as the Hyuga elder tried, once more, Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Dully noted, if it's not on majority then we'll wait, otherwise, we can pretty much ignore the absence," with that, the rest of the council was quick work. Naruto had the majority, as Senju obviously voted for him, followed by Uchiha and Neji did so with a wide smile that menaced to split his face in two. Nara too followed, because it would be troublesome to find someone else. Inuzuka was already there, as too was the Aburame, thus when both elders voted in favor, the majority was set in stone.

"Now that it's official, we have a village to rebuild," Naruto commented, and just as he did so, the Hyuga elder stood up, yelling.

"I will not stay here and watch a farce of a Hokage take the seat! Mark my words, this will…"

"Kakashi," Naruto muttered, "_kill_ him."

The next moment, the Hyuga was down, a blade driven through his neck, and Naruto's hands clasped together, their fingers intertwined. Kakashi Hatake, who had been hiding in the shadows of the room, together with a group of Anbus, obviously to ensure the safety of the council and of the newly minted Hokage, quietly removed the blade, and cleaned it, before disappearing in the shadows once more.

"Anbus Cat and Wolf, warn the Hyuga clan that their clan representative has been executed for treason," the Hokage, yes, the Hokage pointed out, "Tell them that acts of insubordination and of treason or anything that might just make me think that they're planning a coup will be met with _bloodshed_ and _repercussions_," and with those words, the first action as the Hokage, for Naruto, was one of blood.

*The next morning*

It was with tired eyes, that Naruto actually managed to reach for the Senju compound, where, surprisingly, he was greeted with warmth by a good variety of white eyed persons, Neji first in line.

"Sensei…or should I say, Hokage-sama?" with a light scowl on his face, Naruto ruffled the boy's hair, before muttering.

"I pulled an all-nighter…I'll need some time to take care of the children too, I'm sorry I couldn't go…"

"It is not a problem, Naruto-sama," one of the older Hyuga, now a Senju, spoke, "You should really rest."

"Please…the Sama is making me feel old," Naruto chuckled, "the –san will suffice."

"We understand…still, we wish to use the sama, as a sign of respect, for all that you have done for us," the chorus of yes and Naruto-sama was enough, and with a sigh and a light shaking of the head, the Godaime Hokage had to relent.

He did go to sleep like a rock, as soon as he got into his room…it had been a hellish night, and things were still piling up…

There was much to do.

Many things to take care of, the village had to be rebuilt, there was a need to interrogate the prisoners, to have a talk with the Daimyo, with the various nobles of the court, with the people, with the shinobi population at large, with the patrols…there was a need to start looking into Jiraiya's spy network…he'd have to assign someone else to it.

There was also the problem of the death toll, and of the funeral…he had to be there. Did he warn Neji to wake him up? The boy probably would wake him up, wouldn't he?

With all those thoughts in mind, the Godaime Hokage, tired, and defeated by sleep, began lightly snoring.

How much more was there to do?

*Karin and Yumi*

"I didn't expect this," the red haired girl commented.

"Me neither," the chameleon known as Ryuu retorted, "still, want to sign the contract? You 'are' here, after all."

"What, no asking questions?" Tokage queried, just as a single big red eye opened, a little away.

"The master's descendant should be granted the right because of trust," Shiromari stated.

"Aw…questions were fun!"

"Shut it, Tokage," Ryuu growled, as Karin, instead, slightly gulped.

"Can we be sent back? Home I mean…Otou-san is going to be worried…"

"It would be best to wait till he summons one of us, in that way you would certainly be sent back. We already sent him a chameleon messenger, when he reaches him, he'll let him know," Shiromari politely answered.

"Okay…is there something to eat, for Yumi, I mean…apples are her favorite…"

"I shall search the land for…"

"Shiromari, stop it, there are no apples, nor apple orchards, around. There is smoked fish, if the old faithful is kind enough," Ryuu snarled.

With a sigh, Karin stood quietly, her feet in the cool water. At least they were safe. She just hoped she had another mean to contact her father…to let him know everything was fine.

*Elsewhere*

"Orochimaru-sama has not returned yet," Kimimaro stated, looking at the boy he had been put in charge of, "Nor has Kabuto-san," he added.

"Oh…so, when do I get my eyes?" the boy asked, cheerfully so.

"Soon, Tobirama-kun, till then… are you enjoying the toys?" thankfully, the kid had no idea he was playing with bones, produced by the Kaguya himself.

"Hai Kimimaro-san!"

"Good."

*Elsewhere still*

"Kidoumaru, you will do me well."

"Orochimaru-sama? No…wait…NO!"

*Yet once more, somewhere else*

"Daughter…do not look at me like this…a debt of the Hyuga is a debt that must be paid."

"Mphf!"

"You have been more of a failure than I have ever possibly suspected…I am sorry."

"Mpfhhhh"

*Again, somewhere else*

"What do you mean, the attack failed!? It was one thousand shinobis! We paid the man a lot for the information on the patrols! How could you have failed!?"

"Sir…the Nidaime…they say he defeated death to come in the aid of his village…"

"What!? Dead men don't defend villages!"

"Sir…permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"We are so going to die…"

"…"

*Still not finished with the 'somewhere else'!*

"Ouch…Minato? Katsumi?"

**Author's notes**

**Chapter…Done.**

**This chapter stands at 27K words. The largest I have ever done.**

**It is *not* the finishing chapter of the canon days, as there is at least another one (albeit more light in *weight* before the time skip)**

**Now, I'm sure there are going to be some pretty hectic questions.**

**First off:**

**Ayame and Teuchi are not mentioned.**

**It is intentional.**

**Secondly:**

**You killed the Yondaime in an anticlimatic way. There had to be the explosion of doom three-thousand and one of power with explosive effects!**

**Just…no. Live with the fact that he got stabbed because he was distracted. That technically should be how 99% of shinobi deaths are meant to be portrayed. A second, a death.**

**Thirdly:**

**Chouji! You damn bastard! You killed Chouji! WHY!? I mean, you have Kushina lose nearly her guts, and yet you kill Chouji!? You monster!**

**Reason: it had to be done. This is all for the growth of the remaining cast…or survivors.**

**Fourthly:**

**Did Anko reach the village?  
Next chapter.**

**Fifth:**

**Orochimaru said he didn't have Tobirama!**

**He lied…duh.**

**Sixth:**

**Naruto isn't crying his heart out for the supposed loss of his daughters and son.**

**He already did it, more than once, he just steeled himself.**

**Seventh**

**Is it me, or is Naruto acting like a sort of fusion between Danzo and Hiruzen?**

…***whistles***

**Eighth!**

**What was Yugito doing? Next chapter! It expands on everything that has happened in this one…more in details.**

**Ninth!**

**What were those small snippets at the end? Did you rush it?**

**No, it was either that, or write more in this chapter rather than the next. I felt that giving you readers a 27K worth of stuff was more than enough, for a chapter.**

**(being evil, I *could* have divided it into half and half, leaving you with only the first half and not the finishing)**

**Tenth!**

**Nothing…just wanted to reach the one-ten thingy and yell out loud: thanks to all the readers! Those who review (with guest accounts or not) and those who add the story to favorite or to follow!**

**Now, on to the Q&A of the reviewers!**

**Naruto's powers.**

**His powers work, as I suspect some haven't realized, in a circular pattern. Meaning that group of shinobis get chakra leeched, but at the same time, using said powers with friendlies nearby means the precise same thing. It doesn't differentiate…it just takes.**

**The more tails, the quicker and more wide the area is. Think black-hole, only for chakra.**

**Samehada is not using a *ninjutsu* to suck chakra. I supposed it was using a sort of *natural* ability, like leeches suck blood, she *eats* chakra. **


	21. CD: Redefining

**This is mainly 'filler'…on with it!**

Chapter twentieth-one

It was a light tap on the forehead that woke Naruto Senju up. The tap was insistent, and repeated throughout a couple of minutes. Slowly, the man opened one of his eyes, to look at the tiny chameleon that had managed the incredible feat of climbing the stairs, avoid to be squashed by random people passing by, open a door and enter the room to now tap against the Hokage's forehead.

It was to be said, chameleons were headstrong and, once set on something, didn't stop until they actually managed the feat.

With a small groan, Naruto manage to mutter something incomprehensible that, however, was caught by the chameleon, which relayed his own message with a set of rasps and clicks of the tongue. A second later, the Godaime Hokage was up, albeit a bit wobbling on his legs, and heading downstairs. The small chameleon then dispersed in a puff of smoke, since he had done his job.

In the kitchen, an unknown female with white eyes was actually preparing him breakfast, which, for once, was a nice change.

"Naruto-sama," the woman, belonging once to the Hyuga clan, had the usual silky smooth skin, the light brown hair in tresses, and was sporting a bare forehead like it was something to take pride on, "I hope I didn't wake you up."

"No…hum…"

"My name is Junko, Naruto-sama," the Senju woman replied, "I took the charge of preparing you breakfast, I shouldn't have?" Now, the question, if asked with a normal tone, would have earned the normal answer of there being no need to bother. The point was that said woman had asked it in the same pleading tone of a kid who wants a candy, meaning that she was probably on the verge of tears, and Naruto had always been weak against crying females.

"It's…it's fine," the clan head replied, sitting down numbly, and letting out a deep big sigh of relief.

His daughters were fine. He should have checked with the chameleons before, but he hadn't had any free time. Those two…he just hoped they both had slept somewhere warm. Were there any beds actually, at the chameleon's place? Still, they were safe, and that was more than enough to force him to sit down, before he simply fell on the ground, the tension and the dread on his shoulders already lowering.

"Please enjoy," the words were filled with hope, and at the same a mixture of dread, like someone who gets tested and is afraid of the results.

"It's good," the Senju head replied, eating with calm, "you're a good cook, Junko-san."

"Please Naruto-sama, only Junko will do…" the woman was actually trembling, reason enough for Naruto to raise an eyebrow in perplexity.

"Is…is everything alright, Junko?"

"I…I'm sorry if…" but another loud sigh and a roll of Naruto's eyes made the woman quiet down.

"Calm down Junko, take a deep breath, and _tell_ me what's wrong. I don't bite, I don't hit, and I am not a prick…nor do I have a stick up my ass, so _ask_, if you don't tell me what's wrong I can't do anything about it," with that, the woman stood still for a moment, just like a deer who is about to run off, only, instead of running away, she broke down in quiet sobs.

"Hey…what's wrong?" Naruto quietly stood up, moving closer to the, now crying, woman.

"It's…just…It's too much…you're too _kind_ to be real. You went against the _clan_ to free us, and…what if this is a _dream_? I mean…I'd…" with another quiet sigh, the Senju head did the only thing he had been trained to do when he had a crying female in front of him. He gently ruffled the hair of said female. Even if the female was probably one or two years older than him, he still did it.

"Hush…it's alright. Next time, pinch your cheek if you still have doubts, okay?" the woman nodded, numbly, and with a light blush on her face. After all, she was being… petted, on the head.

"Good, thank you for the meal, but don't wait for me at lunch: I'll probably work till late tonight too, so there's no need to wait for me for dinner either," as Naruto pointed that out, and moved to leave, Junko stood there mumbling and looking around with a mixture of embarrassment and light shock on her face.

Outside, in the garden, the sun barely filtered through a couple of looming by clouds. Not as dark as the day before, but still…with a deep sigh, he turned to look at the loud cheers and laughter that came from the right side of the compound. A group of eight and nine year old kids were playing with a ball, happily passing it to one another.

It was a bit sad that the younger one still couldn't go outside the houses, but it was to avoid accidents with the main family. He didn't trust the Hyugas not to use the caged bird on three years old, just as a mean of revenge. Thus, until the kids grew to the point where they could safely tuck their own eyes out, to have the seal removed, they had to stay indoors.

"Sensei!" Neji, in his Senju outfit, a dark blue blouse with long sleeves, that had the symbol of the clan embroidered with a golden colored string on the chest, and a pair of matching dark blue trousers, quickly reached for his teacher. Naruto was wearing his normal attire, consisting of his blue metal plated armor, with a white neck fur line, and this time, he actually had his Hokage hat on, with the Hokage's robes opened on the front, so that one could see he actually wore also his armor.

"I think I'm never going to get used to this," the Senju head replied, pointing at the hat, "Still, Neji, was it your idea to send Junko-san to cook me breakfast?"

"Well…I thought you'd be sleeping till noon, which is when the funerals are…" the voice trailed over, before returning a bit more forcefully cheerful, "still, sensei, if Junko-san wasn't…"

"It's fine, Neji, it's fine," Naruto dismissed the issue, using his right hand to reinforce the argument of letting it drop, "anyway, I've got to summon back Karin and Yumi, turns out my oldest daughter's too smart for her own good: she managed a reverse summoning circle…I'll have to up her Fuinjutsu lessons, I suppose…" With a quick set of hand signs later, Naruto slammed his right hand on the ground, pouring enough chakra to bring forth a more decently sized chameleon, Ryuu. The summon took a moment to arrive, probably to load up the 'passengers' and, when it did, the chameleon with the rock-like back grinned, showing his sharp set of teeth.

"Oh boy, I've got to tell the others!" the chameleon spoke with his normal guttural tone, "We've got a Hokage as a summoner, this is precious!"

"Yeah Ryuu…you wouldn't mind spitting out my daughters, would you?" there was a hint of anxiety, in Naruto's voice, as the chameleon rolled his eyes, before proceeding to do so.

Out of the beast's mouth came, covered in saliva, the two. Karin was holding Yumi tightly, and was mixing disgust for the saliva with shivering for the fright, since being eaten wasn't something easy to…digest. She shivered again at the horrible pun her mind had come up with, but it all stopped, when she looked to her side, where Naruto stood, in his Hokage's robes.

She eyed him with tears in her eyes, before stumbling up to push herself against his chest, crying, as Yumi instead was quickly moved back to her usual position, in Naruto's arm. Seeing the touching scene, and the probable privacy requirement, both Neji and Ryuu left the family alone to catch up.

Karin was nuzzling herself against her father's robes; firstly, because she had to remove the saliva of the chameleon, and secondly, because the waves of his aura were now, once more, kind and warm. There was a bright sunset in the ocean that was Naruto's aura, and with a light mental giggle, she basked in it.

Yumi was simply hugged and hugged back, finally seeing her father again, and not wanting him to disappear again, thus the reason she was holding him tightly.

"Otou-san…I was so scared! Why didn't you come to save us!? There's something I need to tell you, it concerns Tsu…" with a tired sigh, Naruto gave a light kiss on Karin's forehead, making the girl stutter, blush, and stop talking.

"Aw…" Yumi was about to retort the unfairness, when she received one too, making the three year old start giggling.

"I know, I know…I'm sorry…I was planning on coming during the exams…but…it all went to hell after that," Naruto muttered, "Listen, I have a lot of places to be today, I'm the new Hokage, after all," he added, with a small smile, "look for Neji and have him answer all your questions, and let him fill you in on what has happened, okay?"

"Otou-san…can't we come with you?" Karin hesitantly asked, her eyes starting to water, her lips to tremble, and a light sob coming out from her face.

"You know I was the one to invent the puppy-eye jutsu, Karin-chan," Naruto whispered back, with a light grin, "Be good, and don't be surprised, our family just grew a lot recently," he added, before letting Yumi on the ground, where the three year old simply looked up, keeping her tiny arms raised because she wanted to be held again.

"I have to be in a lot of places today, so I'm sorry I won't be around much…but hey, if you miss me, you can always go to the Hokage's tower, my door is open," with a light wink of his right eye, Naruto moved to leave.

Karin looked at her father's back leaving, and couldn't help but keep a sad frown on her face.

"Kaa-san," Yumi muttered, "is Otou-san coming back soon?"

"Yes, Yumi-chan, he is," Karin replied, with a bright smile, before holding the hand of the three year old, and walking around, looking for Neji. Just how many things had changed, while the two had been in captivity?

*Hokage's office*

Naruto looked at the vast amount of paperwork that stood, menacingly, on his desk. His eyes turned to the two corners of the room, where the two Anbus, assigned to guard him, where standing in silence.

"I suppose the only thing that wouldn't get destroyed, in an apocalypse, would be the Hokage's tower and the paperwork," the Senju muttered, before moving to the desk, and sitting down on the chair.

At least it was comfortable. Still, the thought of comfort was second, to the amount of papers that had to be looked at, signed, controlled, re-looked, edited, changed, cut, or burnt. Then there was the casualty list that was ever growing, as more and more people were found beneath the rubble, and more missing in action revealed themselves to be killed in action.

The hospital, especially, had brought many under together with it.

"_Gekko Hayate, missing…wait, Anko was in the hospital too, right?"_ going through the list, his heart sunk for a brief moment, at the name under the 'S'.

"_Senju Anko…missing,"_ he clenched the paper slip calmly, it couldn't be, right? The woman was stronger than that. He knew he shouldn't be worrying about her, not any longer, but still…

"Hokage-sama, you have a visitor," the secretary spoke quietly from the other side of the door, and as Naruto ordered for a brief moment the papers, he then replied with a calm tone.

"Let him in."

The next moment, Asuma Sarutobi entered the office, his face grim. The man looked at Naruto for a moment, before hesitantly starting to talk.

"Hokage-sama…a problem came up while we were looking at the casualties, and at the missing in action," the Senju merely nodded, letting the man continue, "it wouldn't have been seen for a long time, but we checked just to be sure…someone kidnapped some kids from the orphanage, and from various civilians, and brought them outside of the village during the battle."

"Kidnappers? Are we sure they aren't casualties of war, or simply beneath the rubble?" Naruto retorted.

"At first glance, it would appear so, but…Konohamaru, my nephew, was with his two friends from the academy, and he was seen entering one of the refuges…but he didn't come out."

"Wait…are you implying someone knew where the refuges where, managed to enter them, and kidnap children, without anyone else knowing? You realize that's impossible," the Senju rebutted, only for Asuma to pass a hand through his hair.

"It seems so, but it's all there is. There are missing children, and some can't be excused as casualties of war or still under the rubble."

"Look, Asuma-san," Naruto spoke quietly, "first let's clean the rubble out of Konoha, then, if we don't find anyone among the living and the dead, we can start worrying about kidnapping. Konohamaru might have gone outside once more to help: he was a kid, right? Kids do stupid stuff like that, and probably he got caught up in a falling building, or was wounded and is in the temporary hospital tent."

"I understand, Hokage-sama, I'm sorry I took your time," as Asuma slightly bowed to leave, Naruto spoke once more.

"Chouji was a good shinobi, but, more importantly, a good boy," the words came out softly, kindly, even, "however, with the upcoming times, I'll have to fill in the squads…can I rest assured you'll do what you can to make the new team work?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," and with that, the Sarutobi was dismissed.

Naruto's paperwork troubles ended after piling up the papers he intended on signing and then using his Suiton mastery to let the ink seep through the pages, thus leaving the signatures on the entire pile.

"Hokage-sama, it's time to assign the missions," the voice came from his secretary, whoever the woman was: he'd have to remember her name, eventually. With a heartfelt sigh, he stood up, and left the office, silently followed by his two guards. The mission assignment desk stood there in disarray, chaos was the most apt term to describe it. Many chuunins were rummaging through the papers, trying to come up with missions that could safely be given out even in the common state of chaos.

"Hokage-sama, we are…in a bit of a predicament," Iruka Umino was the Chuunin who spoke first, the man had been his elder chuunin-sensei during his time at the academy as a teacher, and, prior to that, his examiner.

"I hope the missions have been divided by rank," the Senju spoke quietly, moving to the pile of the B and A ranks.

"Summon the Anbus that are free, they'll enjoy doing B-rank assassinations, I suspect," he muttered to the thin air, as one of his guards disappeared, he then added to the chuunins, "men, all D-ranks around Konoha are suppressed until we clean the rubble, send the Genin teams that have completed at least twenty D-ranks on C-ranks one, possibly escort missions. S-ranks are suppressed for the following month, we need to get back in strength, but losing even one of our shinobis is unacceptable, until we recoup."

"Sir, what about the A-ranks?" a chuunin asked.

"Have the free Jounins complete those solos, send messages to all people on leave, on rest, or who simply weren't here to come back and take missions. I'd stay, but unluckily I have little time on my hands, for the following days, so follow the guidelines," with that, Naruto turned to leave, among a chorus of 'Hai, Hokage-sama!'

A man could grow to like such discipline. That man was, indeed, growing to like it. As Naruto walked outside, deftly avoiding the secretary on guard, his own bodyguard said nothing, appearing at his side and removing his Anbu mask.

Said guard, with silver hair, took out a copy of Icha-Icha, and began carefully reading it, as the two walked through the streets.

"So…you've made it," Kakashi pointed out, letting another page flip, "How does it feel?"

"To be Hokage? Stressful," Naruto retorted, waving gently at a couple of people, who looked at him with awe, and a good mixture of respect, considering the polite bows, "but it has its quirks."

"Are Karin-chan and Yumi-chan alright?" the silver haired Jounin asked.

"Indeed they are," Naruto replied, "I found out only this morning, after spending the entire yesterday at praying they were fine," he added.

"Strange way of praying, killing people," Kakashi pointed out.

"There's a cult that does such a thing, not that I'm interested, but hey…I had to occupy my mind," the Senju replied, as, suddenly, the boy stopped.

He was eying the remains of the Ichiraku ramen stall. Not only was it in rubble, but a note had been left on a wooden pole, with a clearly _feminine_ handwriting.

'_Closed for mourning'_

_"Hello, Naruto-kun, what would you like to order?"_

_"Well, today's the day my favorite customer came back to my stall…remember kid: I have only one law, I never kick out any customer. No matter who he is."_

Wars were never easy. Yet, for once…he wouldn't have minded spilling the blood of an entire nation. The hatred he was feeling in that precise moment was boggling. It was like a real weight, pushing against his head, his shoulders, menacing to come out by cracking, destroying, incinerating. They had no right to take him away. The old man had always been kind. They had no right to do this to him. They had no right, none at all.

They would pay, down to the last man, to the last woman, to the last child. By the time his hands would reach against the Tsuchikage's neck, there would be no longer an Iwa, no longer a land of Earth.

And when they'd write about what brought forth such a display of cruelty, the answer would be because on that day, they decided to invade, they killed the wrong man.

"Naruto," Kakashi spoke slightly alarmed, seeing how the man was actually making cracks appear on the ground he was walking on, "calm down…you're scaring the people around us."

A quick sucking in of air and Naruto shook his head, slowly letting it all go. He had time. He had to first help Konoha. Yes, blood could wait. First came rebuilding. Turning around with a slightly bright, and fake, smile, he nodded, before continuing his walk.

The hospital tents came into view, and with them, the slightly more cleaned area of Konoha. The rubbles had been removed largely, and what little remained didn't make it difficult for people to navigate. It was after taking a deep breath, that Naruto opened the flaps of the tent and walked inside. Quickly, his eyes scanned the carnage. The most critical hours had been those of last night, but today was going to be just as bad, if not worse.

After the first few days, one generally recovered, slipped into a coma, or died. Those were the three outcomes in any given hospital. The better equipped the hospital was, the better it turned out to be. It was there, eying around, that he saw a familiar sight of blond pig tails.

His eyes narrowed significantly, but he decided not to make a fuss, certainly not there, where people were in need of being healed.

The medic-nins were scurrying around patients with their medical triage, being forced to stitch and close quickly those they couldn't fully heal, in hope they kept themselves stable enough for more supplies to come through.

"Kakashi, have the medical packs for the emergencies distributed," Naruto muttered, "I'll stay here and see if I can help."

As Kakashi flickered away, mentally noting he should have been called 'Inu' instead of his real name, Naruto began working. It was a gross understatement, but the Senju did help. Until his hands were covered in blood, and his Hokage robe was dirtied. There wasn't even a single word coming through, only thankful gazes from nearly exhausted medic-nins being left to rest, or from patients who pulled it through long enough to open their eyes.

The only problem was the sheer amount of wounded around, and he had entered only one of the many medical tends. There simply was no way to heal all of Konoha's wounded, no matter how much chakra one actually possessed.

"Sensei," a voice muttered, making Naruto turn in the direction of the sound, and stare for a moment. Kiba Inuzuka was standing, half of his face bandaged, and only one eye clearly visible. He wasn't in a bed, probably because his legs were fine, and yet, possibly to make sure he didn't actually have something life-threatening, he was kept in the tents.

"You look like a mummy," Naruto pointed out, moving closer, and slowly taking a look.

"Yeah…my eyes are both fine, but the guy was kind of in a hurry…no idea what he said I had, but I can't fall asleep, and it _sucks_," the Inuzuka retorted, before adding, "I was fine at the compound, but Neji can be such a worrywart that it wasn't even funny."

"Ino is in here too I suppose? I heard from her father she was at the compound too, so if Neji worried for you, then he might have done the same for her," the boy pointed out, before letting his glowing green hand rest on the side of the boy's head.

"I think they're all around. Lot of family members got wounded, some other died…there's a morgue with pictures of the deceased somewhere near…sensei…is my sister?" at the question, Naruto showed an apologetic smile.

"I don't know, but if she isn't, I'll tell her you were worried about her."

"Don't waste your breath…I'm sure she pulled through just fine," Kiba muttered back, "I think Katsumi's in the next tent…heard her mother got hit pretty badly."

"I suppose I'll go have a look," Naruto's reply wasn't cold, but it was…kind of indifferent. It was more likely he would be worried about Katsumi, then about Kushina.

"Oh and…congratulations, Hokage-sama," Kiba added with a light chuckle, before grimacing, probably from the pain.

"Thank you, Kiba," flashing a light smile, Naruto moved forward, looking through the other wounded, until he came at a stop near the bed that held all the attention of Tsunade Senju.

Tsunade had her hands covered in blood, and the bare flickers of green light that came from her palms were all diverted into the stomach area of the woman on the bed. Said woman, with red hair, was extremely pale, and with two empty blood sacks nearby. Holding one of the woman's hands was Katsumi, who was keeping her eyes transfixed on the form of her mother, because it was Kushina Namikaze, the one in the bed.

Tsunade didn't even seem to recognize him: probably the Hokage's robe covered enough, as the thing she muttered first and foremost was.

"Minato, just where the hell were you?" With those words, Katsumi's eyes moved up, to stare at the figure that, however, was not her father. With her mouth opening wide, and her eyes bulging, she held more firmly her mother's hand, no voice escaping her throat.

"Minato?" Tsunade's eyes turned to stare at the face, and then her own amber eyes hardened for a moment, before returning to the task at hand, without another word.

"The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, died yesterday, during the battle with Orochimaru," Naruto whispered, before looking at the situation at hand, "I think it was you, who told me that in case of medical emergencies, triages had to be performed, right?"

"I am not going to let my remaining family die, Naruto!" Tsunade snapped back, as Katsumi looked at the scene worriedly. Her brother hadn't just told her grandmother to let her mother die…right?

"You have already used the Infuin: Kai, all on one patient…even if you do stabilize her, how many more have died because you concentrated on one alone?" Naruto whispered back, before putting a hand on the Senju's shoulder, and applying a light pressure.

Tsunade Senju fell down like a bag of potatoes, and as she crashed on the ground, Naruto made a gesture for the closest able shinobi.

"Bring Tsunade Senju to the prisons, she is accused of kidnapping of clan members, and treason in regards with Konoha," the voice was quiet, as it pronounced the charges, but with those words, Katsumi's eyes began to cry.

Her mother was going to die. Her grandmother was going to die. She was going to be left alone, and there was…

A hand dropped on her head, just as another one began to glow green on her mother's wounds.

"Stay still, I'm syphoning your chakra," Naruto muttered, as his right hand began the inner process of mending the wounds, "Tsunade did most of the job, but she was at her wits' end. She'd have died of chakra exhaustion, had she gone on."

Fighting back the tears, Katsumi's voice was creaked with grief, as she spoke.

"Oniisan…please…save my Kaa-san," the only reply she got was a slightly tighter grip of her head that then relented. A sort of silent positive reply, probably. Minutes passed, before, in the end, Naruto removed his hand.

"She should be stable now: she needs rest, like you do too," the Godaime Hokage whispered, "head over to the Senju compound, tell them I sent you to get some rest, okay?"

"She'll…she'll be alright, right?" as Katsumi's blue eyes settled with hope on Naruto's face, the man nodded slowly, once, before ruffling the girl's head.

"Now go, hop-hop," and as he watched his younger sister leave, he turned to stare at the slow breathing body of his 'mother', Kushina.

"You're alive because I bear no grudge against my sister, but that is all, Namikaze," and then, giving his back to the woman, he walked forward. On the positive side, he now once more had his chakra reserves filled: more people he could save.

As he walked out of the tent, even more covered in blood than before, his eyes lingered on the central area, where the bodies stood in plastic black sacs, pictures of their faces atop them, and people crying, or looking with grief at the horizon. He looked at the photograph, and, in doing so, his eyes caught a familiar colored hair coming his way, limping.

Turning his gaze, he stared at the woman known as Anko Senju, walking with the help of a wooden pole, her left leg being held by an emergency splint.

"So you're Hokage now, huh?" the woman muttered, her light brown eyes looking at him with a mixture of guilt and sadness.

"I'm glad you're alive," Naruto replied, "Our daughters would be…"

"Save me the circumstance words, I went to the compound first: Karin was told everything by your mother, and Yumi isn't even my daughter to begin with," the woman muttered back.

"I know, yet she is my daughter, as much as she is yours," the Senju retorted, his tone hard, "let me have a look at your leg, Konoha is in dire need of every able-bodied man and woman we can have."

"Suit yourself, I wouldn't waste time with someone like me, Hokage-sama," Anko whispered back, sitting on a nearby bench, placed there for the mourning men and women, probably.

"What would that mean, _Mitarashi_?" Naruto retorted, his voice a quick snap, and yet…yet it was like he had slashed her heart with a rusty, and blunt, kunai.

"Ouch…that hurt," she murmured, glad that at the same time he was removing the splint…she had blurted that out without even thinking, when the man had used her old surname, instead of her married one.

"And I mean it…there's no need to waste time healing _me_, of all people." Pain was something she would gladly suffer: it was, after all, her punishment for having toyed with the man's heart, and, at least in her mind, the only way to atone.

"Be still, you're a Jounin, not an academy graduate," the grey haired man replied, letting his hands work their job on it, "It's a compound fracture, you shouldn't have been walking with it."

"They needed the bed, and I didn't have intestines flying out," the Kunoichi retorted, wincing as he began healing her left leg.

"You jumped out of the window and landed badly?" Naruto queried, his eyes scanning for other wounds.

"No, I got ambushed by an Iwa with Doton Jutsus…damn bastard nearly had me, then it all crumbled down, and while he was gawking about how it should have been impossible, I made him a new hole with my trusty kunai," Anko mock-cheerfully said, trying her best fake smile for the occasion.

"You were lucky you got out of the hospital before it was pulverized," the Senju muttered.

"I was out five minutes after you left," the woman whispered back, "I planned on leaving, you know? Get the S-rank money mission from the bank, spend it in booze and drink myself to death. Maybe, when sober, look for Tobirama everywhere…or wait till a Root guy came to me, things like that…then I remembered I hadn't even cashed the money, and when I turned to get back, there was chaos going on. I was so scared something might have happened to _you_ that I realized I was just running away from reality."

Naruto merely said nothing, continuing to take care of the broken bone, as Anko kept on rambling.

"I know I can't be forgiven easily, maybe I'll never be forgiven at all, I'll probably spend the rest of my life as a hag, spending Friday nights crying in a corner of a second rate bar, but…can I hope, maybe in a couple of years, or decades…for another chance?"

"I gave you one, the night I told you I remembered everything," Naruto spoke quietly, but his gaze this time was cold, fixed in Anko's own, "And you blew it."

"I…I got it," the kunoichi replied with a grimace on her face, as her head dropped down, to look at her hands, more specifically at the one with the ring.

"So…should I give this back?"

"Katsumi doesn't need to know her father was a bastard who toyed with other people's lives," Naruto retorted, "We will have 'a fallout' of our marriage, in the course of the next months, because of stress on both parts," he added, carefully, "I expect you to play along."

"Konoha comes first, right?" Anko whispered back.

"No," the Hokage shook his head, his gaze narrowing, "My _family_ does. I would have forgiven you, Anko. Trust me, I would have. I would have _understood_, I would have been angry, of course, but I would have understood your reasons. Yet…you chose your own demise, and I'll probably never truly love anyone ever again, because of what you did…so it's _fair_, I suppose, that I'll never forgive you for this."

As his hands stopped glowering green, Naruto stood up, and moved to leave, having done his job.

"I should report to the mission assignment desk, Hokage-sama?"

"You should, Mitarashi-san, you should."

*Prisons*

Ibiki was basically glowing. In the dim light of the prison's corridor, the bald man was actually giving off his own light of sadistic glee.

"So, we've got everything right now: A Sannin, Kiri Shinobis, Iwa shinobis, Suna shinobis, 'Root' members, Akatsuki…hey, we even have two of the Kazekage's children, oh, and must I remind you that we also have some Kumo Genins too? They're like, the icing of the cake, so cute and young and easy to squirm…"

"I heard that!" a voice ran through the hallway.

"I expected that much," Ibiki whispered, "It helps in making them nervous," before adding in a higher tone, "Good, so when we get those Kiri to maul your ass, you'll be prepared. Sand and glass bits will do the trick, right?"

"I just didn't hear him say that," another voice muttered, "I am not ass-raping a Kumo shinobi, I've got my pride!"

"And here they go, starting to rant," Ibiki whispered again, "that's why we keep the sound on in the cells, makes them more nervous: it helps to break them up sooner."

"I see," Naruto muttered back, "we should start with Akatsuki," he pointed out, and, with a small nod, Ibiki gestured for the man to follow, to a slightly more secured cell, that held chakra suppressing seals on the four walls, and a set of iron manacles binding the red haired boy with the kanji for Love, written on his forehead.

"Gaara no Sabaku, Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi," Ibiki gestured, "Didn't say a word at all, and we can't actually mind-rape him, Shukaku would eat Inoichi."

"Mind dive," Naruto retorted.

"It's a mind-rape, Inoichi is someone I like, as a person, but it's a mind rape if the target is unwilling," the T&I chief literally growled back.

"Fine, I'm not discussing semantics at this time," the Senju rolled his eyes, before opening the door of the cell, and stepping in.

As his chakra was suppressed, and the door behind him closed, Naruto locked his gaze with that of the Ichibi Jinchuuriki.

"Are you going to talk?"

"…"

"Don't eat your words, mind you," Naruto added, with a light joking tone.

"…"

"I'm not going to torture you, but I do need answers," he pointed out, his gaze growing colder.

"Blood," Gaara spoke quietly, eying the dirtied robe that Naruto still had on, "where did it…"

"Come from? From the wounded, the deceased and the people smashed under the rubble that once was Konoha," the Hokage snapped back, "I was in the medic tents till now, healing the wounded…those that you and are your friends harmed...for being an organization that seeks peace, you have a bloody way of proving it."

"I'm…sorry," the red haired boy spoke, his eyes moving downwards.

"Sorry won't cut it," Naruto snarled, "Do you know how many good men and women we lost? How many _children_ in the hospital wing? Do you have any idea how many are right now mourning their families, their friends, their beloved ones?" Since the question was rhetoric, Naruto poured more words into the argument, after taking a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second, and slightly shaking his head. "Obviously you did not _think_ about this, because if you had had at least a hint, then you probably wouldn't have attacked, and you wouldn't be here to begin with."

"We didn't know of Iwa," Gaara whispered, "we planned for Suna to go through the less civilized areas…we didn't want anyone to be hurt!"

"You know, your brother is in a nearby cell," Naruto pointed out, "I'm sure you don't even like him, since, after all, he considered you nothing less than a monster…to think I even _defended_ you," as he spat that out, Gaara's eyes widened once more, "monsters are not born, they are made, and while I don't know whether you were or not one in the past…now I know you are one."

"I helped the wounded near the hospital's ruins!" Gaara shrieked, his arms flailing, but being stopped by the shackles, "I _protected_ them! _**I am not a monster!**_" as the screams echoed through the hallway, Ibiki kept on jolting down the notes, standing hidden from view. He had to tell the Hokage what he believed was the truth and what wasn't, after all.

"You _are_," Naruto whispered back, "The moment you let innocents be harmed, the moment you decide one life is more worthy than another, the moment blood spills on your hands, you become a monster known as shinobi, you become a murderer, an assassin, a killer…but how evil of a monster, how horrendous, how cruel…is something you decide on your own. You have made your choice, you are a monster."

"I…I am not!" Gaara's eyes actually began to tear, as his tone began to show signs of pleading, "I am not a monster…I am not the demon…I'm Gaara! I…I didn't want anyone to get hurt! But Nagato said it was necessary! He said I didn't even need to kill, that I just had to take the child…"and then the boy closed his mouth shut.

"So…the children's kidnapping was Akatsuki's work," Naruto muttered, "I'll give it to Asuma, he wasn't being overly paranoid."

"How many times, did Konoha steal the future of its own children?" Gaara whispered back, harshly, "How many shinobi nations take the young, and feed them lies, bringing them to fight for honor, glory and money, only to deliver mud, blood and hate? We decided to steal your future, to save it from harm."

"Our future…we are so very similar that it makes me sick," Naruto whispered back with a grim chuckle, "I too think that the young generations are pretty much the future of Konoha…yet you didn't just steal it away…no, you kidnapped it. You snapped it, you broke it, you cut it…and you actually think it will accept it? Pathetic, truly pathetic," the Senju shook gently his head, before giving, this time, a gaze of pity on the boy, "and the worse thing is…you actually believe it."

"What are you going to do with me?" Gaara's eyes closed, as the boy tried his best to regain his composure.

"Letting you go," the Godaime Hokage spoke three words, and with those three words, Ibiki actually gasped loud enough to be heard, Gaara opened his eyes in shock, and stared, hard, to find out if the man was lying or not.

"Hokage-sama, you're serious?" Ibiki muttered, from behind the bars…he didn't even get to torture the guy, not even once!

"Yes, if we don't, it is probable they'd send someone to bring him out anyway, and we can't have that, not with Konoha in these conditions," Naruto spoke quietly, "However…I expect you to deliver back Konoha's future, Gaara no Sabaku."

"Why…why do you think I would do that?" the red haired boy queried, perplexed.

"Because I do not deal with lies: you will be freed, and you will free in turn the kidnapped children…if you don't, then I can guarantee you that I will do all that is in my power to find Akatsuki, and crush it…you claim you are working for peace, disprove the theory by not keeping your word, and I will have enough proof to feel no remorse, when I will come personally…" as the threat hanged in the air, Gaara spoke again.

"I'm just one, I can try, but if I don't manage?"

"I doubt kids would be easily transferable, you certainly know who was assigned to them, and where they should be headed. Ibiki, free the prisoner and send him on his way…no need to have Konoha shinobis follow him," Naruto added, turning to leave.

"Why? I'm a criminal, a monster…you called me one yourself!" as Gaara screamed that, the Hokage retorted, both his eyes narrowing.

"I was hailed as a monster too, but all I needed was one chance to prove I wasn't. I kept showing the world I was not one, and in the end, the world bowed to my will. You are a monster, but that doesn't mean the future will keep you as one. Everything changes, Gaara, nothing can be set in stone, no matter how much one tries…that's one of the reason wars come around: peace cannot last, as neither can war."

With those final words, he left the prison cell, signaling to Ibiki. A second later, the head of the torture and interrogation department went through a set of hand signs, and Gaara slumped, asleep, in the cell.

"Keep the chakra bindings on him," Naruto pointed out, "Shukaku awakes when his hosts sleeps, drop him off to the south of Konoha. Do not follow, but look at the direction he heads to. That should give us the direction Akatsuki came from," then, biting his thumb, he summoned a small chameleon, "this little one will stay hidden on Gaara's body, and disappear once we have the sure location of the kids."

"Hokage-sama, the boy spoke of a certain Nagato…I think Jiraiya-sama should probably be called back, maybe he could help shed a light on…" as Ibiki's word rang through Naruto's ears, the Hokage sighed, shaking his head slowly.

"That is…no longer a possibility," with those words, Naruto's second visit was to the Kumogakure Genins, of all three, only the girl stood in a corner, unbound. The other two had respectively the arms and the legs shackled, and seemed to be pretty scared. All in all, even he would have been scared, to be captured after an invasion.

"Hokage-sama, we did nothing!" the kunoichi was actually the one who blurted it out first, "Our sensei did everything without us knowing! She told us she worked for Akatsuki!"

"And your sensei is…" Naruto raised his right eyebrow in wait for the revelation, and as Hayari took her breath to speak, Mogura was the one who retorted.

"What will happen to us?"

"If you're innocent, you'll be left to go. I am not going to strain Konoha's relationship with Kumo, however, before that, know that it's unlikely for you to obtain anything by bargaining on your sensei's name. I just need to get the papers concerning the teams for the exams, and I sincerely doubt it would be take me long. I have a _lot_ of things to do, so, the sooner you tell me everything you know, the sooner you will be let go."

"It all began during the second test," Hayari spoke, "Sensei told us the Raikage had given us a secret A-rank mission, to let the Namikaze's team win for the finals, so we let them find our scroll," the girl, as soon as she said that, was on the receiving end of a growl, from the boy who had his feet shackled.

"Why don't you just tell him Kumo's patrols routes while you're at it?" Shinkansen sneered, before spitting in the kunoichi's direction, only for the blob of saliva to freeze mid-air, and be flung back at him, straight on the forehead. To Naruto, it took but the twitching of a finger.

"To think that Konoha values teamwork above all…anyway, was there any reason behind that?"

"Yugito-sensei said that the Raikage wanted to have intel on the Namikaze's abilities," Hayari added, visibly saddened at the way her teammate had treated her, "but then, when the day of the finals came, sensei started to act strange. She came back to the inn in a hurry, and said we had to leave quickly…by the time we got halfway through the village, the gates were closed."  
_"Closed? Why would the gates be closed?"_ not letting any sign of perplexity be shown on his face, Naruto waited for the story to finish.

"So, sensei left us there, after knocking out a guard…said she worked with Akatsuki and that we should just forget about her…then she disappeared the next moment…and obviously the other guards captured us," with those words, Naruto nodded, before turning to Ibiki.

"Have someone query why the gates were closed…if their version holds, you can release them once the Kumo ambassador comes through and explains why their Nibi Jinchuuriki decided it would be fun to try and escape the village…like she _knew_ it was going to be invaded."

As he said that, all three Genins in the cell winced, at the implication.

"Hokage-sama…with respect, you're no fun if you keep giving my prisoners hope they'll get released," Ibiki muttered, as Naruto, rolling his eyes, moved to the next prisoners on the list, an Iwa kunoichi who seemed scared out of her wits, especially when she saw the blood stained Hokage's clothes.

"_Ketsueki sutendo_ Hokage…I'm going to die, right?" she muttered, barely holding her breath.

"Blood stained Hokage? Damn, here I was hoping for something cooler, like soul reaper, destroyer of armies, breaker of sieges, you know…still, considering you called the Yondaime the Yellow Flash, which can kind of be referred to night problems…I think Iwa doesn't have much of an imagination, does it?" the joking tone made the kunoichi snap, her hands bound by chains.

"I will not yield, Konoha scum! We had our revenge with the blood of your fallen! We destroyed all that you held dear! How does it feel, huh? We got what we wanted, the yellow flash is dead! Konoha's strength is broken, and…" and then something slammed into her guts, forcing her to gasp and gurgle in pain, as the screams echoed through the hallway, making even the Kiri prisoners wince from their spot. The Kunoichi kept screaming until she buckled over, retching whatever she held in her stomach, but still screaming, without even stopping. Her hair, a dark black color, fell over her face, becoming encrusted in the very same puke that was coming out of her mouth, as her head flayed to the sides.

Tears began to fall down her face, from her dark brown eyes, as more and more pain jolted through her body. A second later, a snap of Naruto's finger, and it was gone, the pain was gone. The Kunoichi, for all her training, had even gone as far as releasing her bowels, and she was breathing raggedly, her eyes red from the effort of crying, her entire figure trembling.

"Fuinjutsu: Pain," Naruto whispered, as the slamming in the guts had been the ink-like symbol, flying from the man's hand to hit at the woman's stomach, "It sends pain, as you can quickly understand, through the touched opponent…it should be inscribed…but my Suiton mastery carries over to Ink, it seems…so I didn't even have to move from my position."

"Yo…You…a…ar…"

"Tut-tut," the Hokage's right hand's index finger moved right and left, in a 'no' motion, before turning to Ibiki, who was staring in awe at the Senju, "Ibiki, I am sure the kunoichi here will most gladly talk about Iwagakure…now, I suppose it's time for the inner problems of the leaf," with that, Naruto moved once more to another cell, where Sai, of all people, was standing tied, but not gagged.

"Root affiliate 012420, codename Sai, what was your objective?"

"I serve Konoha," Sai replied smoothly.

"As the Hokage, I represent Konoha," Naruto retorted, "You were in the same team as my daughter, Sai, do not force me to take actions _you_ will regret."

"I serve Konoha," the pale boy with raven hair spoke, once more keeping up a fake smile.

"Danzo is _dead_ Sai, you serve the Hokage now," the grey haired Senju replied once more.

"Hokage-sama," the voice was emotionless, yet Naruto couldn't help but think the boy was trying to mock him, "I serve only Danzo-sama."

"A pity then…Ibiki, go through torture with him," for a moment, the scarred Jounin stood still. He had thought the Hokage would do the same thing he had done to the Iwa kunoichi to the man in question, but instead, it seemed the man wanted to give the boy, probably no more than thirteen, a lesson the long and hard way…it was better for him.

"Now…Sunagakure, Kankuro of Suna," as Naruto politely commented to himself, he slowly walked in front of the cell, that held said puppeteer, his arms tied together by manacles, just like his fingers.

"I'm without my puppets… Was there a need for this?" the boy asked, raising his conjoined hands and the small iron manacles to block them.

"One can never be sure," the Hokage replied.

"Yeah, anyway, it's not like I'm going to talk," Kankuro spat right back at the Godaime, only for Naruto to chuckle, lightly.

"What's so funny?"

"You know your father, the Kazekage, was killed by Orochimaru, right?"

Silence was the only reply that the puppeteer from Suna gave back, as his eyes displayed, for once, shock.

"Wait…but…that's impossible!" Kankuro basically screeched, only for Naruto to shake his head.

"It appears he was donning the Kazekage's skin. You are here as a political hostage, until the situation solves itself," the Hokage replied, shrugging, "However, considering how badly Sunagakure acted in our regards, it is probable you'll have to learn to live in Konoha. A puppeteer brigade wouldn't be bad. We actually have the wood to build puppets, here."

"Aren't you too young, to play Hokage?" Kankuro snorted back, offended by the lack of respect for his home village, only for Naruto to retort.

"Aren't you too young, to think I won't have you tortured for everything you're worth? I thought naivety went away with age," the boy actually winced, considering the stern tone of the man in front of him, who seemed far more serious and Hokage-like than a moment before.

"Hey…no need to be so serious, really, I got it, I'll cooperate."

"Oh, good: this was quick, Ibiki, no need for the bull," at those words, Kankuro raised an eyebrow.

"Why would a bull…oh…I'll cooperate double time!" with a light snicker from Ibiki, who actually had no bull at the ready, Naruto left the prison cell. It was time for the final rounds.

His eyes lingered upon the sleeping for form of his once mother, Tsunade Senju, who was asleep in a padded cell, her entire body wrapped in chakra sealing bandages, while her appearance, for once, showing her real age.

"Kaa-san," the Godaime whispered, "I know you're faking…and I can even imagine you had your reasons for doing this…but you went behind my back and that…you knew I would never forgive."

"Shut up you brat," Tsunade retorted, her amber eyes opening slowly, "It was to keep them safe."

"You should have told me nevertheless. I don't know if they told you, but the Sandaime died, as well as the Yondaime," Naruto's voice was cool, and quiet, as the woman merely closed her eyes, once more.

"I suspected the Yondaime's death, but not Hiruzen-sensei's one."

"You misunderstand…Minato Namikaze was killed, really killed. He did not fake his death," as Tsunade's eyes opened in shock, Naruto showed an awry smile, "And this confirms the faction you belong to…Hiruzen, you, Orochimaru, who else? So easy, right, to take my trust and smash it down," this time his voice became a light snarl, "I don't even want to know the reasons you did this, and the only reason I do not ask for your death is because you are needed, for Konoha's rebirth. Get some rest, you'll need it."

"Naruto…" but the man had already left, leaving behind the prison's hallway, the prisoners, and moving, with eerily quiet steps, outside, to where the sun was, lingering behind small bundles of clouds.

He had so much to do…but first, came the funeral. He passed by the Kiri's cell without even stopping. Except for Mangetsu, held in a jar and trapped by two blood inscribed seals, the Genins were all bound and shackled. They wouldn't talk, and there was no need for torture, if Naruto could salvage the situation…by blaming it all on Minato.

*Funeral*

Funerals with rain, or generally with bad weather, were the common trope of second rate stories. The world doesn't mystically care that somebody dies on a specific day. He does not control the clouds to suddenly start raining down on a group of black-dressed individuals, only because it makes a fitting picture for someone to stare.

There was a funeral, to great men and women. There were people crying, giving quiet sobs, holding each other in pain and agony…and yet the sun was there. The birds chirped, the crickets went around, dogs barked while cats mewled, and everything went around. It was noon, and yet the sun didn't even feel all that hot.

The wind was letting a small breeze cool down the people around, the silence that echoed through the entire procedure was, to a certain point, even deafening. Yet Naruto stood there, in a now clean set of robes, with Itachi, of all people, at his right.

There had been murmurs, about the Uchiha prodigy and his return. There had been accusations, and there had been words of mind control on their Hokage. Yet…there had also been proof. Inoichi had been sent to watch the selected few memories that completely released Itachi from all charges, together with Naruto to ensure nothing else would be seen by the Yamanaka.

Following that, the council had numbly accepted, as reparations, and after the Hokage's own insistence, the placing of Itachi Uchiha as the Hokage's right hand man, his reinstatement as a Jounin, and the removal of all bounties on his head.

So, while some people murmured about why the Uchiha heir was there, others retorted in equal murmurs on the reasons, and soon the news spread.

The Hokage and Danzo had worked to keep power for themselves.

They had slaughtered a clan of innocents to harness their eyes for their own purposes. They had kidnapped and held prisoner a Uchiha woman, kidnapped Naruto Senju's son, and involved him into wicked experiments that no-one would have thought possible. By showing this, it became crystal clear that Kiri had never been involved, though, with the fact that Kiri shinobis were seen fighting near the Sandaime, and one was in the hospital, yet to awaken, the situation with the hidden village of the mist was at a stalemate.

At least, until the Mizukage came around with a solution that would benefit both, seeing how Naruto had his hands full with everything else.

Yet…as the funeral went on, it was with a bit of surprise that the limping, and yet recovering, form of Kushina Namikaze reached for the front rows.

She wasn't wearing black. No, she was wearing her normal Jounin uniform, the same she had in the medical tent, probably having headed straight to the funeral, from there.

"You…you killed him!" she snapped, pointing her fierce gaze at the figure of Itachi, who seemed unperturbed, albeit Naruto knew better, seeing his shoulder tense just so slightly.

"It was within his right to do so, Namikaze-san," Naruto retorted, as everyone was staring, in silence, at the confrontation. Mentally, Naruto was glad that Katsumi had been left in the Senju compound to sleep…he mentally noted to thank Neji, later on.

"He killed the Hokage! And he's here, scot free! What law is this!? What justice!?" as Kushina coughed, her hand getting slightly covered in blood, as the bandages on her abdomen began to tinge a light red color, Naruto moved closer.

"Do not force my hand," the Hokage hissed, "You lost a husband, and for that, I can understand your pain, but such actions, now, of all times…we are at war, if you haven't realized it! And if we fight among ourselves, what do you think will happen, huh!? If you want to blame someone, blame the so precious clan laws, that you so highly regarded, years ago…did you not?"

The rhetoric question worked, as Kushina's ire was replaced by guilt, and grief, before the woman, shaking her head, turned to leave in silence.

What had she expected, to convince the people of Konoha to fight off Naruto? She had been stupid, and hot-tempered. Minato always told her that she should have thought, before acting…yet why did he have to go and die? Why then? Why couldn't he dodge, do something smart, like always, and escape?

Worse, Itachi had received a full pardon, from…from her son, to top it off!

What could actually go worse, right there and then? Her son had forgiven his father's murderer, and, if anything, he even had accepted it as a natural thing!

As Kushina Namikaze left the graveyard, Naruto turned his attention, with a sigh, to the people present. If there was one thing he wasn't, it was being stupid. To think that some people truly didn't know when to stop it. With a small nod to the Anbus posted on the nearby walls, a set of shunshin happened a second later. Itachi merely narrowed his eyes for a second, before nodding and resuming his normal posture.

The funeral went on without a hitch, after that, although, by the time the main Hyugas that had gone returned to their mansion, they would find their numbers…halved.

After all, trying to have your revenge while everyone else was at a funeral didn't bode well with the Hokage…as the severed heads and the gouged out eyes made it clear. There was not going to be another chance.

But as that was the discovery for the Hyuga to make, Naruto, on the other hand, stood quietly watching the graves. Names had been inscribed on the memorial stone already, so many that said stone had to be doubled in size. However, at the same time, some people stayed behind.

Naruto stood quietly, knowing full well that just as the undertaker's job was to guide the dead to their resting place, so was the Hokage's job to guide the living through life.

The first to come was Shikamaru, followed by Shino, the one who spoke first was, abruptly, the Nara.

"What about the exams' results, sensei?" at the question, the Hokage knew fully well that the real intentions of the boy were to know if he'd have to go to battle as a captain, or a mere soldier.

"You and the rest of the Rookies will not participate in battles along the main front, nor skirmishes," the Senju spoke quietly, immediately bypassing the actual question, "You are still too young for that, Shikamaru, and don't you dare open your mouth to retort!"

As quickly as the snap from Naruto came, just as quickly the Nara closed his mouth, he _had_ been about to retort, but he felt that it would just be troublesome, to incite the ire of the Hokage, especially when he seemed to have such a short fuse, recently.

"You will go to battle, probably, and you will have your blood on your hands," Naruto whispered, calming down, "But not until I am sure you, and your team, can have the job done. Expect no more D-ranks, however, so you'd better not slack off now. I spoke with Asuma already, and your replacement should be ready by the time I tackle the paperwork problem…"

"Nobody can replace Chouji," Shikamaru muttered back, only for Naruto to give him back a grim smile.

"I know, Shikamaru, I know. However…if the kid I knew of, the one who snuck me coffee when in the hospital, remained the same throughout his life…then I think he'd want us not to mope and go eat something, possibly at Yakiniku…he was always fond of that place."

"If you can eat as much meat as your bodyweight, you get to walk out without paying your lunch," Shino pointed out, with a tone that actually seemed to be showing a bit of lingering sadness, "Kikaichu were excluded, however."

"I see…well, was there anything else, you needed?"

Shaking their heads, both boys left the Hokage there, just as a man Naruto had never seen before walked right next to him.

"I believe there's a story, behind that scene with the red-head," the man spoke quietly.

"Oh Kami…you didn't return?" Naruto rolled his eyes, letting a small chuckle escape his lips, "This is so precious."

"I'm a second away from doing it, actually. It's not fun going around Konoha, when it's in ruins," the 'man' retorted, "And I'm like this because Hotaru's 'Sensei' senses were tingling. That woman, she's what, fifty or more? And yet she still can act like a teenager, sometimes… argh, I knew I should have nailed it with the librarian."

"So she actually wasn't lying when she said you flirted with her?" Naruto asked back, a smile on his lips.

"Obviously, but you see, the cold, ice-hearted Nidaime Hokage couldn't possibly be a flirter, he had to be a stuck up assassin of doom, destruction, and who wouldn't certainly scoop as low as make a joke…ever," Tobirama snickered, "The reason I invented the Bringer of Darkness Jutsu to begin with was to pry away the power of the Doujutsus users…but it was also fun to make sure nobody could cheat at blind-man buff's…yet nobody recalls that second use."

"Oh, don't feel offended, still, how did you get past Itachi's sharingan?" Tobirama chuckled quietly, before raising his right hand's finger.

"This, my dear clone of the future, is but a solid henge. It requires the use of a shadow clone application upon oneself, with said clone assuming semblance, but not inner substance, thus granting a coating that is solid, and that thus fools the pesky red eyed thing."

"I'll remember that, might be useful in the future," Naruto pointed out, "No chance I can convince you to do paperwork?"

"I'm a construct made of grave dirt, ceramic, I think lattice too, bounded by the soul of a hormonal Kunoichi, if her rants at the back of my head are of any indication, and given unlimited amount of chakra. I could go for world domination. Why should I do _paperwork_?"

"You didn't like paperwork? My, I'm shocked," Naruto retorted, his face showing the brief glint of amusement, "Still, you could help Konoha out in the war…"

"Kid, I did my part when I was alive," the Nidaime replied, "I fought, killed, destroyed, drowned, I didn't earn the fame of the Edo Tensei creator because I was a saint," his voice grew more serious, as he kept on speaking, "with an ever-regenerating body, the only thing that can stop it is sealing until the owner releases the jutsu, or granting an actual release of the soul…kind of poetic, but those two are the only ways…so the true purpose of the Edo Tensei was to have highly powerful shinobi use highly powerful suicide techniques in the middle of enemy's formations. I never perfected it, because I always used prisoners, and even then, I was loathe to…yet remember that the strength of the technique is only on par to that of…"

"The mind that guides the body, and the body that sustains the mind," Naruto concluded the man's sentence, "The Edo Tensei's requires a body that is as most similar to the original deceased as possible, for increased chakra capacity. Then, it requires a soul, to act as a bridge, to bring back the mind…finally, the technique must be executed flawlessly."

"Good job, you ate your veggies and did your studies," Tobirama replied while raising his right thumb upwards, "Anyway, I gave blood to Konoha enough times in life, and I bled for her in death, that I am not going to fight at all…everyone dies, one should just accept it."

"You're making a line behind you," Naruto muttered, "was there anything you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh yes, if you're going to fight Iwagakure, there's something I want you to know, about Mu's technique…and the Raijin."

With interest in his eyes, Naruto quietly listened…who was he to pass up on lessons from his 'deceased' mentor? After all, he had trained under his words, albeit in written form, so listening to him actually came natural.

"First off, whoever the Tsuchikage is, never, ever go to fight without a water source. Hidden in your pockets, or wherever you want, but bring water. Even I had a water satchel, and the reason is simple. Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu is a technique that detaches things from reality, through a complex use of wind, earth and fire. It actually grates at the attacked thing until it turns to dust, hence the name…however, water nullifies said attack, because it defeats fire and goes head to head with wind. Earth wins, however, so be careful because it will still hurt…but it won't pulverize you, if you keep water on you, to use as a quick shield."

"Shouldn't…"

"Shouldn't I simply Kawarimi elsewhere, or use water from outside? No. First thing, it creates a shape, conical, cylindrical or cubical. Then, once that is done, the technique, within those boundaries, has immediate action. No one-second charge, no yelling, nothing. It goes off. So, in the time it takes to set up the boundaries, use water to pass through them. Nothing else is going to cut it, understood?"

"You _could_ go and fight the Tsuchikage," the Nidaime rolled his eyes at the suggestion.

"And what would you learn? Nothing! I'm dead, consider me deceased. I'm just a voice in the back of your head. I was lucky the suppression of chakra didn't outright destroy the seals on the body. Once chakra came back, so did I…but I'm not staying around much longer…albeit Hashirama is waiting to kill me on the other side, so maybe I'll postpone it for a while."

"Why would he?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"You know, Hashirama had raven hair," Tobirama spoke quietly, looking around, "Mito had red, I had grey…now…Tsunade Senju, had blond…just like a certain Nawaki…care to…take a guess?"

"You didn't."

"On my defense, I didn't know until two hours ago, when I went to have a look through the Senju compound and saw the pictures. Probably I was dead drunk and she was lonely, Mito never told me! I'm just that good at forgetting important stuff, I know…"

"So…you're my great-great-something?"

"Well, that, or when you entered from the main seal matrix you should have turned to goo, or pudding. Blood pudding, gory blood pudding." Tobirama's voice acquired a mock-seriousness, as he actually nodded at said statement.

"I…see…"

"Stay well, now, I'll be going!" with that, he turned to leave, only for Naruto to cough.

"What? I'm just going _behind_ that building to disappear, it's not like I can do it here!"

It wasn't really to Naruto's surprise, when Hotaru came by, giving him a quick nod and then taking off again…sniffing the air, even.

Shaking his head, the Hokage groaned. So he had such screwed up great grandfather, good to know. He should have asked him if he wanted to give out some history lessons…a pity. That was when he recalled that his 'ancestor' hadn't mentioned anything about the Raijin…trust in Tobirama, to forget important stuff.

As he turned to leave, he was surprised to see Ayame, of all people, waiting for him. He had thought she'd never talk to him again.

Or, truthfully, he had thought she'd blame him, for everything that had happened. Instead, the girl walked straight towards Naruto Senju, and muttered.

"My father…he would have been so proud of you," Ayame's voice was barely hearable, "You know, before dying, he…he told me," her voice began to creak, "he told me that as long as Naruto would stand to protect Konoha, the village wouldn't fall. He didn't even mention the Yondaime, or the Sandaime, or anyone else…he mentioned you."

"Ayame…" Naruto's murmur was met with the woman shaking her head.

"You know…I became stronger, I trained to become a ninja, a cooking Nin…I would never beat you, or your wife, or…but I'm stronger now, I can fend off for myself…and I heard that wave's economy is kicking in, and a stall there would…would actually sell pretty well," the girl spoke quietly…

"Ayame," the grey haired man looked at her perplexed, not understanding where the girl was going.

"Let me finish. I had a crush on you, a really bad one, and it worsened with time, until it became love. Yet you…you were taken, and I still tried to appeal to you in a different way, but I was…I was _dissuaded_ to continue it, but now…now I can tell you, straight to your face: I love you, and I'm going to leave the village, head to wave, and do my best to forget I confessed to you after a funeral."

As the woman turned to leave, and hurried away, Naruto stood there, dumbstruck, until he felt a familiar presence right next to him.

"If you don't follow her, I'll Amaterasu your balls and Tsukuyomi you into a frothing mess in a corner," the hanging threat was enough to make the Godaime Hokage actually jolt from his spot. Behind him, Itachi looked at the scene with a bright, wide smile. Something that actually made Sasuke who had been watching from afar, rub his eyes, repeatedly…it had to be a Genjutsu, right?

*Hinata*

She had been kept at house arrests, when the tournament had started.

She had then been knocked out by her father, of all people, and had woken up gagged and bound on her parent's shoulder, being carried quickly away from Konoha.

To where, she had no idea.

"Mpfhh!"

As she tried to free herself, once more, her father merely scoffed, before pushing a pressure nerve, and bringing her, once more, into oblivion.

All that she knew, when she awoke again, was that this time they weren't moving, but were camping, in the woods.

"Hinata," Hiashi spoke quietly, "I understand your ire, but rest assured that, in the other life, you will most certainly find peace."

"mpfh. Mphfff!" the gag in her mouth made it difficult for her to actually 'explain' just where Hiashi could put the skewer with the roasted bunny in his body. However, the older Hyuga merely shook his head with a light sigh, before replying.

"There is no-one coming to look for us, Hinata, by the time we cross the border, and reach Otogakure, you will have come to terms with the fact that you are, indeed, useless, even to the eyes of your sensei…but at least, in death, you will serve the purpose of bringing back Hanabi," with those words, Hinata's eyes bulged in shock.

Had her father gone mad? Hanabi was dead, how would killing her actually bring her younger sister back? And what about Otogakure? What did it have to do with everything else!?

"I see you do not understand. Very well, I will indulge you with the tale of how Orochimaru-san offered me my youngest daughter back, should I provide him with…goods, that he had a need of," Hiashi refrained from mentioning his body, as the good in question.

"Mpfh!" 'Like hell!'

"I was skeptic too, but he did bring back from the dead both the second Hokage and Jiraiya…who I didn't even know had died, till then," Hiashi spoke quietly, letting his pearly white eyes fix themselves on Hinata, "you were always the weak child…your mother's favorite. Hanabi would have been the perfect heiress. Emotionless, and controlled…a real doll."

The tone was sickeningly sweet, so much that, for a single moment of dread, Hinata's mind went haywire, thinking about…stuff that was too disgusting to even be mentioned.

"Not like you, shoving your thoughts out of your mouth, going against the clan, and doing kami knows what business with that sensei of yours. I never really liked the Senju: he did well in bringing out of Neji from the clan, he wouldn't have blossomed as a Hyuga otherwise, and I gave him over the branch family…all in exchange for him not following us."

With those words, reality hit Hinata, like a ton of bricks. It couldn't be. Her sensei wouldn't have…

"I gave him the caged bird seal, but he would have needed something more failsafe, to guarantee he stood well within the law. So I signed him a document, granting clanless status to the branch family…and letting him adopt it all…" Hiashi's eyes moved sideways, as he kept on quietly speaking, "He was even _eager_ to accept."

"Mpfh…Mpfhhh! Mpfhh!" as tears began to fall down Hinata's eyes, the dark blue haired girl shook her head fiercely. It just wasn't possible. Her sensei was not one who would do anything like that: her father had to be lying...he had to!

"Anyway…you should just lay down and sleep, Hinata: there is a long way to go, and I will not ungag you until I will feel relatively safe you are harmless," with those words, Hiashi returned to his dinner, and a thought occurred into Hinata's mind…

If he was going to keep her bound and gagged…how was she going to…

"MPFHHH MPFHHHH!"

"That is none of my concern," was the mere reply of Hiashi.

*Orochimaru – Days later*

Kidoumaru's body was, in one word, weak. It was disgusting. It was horrendous. It had spiders where normally nobody would keep said animals. Yet it was that or one of the others. Tayuya wouldn't cut it, she had little to no physical skills, and was more of a Genjutsu specialist. Jirobo was strong, physically, but didn't possess the agility he needed. Sakon and Ukon were one, and albeit both were loyal, using one of the two would have left him with clear loyalty issues, and he couldn't have them, while escaping Konoha.

Now, he faced Hiashi, who had, obviously, come to request his services, just like he had promised. Yet he didn't have any use for him. He was already past his prime. The girl, on the other hand…

Still, it would be three years, before he could reperform the jutsu again. What to do? Truly…what to do?

With a gesture of great intelligence, his brain provided him the answer. Swiftly, his neck extended, biting into both Hiashi's and the girl's neck, while the man had been caught by surprise, and was thus now on the ground holding the bitten area in pain, the girl had been far easier, being that she was, after all, tied up.

All in all, he'd see which, of the two, would survive. That was going to be one good gamble.

And if neither of them did, well, there was always the mutt-boy.

His eyes then went to the Kaguya, who was standing to the side, his posture had tensed, and then slowly relaxed. The poor fool thought that he, the great Orochimaru, could be defeated? Sure, he was far more loyal than anyone else, going as far as willingly offering his body to him, but it was also sickening, especially when Kimimaro, in question, probably had no more than three to four years to live. Orochimaru would live for all eternity.

He was going to be immortal, and for that, he needed a well-cared body, a well-toned, trained…Hiashi gurgled for air, and then stood still, dead.

"He was a failure, then," Orochimaru muttered, as the Hyuga girl, instead, kept on being wracked by pain, but didn't seem to stop breathing. Maybe there was hope.

"Give her to Kabuto, Kimimaro," as the snake sannin ordered that, the Kaguya tensed again.

"Orochimaru-sama…Kabuto-san has left a few hours before your return," the golden eyes of the snake sannin narrowed themselves, as a small hiss escaped his lips.

"I wonder…did he bring Tobirama with him?"

"As you instructed, Orochimaru-sama, the boy was to be kept under his tutelage," Kimimaro duly noted, before narrowing his own eyes.

"I fear that I might have been deliciously backstabbed," the snake sannin chuckled, before erupting into a full out laughter, "It's always the quiet ones…"

*Kabuto's location*

"So, Tsuchikage…I suppose this will sweeten the deal a good load…" as the formerly Snake sannin's spy, formerly Konoha Genin, formerly spy of Root, formerly spy of Akatsuki's Sasori spoke, his hands were on Tobirama's shoulders, the boy showing a green and a blue eyes, and a happily smiling face as it was taking in everything, in his surroundings.

The Tsuchikage, Oonoki, smiled. He could use the boy, or, worse to worse, offer him up for peace to the Hokage. Even better, he could make it an exchange hostage, if, and that was a big if, his granddaughter was still alive.

The fool woman had decided to participate in the assault, and Kami only knew if she had been fool headed or not in going with a fake name. Kurotsuchi never saw a war before and always had been hot-headed. It was luck that Oonoki hadn't taught her the dust release, otherwise, the leaf tree-huggers would have probably realized who she was, and held her for ransom.

He'd exchange the boy for the rest…maybe after having some samples taken to recreate that bloodline.

"Indeed it does, Yakushi-san…welcome to Iwagakure…or should I say, welcome back?"

The shinobi in question smiled brightly, before replying.

"It's an honor to serve, Tsuchikage-sama."

*Konoha*

"So…she's the Tsuchikage granddaughter," Naruto pointed at the Kunoichi, who was huddled in a corner, and rocking back and forth, "and why is she like that?"

"I think, Hokage-sama, that it has something to do with your presence here, albeit she herself did request you," Ibiki replied, "You did a wonder on her, last time, you remember?"

"Oh…yes, so, she opened up, after that?"

"She did, unfortunately she had actually taken the name of one of her teammates that had been assigned to the mission, so she was out of her way…wanting to play the heroine, make a name for herself…meaning that Iwa can just bury her and claim merchant ears…"

"All while killing Konoha shinobis in the process, of course…I'm starting to think that maybe, just maybe, we could send her in the same cell as the Kiri shinobis…but I'm too good for my own wellbeing," the Hokage sighed, eying the girl who shrunk further down in the corner of the room. There had no longer even been the need for chains; the kunoichi had practically begged not to be brought out of the cell: the bars protected her from _him_.

"So Kurotsuchi-chan," Naruto hissed, showing a small, amused, smile, "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"P…Please…let me go," the girl begged, "I'm worth…a lot, really…Ojiisan will…will certainly want me back, please."

"Oh…yes, why not?" Naruto shrugged, as the kunoichi's eyes widened in shock, before the man's voice grew to a low growling sound, "And while I'm at it, I'll just so magically resurrect every single person you killed. You hit the hospital, you know the casualties of the following days, due to infections? You hit the orphanage: you know how many kids had to sleep in the streets, among the rubble and the corpses? Yeah, you are not leaving, Iwa scum, you are staying right there, and trust me, I will make sure you break...again, and again, I will have your soul torn to tatters and flung around, and by the time the torture team will be done with you…you will have nothing left…nothing at all, that will define you as a human."

With that, he turned to leave, just as, this time a woman, actually entered the cell, sporting her purple hair and a wide trench coat.

"Hello there hon…my name is Mitarashi Anko, my ex-husband just left me here without even saying hello, and I'm royally pissed…want to play a bit?"

*Senju compound*

A girl with hazel hair stood just outside the gates of the compound, sporting a white dress with small blue lilies sewn upon them. Her eyes, dark, had small bags beneath them. She was holding both of her hands clasped together, and was currently waiting. Meanwhile, within the walls of the compound, Karin was pacing in her room, in circles.

"Yumi-chan?" she asked the three years old, who was making a nice drawing of a butterfly, "Otou-san wouldn't fall for another witch, right?" It wasn't difficult, for the sensor girl, to feel who was just now waiting outside the compound, and the reason said girl was doing said thing.

"Ayame-san is pwetty!" the toddler retorted, only for Karin to sigh.

"Oh yes, but she's not good enough for Otou-san," the red haired girl replied, "I am, she isn't."

"But Kaa-san…she makes ramen!" as the three years old retorted that, the red eyed Senju pouted, rolling her eyes.

"I make ramen too."

"Yours is yucky!"

"Mine is perfectly fine!"

"It's spongy!"

"You're just…too young: it's an…acquired taste!" Karin snapped back, only for the three years old to shake her head vigorously.

"No-uh, it's yucky, spongy and usu…usually burnt!" Yumi retorted.

"They say the heart of a man is conquered through the stomach," Karin muttered, "Fine! I'll show him…and you, that I have become better at cooking Ramen!"

"Oh, that sounds like a challenge," Naruto sing-sung, entering his daughter's room, "Ayame is downstairs, cooking together with Junko. Be nice hosts, and round up the entire compound, you know we are holding a party, right?"

"Y…Yes Otou-san!" Karin replied, blushing furiously, hoping to Kami her father hadn't heard the beginning of their discussion.

"Otou-san!" Yumi, after the previously horrible experience of being kidnapped, had become, for lack of a better term, clingy like a monkey, whenever her father was nearby. Naruto merely held her up, bringing the three years old on his shoulder, before heading downstairs, whistling as Karin followed.

"So, we have enough for eight-hundred?" as Naruto queried that, Ayame sighed, looking at the situation.

"If the kitchens, and the cooks, in the other houses work at our rhythm, then, _maybe_ there will be seconds…maybe."

"Normally I'd say it wouldn't be enough, but the Akimichi are still mourning Chouji, and are fastening," Naruto whispered, "So everyone should be satisfied…"

Outside, as the Senju's clan members began to set the tables, helped by their clan head, people began to arrive, and aid in earnest. The last of the rubble had been removed a week prior, Konoha was once more rebuilt, and, as a festival would have been a waste of money, especially in such dire circumstances, claiming it a holiday and giving people a day to themselves made it still an occasion to celebrate.

As the clan's, the important villagers, the friends arrived, Naruto Senju, at the head of the table, with his daughters on one side, the Uchiha clan on the other, and the rest of the clans down alongside the table, gave the start to the festivity. For that day was the start of a new Konoha.

A Konoha guided by someone who was thrust in the world by deceit, who grew seeking truth, and who earned his position with blood.

For in the world of shinobi, actions speak louder than words, but it is words whispered in the dark, that mark the direction kunais fly and swords are swung.

It is in the darkness, that the deeds are done, but in the light, consequences are cast.

Naruto Senju, Godaime Hokage of Konoha, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the Nidaime no Sairai, the Ghost Lance of Konoha, the Frozen Wave, the Blood-stained Hokage, watched the people laughing, speaking, smiling to one another, like if the looming war didn't matter at all. In that moment, it didn't. As he turned to Ayame, he smiled, before exclaiming.

"Neh, Ayame-san, I'd like more ramen, please!"

"_Feast upon it and gorge till you choke, Senju…for I will have my revenge!"_

**Author's notes.**

**(Who read the ending of The Real Monster?) ((Yeah, it's a reference))**

**Next chapter shall have the dreaded Time-Skip of Doom, known as the Shippuuden Arc!**

**As to why nothing was mentioned about Akatsuki, Kiri & that…I like to keep readers on their toes.**

**The cursive line is the thought of someone at the table, obviously. (I didn't mention 'all' the clans just to let you guess)**

**This was the filler about the immediate consequences, and the actions undertaken.**

**Aka (What happened then with Konohamaru!?- Next chapter, Timeskip)**

**On a side note, tomorrow afternoon (Italy time) I have an exam! Yeahy! (Wish me luck, if you want, that is)**

**So, we now have the following 'truth' arcs:**

**Who brought Iwagakure in the fray?**

**Who closed the gates of Konoha?**

**Who wants Naruto dead? (except the obvious guys at Akatsuki)**

**What is Akatsuki's goal?**

**Q&A**

**Glad you all liked the previous chapter! **


	22. SH:Conspiring

**This chapter, especially in Hinata's side of the coin…is dark. Extremely so. Readers beware, the grimness is here!**

Chapter twenty-second

There was a bright sun, shining over Konoha, that day. People were happily chatting, walking around their normal routines, while others were instead merely going about their own business, not caring about small talk. In the midst of the crowd, a raven haired girl of six years was currently jumping on her feet, avoiding the people while at the same time moving forward, a small smile plastered on her face.

The girl had dark brown eyes, and was wearing a dark blue jacket, with the golden Senju symbol on her back, with a dark green shirt, that had a smaller clan symbol, this time on the right side of the chest, where the heart was. The girl was actually in the difficult process of reaching for her secret objective, all the while avoiding her guardian's ability to track her down in a second.

Her secret objective in sight, she literally jumped out of the crowd, and took a seat, right next to a trench-coat wearing purple haired woman.

"Kaa-san!" Yumi grinned, moving a lock hair out of her face, and trying to put it back in one of her hair 'spikes', but failing.

"Yumi-chan, shouldn't you be going to school?" Anko asked, sporting an awry smile, as her dango order arrived, which, obviously, the woman split in half with her daughter.

"But it's boring!" Yumi muttered, "Otou-san's embarrassing, every time they speak of Senju they point the finger to me! And it's…it's always them trying to get on well with me…just not for me, but because of what I…rep…represent!"

"I'm sure your sister can help you, can't she?" Anko asked, fighting back the urge to pinch the girl's cheek for having said another difficult word in a cute way. It wouldn't do to show cuteness. She had needed three years to get back her fame of man-eater and terrible monster clad in a sexy Kunoichi outfit. Gentle and cute was a thing that a motherly Anko Senju was, maybe in her best days…Mitarashi Anko was a kick-ass fighter, and a drunkard on Friday nights.

"Karin-Oneechan is busy at the hospital! She's a Chuunin now, so she has resp…responsibilities!"

"You too have responsibilities, Yumi," a voice spoke quietly, making the young six years old start to sweat, profusely so, while tensing, "And going to the academy is one of them."

"Did he really have to send you, Uncle Tachi?" Yumi muttered, turning around with a frown and a pout, to stare at the raven haired Itachi Uchiha, who was standing, sporting a small, amused grin, right behind her.

The man was wearing an Anbu outfit, but the chest-piece had a kanji with the word 'Fire' on the center. Itachi Uchiha was, after all, the right hand of the Hokage, chief of the Anbu guards, and also one of the many, many men that were regularly sent to catch Yumi and bring her to school.

If her father was lenient, normally he tasked Genins. Usually during boring history lessons, he would close an eye and forget about having her 'retrieved'. During important days, instead, he'd send anyone from Jounin level upwards.

Out of everyone, Itachi Uchiha managed said feat in the shorted possible amount of time. Namely, three minutes.

"If it isn't good old Itachi-chan, how's life treating you?" Anko flashed a smile, for a moment, to hide anything else. With her mask of mock-happiness and wide grins, she finished her meal, paid for it, and then stood up, letting her hands fall inside her trench-coat's pockets.

"Everything is fine, Anko-san," Itachi replied, with a polite nod. He was probably one of the few who actually didn't mock her, by calling the purple haired woman by her surname…the _old_ one.

"Good! Now Yumi, off with you, I have work to attend to!" as Anko got on her feet, waving goodbye, she mentally prepared herself to try and make 'that' scream once more. It was now a challenge, a personal one, to have her personal frustration dealing meat-bag do anything but look at her with dead eyes. She was still breathing, so she had to be alive. Maybe she'd try faking the girl's rescue?

Yumi pouted, as she was led within the classroom, and forced to sit down, while Iruka merely made an awkward smile, both at her and at Itachi, before starting his lesson once more.

Itachi merely shunshin'd away, as he had to get back to the Hokage's office, where Naruto, obviously, was pacing in wait.

"So?" he asked.

"She's fine, Naruto…She's fine," the Uchiha rolled his eyes at his best friend's antiques, always the worrywart. He still recalled how he had to be forcefully pried out of Yumi's classroom…three day in a row. The morning 'rushes' were legend, already, and, as Inoichi Yamanaka putted it: even he hadn't been that fatherly…

"Thank Kami," the Senju head, and Godaime Hokage, sighed in relief, "The war with Iwa is going well. We're holding the front, and are expanding through it…Amegakure has actually helped us."

"But you don't trust them?" Itachi retorted.

"No, I don't. Remember that day the kids were freed by Gaara and brought back? The chameleon dispersed in that direction…I think Amegakure and Akatsuki work together, but no spy sent has come back…so I can't comment on it."

"Maybe you're seeing too much about it," Itachi whispered back, only for Naruto to shake his head.

"We no longer have Jiraiya's spy network…damn it. If only the man had left anything to work with! A note, a bunch of papers…and instead, nothing!"

"There is probably nothing left to salvage…you know how spy work goes," the Uchiha pointed out, before sighing, "For all that it's worth…"

"No, don't." Naruto snapped right back at Itachi.

"I understand, Naruto," the raven haired man bleakly nodded. The Hokage never liked it when he apologized for that action of his. It had been rash, the decision of anger, of hatred…it hadn't been thought through. He had obtained his revenge, and Konoha had lost his spy network, and the Yellow Flash. The man that probably, if spared, could have already finished the war and certainly told them if Amegakure and Akatsuki worked together.

"I'm thinking of going to the frontline," Naruto hummed, as he unrolled a parchment with the map of the elemental countries, "If I can get deep within enemy territory, six tails would be more than enough to wipe out Iwagakure."

"Naruto…" Itachi's words were muffled, because the Hokage's right fist hit against the desk.

"What should I do then? Itachi, you know it as well as I: we will win this war, we _are_ winning this war, but the casualties could be reduced, if I went. Only one day, and Iwa would be devoid of life…"

"You'd kill innocents too. Your powers don't discriminate, Naruto…you'd kill each and every children, women and men around you…can you live with that?"

"What else can I do?" the Hokage gritted his teeth, turning around, to watch the village from the window of his office, "I need to protect Konoha. I need to protect my family, my friends, my beloved ones…I'd go alone, but I suppose I'm going to need a small group."

"When are we going to leave?" Itachi asked, his eyes narrowing slightly, before shaking his head with another heartfelt sigh. It was useless to try and convince Naruto otherwise. Even he would have broken his resolve, by this point. There just wasn't another way. Iwagakure was headstrong, suicidal and incredibly bitter against Konoha. Nothing short of overwhelming displays of strength would work, against the Tsuchikage.

"You are not leaving: I need a substitute Hokage while I'm off to war," the grey haired man replied, with a light smile, "I'll be going together with Kakashi and Kurenai: we'll work our way silently towards Iwa, and then they'll bail off, while I show the Tsuchikage why he shouldn't have messed with Konoha to begin with."

"Why Kurenai? I could come in her place, Naruto," Itachi muttered, "If you need a Genjutsu specialist, you know…"

"Itachi…you are probably one of the few people I trust with this role," Naruto muttered, "And I need Konoha to work like a clock while I'm away, and Kakashi, for all of his good traits, just can't help it but be chronically late…probably he'll make us wait even at his funeral."

The Uchiha heir sighed, once more, before nodding to the Hokage's words.

"Is there a trick…to paperwork?" with that question asked, both men began to chuckle.

As the two friends went about their daily schedule, elsewhere, in the hospital of Konoha, a red haired girl with red eyes was currently writing, in a pink and frilly diary of sorts, the best ways to capture a man's heart.

Firstly, Karin Senju was now sporting a pair of glasses, and was wearing a white jacket, underneath which was a light green blouse, V-shaped. She also had a knee-length blue skirt, with ninja sandals completing her attire.

'_Oh father, this is so wrong! _

_Don't worry my precious daughter! I love you so much, I'll make it right!_

_Oh yes father! Yes, yes, yes!_

_And then the two locked lips in a furious display of passion that…'_

"Karin-chan!" a voice startled the red haired girl, making her close the diary quickly, where her latest thoughts had drifted on the paper. Turning around, Karin looked at the pink-haired kunoichi, and student of her father. She had, at first, been jealous that somebody else was being taught by Naruto, but in the end she had accepted the fact that Sakura was in a sort-of relationship with the Uchiha, and that was good enough.

It was funny. Both refuted the claim of being together, and yet one could be sure that the Uchiha was being clumsy in training on purpose, to end up meeting with her in the hospital. Since her sensing ability passed through walls, Karin already knew what the two did, in the privacy of the hospital room.

"Sakura-chan! You scared the hell out of me!" the girl replied.

"Lost in your fantasy world?" Sakura remarked with a light grin, "Anyway, you've got the charts on patient five? I swear they keep on disappearing!"

"Patient five? Why would I have them?" Karin replied, whistling an innocent tune as she turned to leave.

"So you do have them!" Sakura retorted, "Listen, I know how much you l…like your father, but this is getting ridiculous!"

"I'm his personal physician, and that is all," Karin muttered, nodding vigorously.

"That is a title you gave to yourself!" the pink haired girl basically screeched, "Anyway, I need those, Tsunade-san wanted to check on something."

"The old hag can move her cellulite ass down to the archives, and look for them there," Karin whispered, growling just so slightly, before tensing up and stopping on her track, "She's right behind me, right?"

"I can hear you pretty well, even despite the age, miss," Tsunade gritted her teeth, as Sakura, instead, took a step backwards.

"I think I have stuff to do, so bye!" the pink haired medic-nin literally disappeared down the hallway, leaving the blond pig tailed Senju and Karin alone.

"So, where are the charts?" Tsunade muttered.

"Nowhere you need to know," Karin snapped right back at the woman in front of her.

"You were such a cute child…come on Karin, don't be this difficult, your father forgave me already," the Senju woman spoke quietly, as the red haired girl, instead, merely shook her head.

"He's too kind, and you know it. I have to be there to make sure those he forgives don't get away easily. I'm not going to let you hurt him again, you or anyone else."

"Is that why you keep berating Ayame? The girl's sweet, and you, out of everyone else, should know it for sure," Tsunade's amber like eyes took in the slight tensing of Karin's shoulders, before the red haired girl merely looked sideways.

"I'm not going to take chances any longer, even if father likes her, I know he doesn't actually love her, so I'm just doing him a favor," as the red haired girl clenched her fists, she then took a deep breath, before taking out from her left inner pocket of the jacket a set of clipboards, and handing them over to Tsunade.

"See, was it difficult?" The Senju elder rhetorically asked, sporting a small smile, as she grabbed the clipboard, and scanned it, sporting a light frown.

"He has a bit of cholesterol…ramen intakes?"

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted the bitch!" Karin roared in the hallway, "She's killing him a ramen bowl at a time!" with that, the girl set off, literally jumping out of the window, and leaving behind a sighing Tsunade.

"This however…" the Senju muttered to herself, looking through the chart, and stopping at a particular section, "I'll have to investigate on this."

Meanwhile, Ayame Ichiraku was shaking her head in disbelief, watching how her favorite customer and secret-boyfriend was in the process of eating a bowl of ramen, while keeping himself camouflaged with a chameleon Jutsu.

It required a lot of practice, to be able to pull it off in such a way to actually not be disturbed. Just becoming invisible would have made people decide to sit down on the empty spot, and it would have destroyed the purpose of hiding. At the same time, a bowl that mysteriously emptied itself would have brought people around to question. So, instead, Naruto Senju, obviously skipping paperwork, albeit the correct word would have been 'letting Itachi get a feel of it', had an epiphany, one day.

So there stood a seat, with the 'reserved' paper-tag on it, that in truth was just that, the illusion of a paper-tag, because Naruto was actually sitting there, quietly munching on an equally invisible bowl of ramen. All that Ayame had to do was actually drop the bowl in front of the man, and then wait for it to mysteriously disappear in thin air.

"You should have seen Itachi's face," Naruto whispered. Ayame couldn't help but giggle, and slightly blush. To talk to her, he used his Futon mastery, to have the wind carry his words to her ears. In doing such a thing, the wind blew gently at the back of her ears, making it seem like Naruto was behind her, whispering.

Humming just so casually, Ayame displayed a bright smile, as she served another customer. As long as there were people in the stall, she couldn't reply, because otherwise she'd be breaking Naruto's cover.

So, when a red haired girl of sixteen entered the stall, her red eyes looking murderous, her smile wavered for a moment.

"Karin-chan, what brings you here?" She queried, knowing full well that, against Karin's keen senses, Naruto's camouflage was null.

"So I was right!" she basically screeched, looking at her father's seat, and pinching the bridge of her nose, while breathing heavily, trying to let her anger go.

"I can explain… my darling daughter…" Naruto spoke, as the illusion shimmered down, revealing the Godaime Hokage, much to the surprise of the other patrons of the stall, who watched with amusement at the scene.

"Your total cholesterol levels are at five point three millimoles per liter! You're zero point one millimole above the desirable level! And you stuff yourself up with ramen, of all things!?"

"Sea ramen is made with fish, and doesn't fish contain…" as Naruto tried to retort, Karin snapped back at him.

"It's the action that counts! Do you have a death wish!? I told you not to eat ramen every day, and what do you do!? I don't care if you have the hots for the stall girl, you're going to die if you keep this up, and then who's going to care for me and Yumi-chan, huh? You're going to…" with a sigh, Naruto rolled his eyes, as he slowly hugged his eldest daughter, patting her on the back. She sure could be a melodramatic individual.

This was so much of an everyday threat, and common occurrence, that not even Ayame was bothered by being defined 'the stall girl'. Sure, she was trying her best to keep up a smile, a twitched one, but still…

"Calm down…come on, you're a big girl, and I'm pretty sure you'd be able to fend off for yourself, even if something were to happen to me," as soon as Naruto spoke, so too did the Godaime Hokage wish he had kept his mouth shut.

He knew Karin was extremely sensitive on the topic, but worse, he knew that the girl already had read his aura, and was now looking at the underlying layer of guilt because he actually had a really risky mission coming up…maybe he actually should have cut down on the ramen intake, that day.

"You're going on a mission," Karin muttered, closing the small glimmer of hope that she wouldn't catch on it. Ayame's right eyebrow twitched: she hadn't been told either. Something worse than two females fighting for a man was when said females actually had things that drove them to fight…together.

"Oh really, Hokage-sama?" Ayame queried, with a fake smile on her face, while around her, customers paid and left. No need to stay there and watch the onslaught.

"I cannot discuss what it's about," Naruto gulped down a thick load of saliva, as his eyes scanned for a possible escape route.

"You're going on a mission," Karin clenched her hands tightly, "You're the Hokage and you're going on a mission," she muttered, again, "And it's something that you are going to regret doing," she added, "Why?"

"I can't…"

"I don't care about what you have to do, Otou-san! I want the reason why you can't send someone else!" Karin snapped.

"It is necessary," Naruto whispered, looking with a sad smile at Karin, "it is something I have to do."

"Whatever…" the red haired girl crossed her arms, before turning to leave, "I'll see you at home, don't you dare be late."

As his daughter left, Ayame sighed, shaking her head.

"Something extremely difficult, coming up?" the dark brown haired girl asked, "You know…the stall is empty now…and I could use a five minutes break…in the back…" as she whimsically spoke, with her eyes displaying mirth, if such a thing was possible, Naruto…actually blushed.

*Sasuke*

Sasuke Uchiha, chuunin, was looking with a pissed off attitude at Neji Hyuga, chuunin, while the two were sitting in front of one another, displaying a sort of sadistic smirk.

"I say we use a Raiton Kage Bunshin, to shock him, while you take the left flank, using the second of distraction to close his Tenketsu point, and send Fire chakra within his body, to force him to use Suiton to shield and heal himself. While he does that, I charge through with my Chidori, from my hidden spot, and obviously, by then he'd have probably made us eat the dirt once more, but he should give us more pointers about it, right?"

"Or maybe I could silently jump on him from above, use a Katon Kaiten to force him to resort to water, and when that happens you can throw a chidori senbon at the water current," Neji retorted.

"It wouldn't work, you know he controls the direction the current goes to, when it touches his water…it might just shock you," Sasuke spoke quietly, before grabbing a pencil to scribble some minor details, "Maybe we could try Fuinjutsu?"

"And get killed, certainly," Ino brought her two cents in the argument, "You just don't challenge a Fuinjutsu master on his ground, trust me, he's wicked when it comes to seals."

"I feel there's a story behind that one," Tenten queried, as she flung another piece of wood at the makeshift campfire that stood a couple of inches beneath the ground, to avoid letting out the light.

"They decided to have me tag along, I flung an explosive tag at him…in retrospect, I should have known that if these two didn't use them, then I shouldn't have too…" Ino muttered, before letting her eyes dart around, to make sure that nobody was trying to move closer to them.

"He used Suiton to change the tag's action…_on the fly_, instead of exploding inwards, towards him, it exploded outwards, towards me…needless to say I stuck to using Raitons…Ninjutsu is the only thing he doesn't automatically redirect."

"That and long range attacks," Tenten muttered, "And I think Lee managed to get a good hit in once or twice."

"He was toying with him," Sasuke sneered, "still, it's nice to see that, removed the green, Lee can actually act quietly."

"When he came in a black spandex, you should have seen Gai-sensei's face, he was shocked," Tenten chuckled grimly, as Neji, instead, shivered.

"I…I never thought I'd say I missed the green one…at least it looked idiotic, rather than…kinky."

"That does it, Hyuga, you're officially gay. Now we know why you keep yourself always upright, must hurt taking it…" as Sasuke began to joke on it, Neji gave him a bad stare.

"Shut it, I recall your mother was there, looking at Sensei's actions…and…maybe she consol…"

"Not another word, Hyuga," Sasuke growled, threateningly, "I still don't know what the hell she sees in him, he's an idiot!"

"Still, maybe it's the 'youth'…how old is your mother, Sasuke? Forty-nine?" Neji sing-sung, only for a tick mark to appear on the Uchiha's face.

"Not, another, word."

"Neji, stop it and apologize! True love knows no age limit," Ino muttered, "Just like Naruto-san and Anko-san…they had five years of difference, yet their relationship went on notwithstanding for years…until that bitch came into the equation."

"No-uh, it was the other way around. Their marriage was strained because of the stress going on, and Mitarashi-san decided to run, as always. There also were rumors of her and Ibiki, and obviously, look at her now, a man-eater of the worst species…thankfully Ichiraku-san was there to pick up Naruto's broken heart pieces," Tenten retorted, with her own version of the tale.

"She did not, she stole him first: we all know how it went!" Ino snarled back, only for Neji to sigh, shake his head four times, and then look at Sasuke, who nodded, before tapping once on the ground.

A split second later, the four Konoha chuunins had jumped away from the makeshift camp, as it burst apart in a tremendous explosion.

Neji spun around in a Kaiten, while in mid-air, and avoided a swarm of bees that seemed dead-set on making him a pin-cushion. As he landed on the ground, he snorted, realizing that the death of said insects had released a sort of sticky yellowish substance…honey.

Tenten had managed to whip out a scroll, barraging the area her 'appointed' enemy was, and thus avoiding to be subjected to an attack while in mid-air.

Ino had managed two hand-signs letting her hair wrap itself in front of her. Hardening to the point of being steel-like, the blond strands deflected the incoming Kunais, before the Kunoichi landed on the ground without a sound.

Sasuke merely unsheathed his blade, letting the sword do its job at deflecting the barrage, before landing.

All four Konoha shinobis stood quietly, looking at the people in front of them.

"You just made us lose night-vision, you bastards!" one, a man, angrily snorted, as with the explosion of the camp-fire, him and his team would probably need time, after this scuffle, to be able to pierce the darkness once more.

"Ittan, stop whining and get the job over with," the female Kunoichi from Iwagakure that spoke had long brown-colored hair which she held tied in such a fashion as to form a ball on top of her head, using what appeared to be a knitting-needle, while two large locks with darkened tips framed the remainder of her face. Her attire consisted of a short sleeveless dress, further adorned by the presence of numerous bandages that encircled various portions of her body, including her waist and thighs. Strangely, it was quite actually similar to that of Ino, who was, obviously, not going to let it slide.

"You bitch! Copying my fashion sense!"

Neji sighed, as his byakugan showed him without doubt where his opponent was. He was facing a man with a dark black beard and hair, with dark eyes and a big wide nose. His entire face seemed to be depicting annoyance, but also seriousness. He was a bit bulky, but all in all it fit well with his strange dark purple robe, that he was wearing for the battle. Next to him, bees were flying quietly, the low buzzing noise merely hearable.

"My name is Kurobachi, of the Kamizuru clan. If I die, please bury me," was all that the serious man spoke, before raising his right arm, and roaring, "Hachi Senbon no Jutsu!"

Neji, on his side, swiftly moved his arms in a barrage of barely seen flickers, until the bee's attack stopped. Kurobachi looked, with a strangely surprised face, at the Hyuga's hand. Not a sign of a wound, and yet…yet he had deflected all of the attacks.

"Good…this will be entertaining," the Kamizuru spoke, "the Hachimitsu no Jutsu should have limited your mobility," the man added, "Why isn't it thus?"

"Shinobi speak only when the battle is over," Neji whispered, charging at him, his hands both glowing with fiery blue chakra, that held the fire affinity within, before they both lashed out…to the man's side, "Katon: Hakke Kūshō!" as twin fireballs the size of his fist rocked forward, hitting the bushes nearby, the serious looking Iwagakure shinobi sported a frown, before suddenly dispersing in beeswax.

"The Byakugan sees all," Neji muttered, only for Tenten to exclaim.

"Oh Kami, Sasuke! Neji is acting all Hyuga again! Maybe he needs to see Sensei before he goes on a fate-crap thing!"

"Ehi! You damn bitch! Don't take your eyes off me!" the kunoichi from Iwa seemed to be wearing a kimono with open slits at her shoulders' area, and had light hazel hair, with blue eyes.

"Suzumebachi from Iwa will take you down!" the girl snorted once more, before letting a swarm of bees to escape her sleeves.

"Aw damn…she's like Shino!" Tenten frowned, "I should have brought bug spray!" with that, the bun-haired kunoichi slid open a scroll, letting chakra flow through it to unleash a furious twin-headed dragon of fire, only for the Iwagakure ninja to have her own bees take it head-on, and destroy themselves in a form of honey and wax, deflecting the attack.

"Uke-gay! I knew your Katons were sissies! Look at how my Bakuryūgeki did nothing! Should have asked Neji to do it…" Tenten snapped at Sasuke, who was sporting a nervous tick-mark.

"They are not!" with that, the Uchiha closed quarters with his own enemy, who seemed to waste no time, in going through hand-signs, to roar back at the incoming Konoha chuunin.

"Doton: Rock Shelter!" as the earth itself rose forward, to protect the Iwagakure shinobi, Sasuke merely snorted, before letting electricity run across his blade, and his body.

"Chidori Nagashi!" as the rock jutsu was literally torn apart by Sasuke's blade, the Uchiha's body emitted electricity, that jolted through the man's nerves, while the sword drove itself freely through the man's heart. It was a kill, one of the many Sasuke had acquired during his battles along the front.

He, at least, was merciful and quick. A blade through the heart, and the Iwagakure shinobi was no more. Maybe, had they met someone else, nobody would have noticed them, their ambush would have sprung effectively, and they might have won. Instead they had met them. The four man chuunin team set specifically by Naruto Senju, to hold the frontline.

"You should have left him alive!" Ino snapped, as her hands hit the ground with fury, before letting the Raiton: Electromagnetic Murder run through the ground, to tear apart the Iwagakure Kunoichi. The woman's blade she carried on the back was dropped on the ground, while jumping backwards, avoiding thus the bulk of the jutsu's power. It was stupid, but the attack could easily be dwarfed by something as simple as throwing something metallic in front. Physics were bitchy like that.

After the invasion of Konoha, Kumo had been forced to relocate some of its Raiton users to the Hidden Leaf, to teach some skills, in exchange for overlooking the treacherous actions brought forward by Yugito Nii, now a missing-nin from the village hidden in the clouds…and for giving back two shinobis out of three.

"Oh shush it, Ino," Sasuke muttered, rolling his eyes as he looked back. Everyone was handling their own fights well enough, so he had no need to intervene. Iwagakure should have expected the teams sent to at least have people with Raiton masteries, thus having trump cards against Earth affinities.

After the blow their forces had taken, three years prior, Iwagakure had things tough. The men and women that had attacked Konoha hadn't been Genins, no, mostly they had been Jounins or Chuunins, with the occasional Genin used as scout work, a thousand's people army, thwarted by the Hokage.

It had to run in the family, Sasuke was pretty sure about it. Now, the problem at hand was who to help, without looking like a stuck-up Uchiha. The Hyuga was out of the question. Tenten would skewer his balls and Ino wouldn't stop ranting, and then he'd have to explain back in Konoha, to Sakura, how no, he hadn't been helping Ino because she managed to get in his pants.

Not that the girl did manage that feat. Still, if there was one thing Sakura hated was cheaters, cheating, and generally taking the easy way out…he'd be dead, clearly, were there as much as a hint of something even barely theoretical going on between him and the blond haired Yamanaka.

"Mine is breathing, but alive," Neji pointed out, as he destroyed the remaining few bees that shielded the slightly burned, but still alive, Kurobachi.

"Hyuga one, Uchiha zero?" Tenten mocked, as the kunoichi in front of her sighed…something that made the bun haired girl perplexed…

"Hachi Bakudan no Jutsu," was all that Suzumebachi whispered, as a swarm of bees, with explosive tags attached to them, drove themselves forward…in Neji's direction.

"Neji! Dodge!" The Hyuga had barely the time to make a hasty back flip, before being forced to jump in mid-air, pulling a set of hand signs together quickly, and yelling.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" the fire sphere rushed and ignited with the bees, literally brightening the area long enough for everyone to be blinded, momentarily…

It was enough for the 'fashion' stealer kunoichi to pick up her sword once more, and drive it deeply into the Yamanaka's guts, twisting it before pulling it out.

"Got your stomach good…" the taunt, however, died on her lips, as crows took the spot of the blond kunoichi, "A Genjutsu? But…"

Silently, Sasuke grinned mentally to himself, having decided to use a subtle Genjutsu on Ino's enemy, hoping it would pay off, without him being directed to having helped her out. The Iwagakure's kunoichi's blade missed Ino, giving the leaf ninja an opening much needed for her to drive a kunai straight through the woman's back, into the spine, and sending the enemy sprawled on the ground, twitching, and probably on the verge of death.

"Ha! She left herself wide open! I knew it! True fashion prevails over cheap copies," as the Yamanaka flaunted, Suzumebachi, on her side, bit her thumb for blood.

"Tsk, this will not be the end of me! Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kyodaihachi!" as the hand was slammed on the ground, a giant bee suddenly buzzed through the smoke, atop of which stood the Iwagakure kunoichi herself.

"The Great Bee of the Kamizuru clan! Destroy them, now!" as the bee spat out of her mouth an incredibly big globe of honey, the four man team dashed out of the way, while Sasuke was mentally cursing.

"Obviously it had to be flashy, we had to lay low, and it ends becoming flashy…damn it!"

"Oh shush it Uchiha, let Tenten handle it!" Neji retorted, as Ino merely sighed.

"I could take her mind, but only if she's immobilized."

"There are no other enemy shinobis around us, so it should be safe…if we can stop her…Tenten, she's all yours!"

The weapon mistress merely grinned wickedly, before letting a giant scroll appear from her right arm, where a storage seal stood, inscribed on her loose-sleeved dress.

"Sōgu: Tenkōsai!" as the enormous scroll was tossed in the air, followed swiftly by Tenten, a veritable army of kunais was suddenly thrown forward from within the parchment, all of them ending with chains, all of them targeting the giant bee. As the bee tried to dodge the attack, and avoid being chained down, the beast was suddenly forced to move to the very same side Tenten was, in order to avoid a lance of pure electrical energy, the result of Sasuke's chidori.

The kunai thus rammed themselves deeply into the summon, and those that instead swung around it tore through its carapace, the moment Neji and Sasuke both got a hand on one of the chains, that flung around.

"Combine: Grilling barbeque!" as electricity, on the Uchiha's side, and fire, on the Hyuga's poured forward, from the chains to the summoned beast, the attack went off. The Raiton and the Katon united together literally turned to dust the giant bee, without even giving her a chance to de-summon, while the kunoichi atop suffered pretty much the same fate.

"I said to keep her alive!" Ino screeched, as she ran over, only to shake her head at the death of the Iwagakure Kunoichi, "How are we going to get infos if she's dead!?"

"We dealt them a good blow, anyway," Sasuke pointed out, "That was possibly a boss summons from Iwagakure…one they won't be able to use again."

"Yeah, but now we have to relocate, Uchiha," Neji muttered, "And all because you just had to flung a chidori in the air."

"You were the one who used the Katon on the explosive bees, which was even worse!" Sasuke retorted, as Tenten, instead, merely sighed.

"Come on guys…help me pack the weapons back in the scrolls," with a small groan, both settled to work, while Ino, instead, began to round up the corpses, and rummage through their belongings.

"Obviously they had to burn their mission's scrolls…damn it," Ino muttered, with gritted teeth, "Why couldn't they just wait, before taking the thing down?"

"You know Ino, they just didn't want anyone to get hurt," Tenten mused, as she sat down next to the Yamanaka, taking a light breath, "The quicker a skirmish finishes, the less risk of casualties there are…"

"Yeah, but still…did they really have to kill them all?"

"You killed yours," the weapon user rebuked.

"Duh, I'm weak: you heard Naruto-san's orders, if we aren't sure we can capture them then kill them off without a second of hesitation. I knew Sasuke or Neji could pull it off too…obviously they had to show off their machismo and see who could kill his own quicker."

"Always thankful I am for Sensei's enlightening talk on death and killing," Neji muttered, "I'd have snapped, hearing such blunt phrase partake your lips, and reach upon thee ears."

"No," Sasuke stated, his eyes narrowing, "Just…no."

"Was that referred to Ino or to Neji?" Tenten queried, perplexed at the two boys' antiques.

"Both," the Uchiha replied with a knowing nod, before sighing while slightly shaking his head in the process, "Now we have to move camp."

"Don't pull an Itachi-sigh on me," Neji whispered, "anyway, I just hope we'll manage to rest elsewhere…"

"Oh…" Ino perked up, for a moment, like a ferret who's on the lookout for trouble, before suddenly popping up a wide smile.

"Hey Tenten…want to bet I can turn those two boys in kids in a second?" Ino whispered, complacently, to the weapon mistress.

"…what is it?" Tenten rolled her eyes, knowing for sure that Ino had just been contacted by her father, thanks to some sort of long range distance communicator.

"Ehi you two!" Ino cheerfully said, "Guess who's coming through checkpoint Delta, in two days?"

"Who?" both boys queried.

"The Hokage!"

"Sensei!?" at the two boys' sparkling eyes, Ino couldn't repress a snort, and, elbowing gently Tenten, whisper.

"See? I told you they'd be acting like kids seeing their favorite hero passing by."

"Uchiha!" Neji exclaimed, "We must make haste to reach checkpoint Delta in two days, and if we can't, then we'll walk on our hands!"

"Hyuga! This is too troublesome to forget about!" and as the two began to leave, the two Kunoichi turned a bright shade of red.

"What are you two implying!?" the two girls basically screeched at the same time…but stood ignored by the two boys.

Barely sixteen, or seventeen, already murderers, already with blood on their hands, already deep in war, and yet…laughing. Because death comes to everyone, and moping doesn't help. Just laugh and move on. That's the trick to avoid the horrors of war…care the right, but not too much. Let the body fester and rot, and be thankful you're alive, for the day.

*Hinata*

She felt good. Really smoothly, she slid the silk blankets away from her body. Looking to her right, to where the red haired Tayuya stood, she couldn't help but suppress a snort of contempt. The Kunoichi of Otogakure was merely pudding in her hands now. She thought _she_ cared about her? Obviously not. However she looked at her, that so called Genjutsu user was but a helpful meat-shield in her good moments, and a problematic head-ache in her worse.

She was just so insecure, hiding it all behind her façade of being rash, being prone to swearing, and being obnoxious to the extreme. It was sickening, yet she had good uses for her tongue, when she kept quiet, that was. Rolling her pearly eyes at the sight of her wardrobe, and mentally deciding she'd need a change of attire soon enough, she picked up a one piece long sleeved dress, with a dark purple color, and red crimson interlinings, that spiraled on it to make flowery motif.

It made her pale white eyes stand out, as her pale skin complexion…and it did help to accentuate her curves, and toned legs. On the other side, it wasn't merely made of silk, no, it was made of tougher stuff, easy to bend, but not to rip, thus granting her the mobility she needed for the use of her style…she was quite a bit elastic…

Repressing a small giggle, she looked at herself in the mirror, and playfully let her breasts bounce up and down for a moment. It would do to leave a V shaped slit in the middle of her babies, an added distraction to enemies.

Obviously it didn't matter much to the guys in Otogakure. They knew she was untouchable, and they knew better than even stare at her. Maybe the kids did. More because they held no idea just how dangerous it would be to look at her, if they were but a bit older.

Her silky dark blue hair was cut short, shoulder-length at most, and tied together in tresses, while her ninja belt was placed above the dress, her Kunai pouch attached to it. If there was one thing she learned, and kept to heart, was that to forcefully refute an extra weapon would guide one to death.

The Hyuga clan had all but been decimated, when they had refuted the usage of things like explosive tags, ninja wire, Jutsus…all that remained was the branch family, now the Senju clan…Hinata couldn't repress a snort, and turn to leave, without even caring that Tayuya was still in her bed. If she was there when she returned, she'd punish her. Maybe have her kept away from her for a couple of days, and then the red haired girl would cry, and come begging for her.

She was just that good. She knew it, Tayuya knew it, and probably even Kimimaro would know it, if he wasn't hanging barely on a thread of life. Not that she cared about him, in the slightest…but, after all, she had that two years old toddler to look out for. Well, not really. She had just birthed the little monster: there was nothing else in there. Nothing to do about it but let the little Sutego go along his way…with someone else.

Orochimaru had always been creepy, but that was pushing it. Not that she cared about it, at all, but she did have to speak of something, with the Kaguya, at least to break the ice…mostly for him, not for her. She didn't care. All that she wanted was revenge against Konoha, against the Hokage, against her sensei that had betrayed her, her clan, and most importantly…her heart.

She walked along the barely kept roads of the village hidden in the sound, not that she cared about the name, but it was horrendous to look at. Really, Orochimaru as a Kage was nothing more than a title. There was no order, only missing-nins going about their business, with little to no questioning, or 'security'. A bit of chaos was always welcomed, but only as long as it didn't involve any of the higher ups. Beat down the new kid? Acceptable. Try to touch Tayuya's ass? The idiotic sod that had tried such a feat had been found, in five distinct chunks, tied together in a grotesque imitation of a penis, with his intestines to form the wire.

As the Hyuga… no, she no longer used that as a surname, she wasn't even sure she wanted to be called Hinata to begin with, but had little choice when Orochimaru used that name on her, taunting it by adding the Chan to it…anyway, as the Hyuga walked across the street, she merely grabbed an apple from one of the stalls, without even paying for it. Many didn't pay at all, since the strong ruled and the weak suffered. That was the way of life.

Five more steps, and already regretted leaving the house she had taken, because, after all, when Jirobo comes looking for you, it's clear that Orochimaru wants to talk with you, and you just can't leave the snake sannin waiting.

Biting onto the apple, and following the silent, and clearly gay, fat-ass, Hinata mulled over the thought of how much time had passed.

Was it already three years? She supposed it was. Maybe today was the day she bolted out of there, after killing the man. Killing the Sannin wouldn't even have been in her mind, years before. No, before she had hoped to merely seduce the Senju, get knocked up, have his brats, and leave a happily and joyful life at his side. A kid's dream, a kid's crush, hopelessly shattered when reality had kicked in.

Now, she had trained above and beyond all expectations. She had been lucky with her Byakugan. Obviously Orochimaru had trained her, but not as much as to pose a threat…which was why she had been using her eyes to spy upon everything, and everyone, that trained in the village. The sharingan could copy moves and jutsus in a split second? She could see people from more than three hundred meters away, and that was on her worse days.

Whether Orochimaru liked it or not, she had become strong, incredibly so, and she was going to show it up to the snake, when he came to claim his 'prize'.

"Orochimaru-sama awaits you in his rooms," Jirobo spoke quietly, before actually leaving in a slight hurry. Well, it seemed she had caught the snake dead-on. Usually Jirobo, or Sakon and Ukon followed her within the underground training area, and house of the Snake Sannin, for security reasons.

Moments later, she was in front of the door to Orochimaru's private quarters, and hesitated, for a second, before knocking. She was pretty sure that the snake Sannin wasn't going to even touch her, he had never done that, he didn't even hold any interest in the pleasures of the flesh…probably because he couldn't partake in them, considering he was donning a corpse, most of the time.

Had to be some sort of necrophilia-like fetish that only he was aware of…equally disturbing and disgusting, obviously.

The door was then opened, since, after all, Orochimaru wouldn't stand up to go and open a door, letting the one who knocked the obviously boring task of entering, presenting oneself, and hoping to have been actually called in, to avoid death.

"Have you called for my services, Orochimaru-_sama_?" Hinata queried, as her eyes stared right in front of her, at the form of Kidoumaro…no longer masquerading as Orochimaru. She knew it was that day, then, that she became free.

She naturally tensed, as the snake sannin, instead, merely began to chuckle.

"Well, well, well…we'll have none of that, my dear," and the next moment, a sharp pain, roaring through the cursed seal on her shoulder, threw the Hyuga woman on the ground, letting the pain wash over her, "Now, I think I made it clear that this day would come…and yet you thought you could defy me? Please…surely, was I without hands this would prove a bit…problematic…but with working arms…Kukuku…" And then, everything, in Hinata's sight, turned dark.

Just like she had planned.

*Amegakure*

Gaara was watching, pouring serious effort into it, his older sibling, Temari. The four-pigtailed girl was looking back at him with a frown, biting her lower lip, before lowering her own hand.

"I fold," the Kunoichi muttered, the Amegakure forehead protector on her head, as Gaara, and his undefeated poker face, scored once more a win, and a bundle of candies.

"Gaara-san is really strong," one of the poker players commented, a strangely feminine looking boy with a loose kimono, "Only Pain-sama usually makes it to the end."

"Kisame, you finished moping?" another one queried to the shark-man, who was looking at his dwindling chips.

"Oh shut it Zabuza…" the blue skinned man spoke, "Itachi betrayed us, and we didn't even see it! Do you realize how much info he could give away? How much he could deliver to Konoha? I kind of wondered why they aren't on our tracks."

"He didn't tell him," another voice spoke, revealing Sasori, who was holding the deck, and starting to mix the cards before dealing them, "my spies reported that he didn't reveal anything at all about where we were located…he played it off by claiming he never once set foot in our real headquarters."

"And the Hokage bought it?" at Zabuza's question, Gaara slightly tensed.

"The Hokage is terribly shrewd…he should have known truth from lie," the red haired pointed out.

"Yeah, seems like he blindly trusts people until they stab him in the back, stupid policy. Just don't trust anyone to begin with!" Kisame muttered, before going all-in.

"Stop with your whining and play, hun," Deidara muttered, as his saliva-coated cards were disgustingly taken to be changed, having the Iwagakure missing-nin swapped two guards.

"Zabuza-sama, I advise you to fold, unless you possess four aces," Haku politely pointed out, and just as he did that, everyone else folded, without raising the pot.

"Zabuza, you should have taught the kid to play better!" Kisame snapped, only for Haku to reveal…nothing.

"Well done brat…what were you saying, Sasori? Trust no-one?" as Zabuza sing-sung that, relishing in the fact that Haku's earnings were de-facto his, the door suddenly opened, making Gaara turn his questioning gaze to the newcomer.

Konan was standing there, puffing and wheezing hard, her entire frame covered in blood, but that didn't seem hers.

"We have…incomings…Iwagakure and Sunagakure, coming through one side!" at the mention, everyone turned to one another. Pain was out of Amegakure because of business with the eight tails…this was the moment, the precise moment, everyone else felt the need to swear.

"Kankuro, right?" Temari whispered, her voice slightly creaking.

"Don't worry, Oneesan," Gaara replied, "I won't kill him…not directly."

"Hum…Kankuro uses my puppets, right?" Sasori muttered, "I'll take care of that side…maybe Chiyo-baasama is there too."

"Isn't Iwa busy with Konoha, however?" Haku queried, standing up, only to have Zabuza stand in front of him.

"I think they're pressing to change the border…Suna can't attack Konoha, but they can push through Amegakure, I think they are trying to put up a puppet government that sees their views," Zabuza growled, "They probably aimed right at this moment, with Pain and most of the Jinchuurikis away…"

"Without the rain we didn't sense them coming," Konan muttered, hastily dashing towards the outer walls of the village, where Amegakure shinobis had already begun being grouped together, "and we didn't expect Iwagakure to actually participate in the battle…we thought them busy with Konoha."

"To think Roshi and Han are both with Pain, trying to prepare for plan Atlantis," Zabuza whispered, "Gaara, can you keep up a sand shield around the village?"

"Won't last more than five minutes," the red haired teen muttered, looking ahead of the walls, at the approaching mass of shinobis.

"They're pretty stupid, to attack head-on," Kisame mulled, "Which means they are not stupid, and had it planned since Pain's disappearance…now, who tipped them off?"

"My spies picked nothing," Sasori muttered, "But considering all of my spies in Iwa had been dealt with following Kabuto's defection…"

"That little four eyes piece of shit," Zabuza threateningly growled, "I never met him, but I want so much to snap him like a twig!"

"We should scatter and hold different parts of the village, and proceed with the evacuation," Konan whispered, "Hopefully, project Atlantis will be concluded, by the time the refugee will arrive."

"This is…a mass exodus then, huh?" Zabuza nodded, before displaying a grin, "I'll take up some of each, Haku, you go and escort the escaping civilians."

"Zabuza-sama?" Haku queried, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise, and shock, "I'm not…"

"No refuting orders, now move!" the demon of the mist literally roared the order to his young charge, who obeyed it without a second's thought.

"So you sensed it too, huh?" Sasori whispered.

"Difficult not to, I'm just glad Haku didn't, she'd have put up a fuss about it."

"Oh, finally," Kisame exclaimed, cheerfully so, "Now I'm sure she's a female."

"Nah, messing with you," Zabuza chuckled.

"What? What did you feel?" Temari queried, worried.

It was Gaara, who actually answered her, with as little as a mere word.

"The three tails chakra."

"Wait…wasn't Yagura…" at Zabuza's inquiry, Sasori whispered back.

"We removed him, and placed Mei in his place, to stop the bloodline purges…but I never expected…how did Iwa, or Suna, get their hands on him!?"

"Kankuro is guided by fear, and hatred," Gaara whispered, "I can feel it…but I don't understand…why?"

"When he came back, from Konoha, he had a different look altogether on his face," Temari whispered, "Said some pretty horrible things about Jinchuuriki being monsters…and when the council was in a pinch on who to make Hokage, and you came around offering your power…that nailed the coffin."

"To think that the road to hell is paved with good intentions…" Sasori muttered, "I had expected anything, from the elder at the council…but _chickening_ out? Not on my list."

"Still, how did they capture the three tails? Who did it? But most importantly…why?"

"I don't know," Kisame muttered, raising Samehada, "But I suppose I'll have to go and face him off…I just damn hope it's not in an Iwa shinobi, I don't think I could hold him off, plus hold off Doton jutsus."

"I'll go Suna then," Sasori commented, jumping down the walls.

"Temari-oneesan," Gaara talked, quietly, "Please, stay safe," and then, in a shunshin of sand, the Ichibi Jinchuuriki was off.

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself!" The blond haired woman spoke, before turning her gaze to Konan, who whispered back.

"I need a hand in escorting the civilians away," frustratingly clenching her hands, the Amegakure Kunoichi bowed her head, and followed. She didn't need to be babysat. So what if she wasn't an S-rank missing-nin!?

Zabuza growled menacingly, as he took to the head of the Ame battalions, obviously they had to leave him to guide the umbrella users and the poison users.

"Alright folks, if anyone starts singing something, anything, that has to do with 'rain', I'm chopping him down myself, understood?!" with a roar of 'yes' and grim chuckles, the Amegakure shinobis followed the once Demon of the Mist, now Demon of the Rain, to battle. They were protecting their families, their futures, and they had to hold on, long enough for them to escape.

As earth and wind met rain, for once Amegakure would no longer be a land to battle upon, but a land to battle through. The question that plagued Sasori's mind, as he unrolled the scroll for his armies, however, was one: just how did they manage to bypass his spies? And who had done such an incredible feat?

It was then, that a voice resounded crisply, among the Iwagakure shinobis.

"Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu."

*Katsumi*

She pummeled the wooden pole until her knuckles began to bleed. Moments later, she did the same thing again. Once more, when the bleeding stopped, because it always stopped, she did it again. She was furious, she was saddened, and she was grieving. Every single day, she was reminded of how she hadn't wanted to be there, and yet there she was: _alone_.

No, she wasn't _actually_ alone, her brother was technically there, and had offered her the open door policy, as always…but she didn't want it. She had heard of what had happened, she had found out what had happened, and she had thought, for once, that she had been mistakenly hearing things.

Instead…it had turned out to be the truth. If revenge was a dish best served cold, then Naruto's revenge had truly been something worthy of being called a feast. The Yondaime Hokage, hers and his father, was now a name to be pronounced together with insults. The cause of Suna invasion, of Kiri's looming threats, of Iwagakure, of Orochimaru's coming, all of it had been unloaded on him, even the Uchiha slaughter, even the kidnapping of Naruto's son, orchestrated by him and Danzo.

Everything had been dumped on the blond haired and blue eyed father that she had never thought would have been possibly able to do such feat. Instead…the man had done them. Even worse, he had done them and had kept a straight face even in front of death.

The only thing she was thankful for was that her brother hadn't revealed to the world that she was, indeed, the Kyuubi's other half. He had kept it a secret from the general population, because of a promise…and her brother always kept his promises. She should have forgiven him, but then…without remorse, without pity, she had labeled their mother as an S-rank missing-nin, one month after…and her mother had left without her.

Katsumi was thus alone. Naruto could no longer teach, having become Hokage, so she and Kiba had ended up with Kakashi, and their replacement had been Yakumo Kurama, a girl that once belonged to Karin's team, but that had been left alone after Sai's disappearance and Karin's occupation at the hospital.

The girl was nice to be with, and Kiba had never pushed any argument against her, ever. They had made chuunin together: there had been no ill will, nothing at all, by most of the villagers. After all, what fault did she have for her father's actions?

Yet she had never felt so much _alone_, so much in pain, tearing at her guts with the strength of an avalanche was loneliness. Sure, she wasn't hit, she wasn't insulted, she wasn't scorned…but she was looked at with pity. And that…that made her feel even worse.

So, she was there, letting her fists get bloody and then get healed, and repeating that, insistently, without even a moment of rest. Now that she was a Chuunin, she didn't know on what team she'd be with, or for what missions, but she remembered sensei's words…she was trained to use big jutsus and wipe out the battlefield. She was made to be a monster of carnage, whether she liked it or not, she was one.

"Yosh!" A loud booming voice forced Katsumi to turn around, and stare at the green spandex monstrosity that was Maito Gai…and that seemed to be having a mission scroll in his hand, "The Youthful fires of youth burn brightly in you!"

"Mission?" Katsumi queried, grabbing the scroll offered, and reading it…before groaning.

_A-Rank team mission, Jounin leader Maito Gai_

_Team: Katsumi Namikaze, Rock Lee, Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara_

_Objective: Push through corridor Beta and generate destruction along point Theta, withdraw when overrun._

_Assigner of the mission: Hokage representative, Uchiha Itachi._

_Time required for completion: Unknown._

_Risks: Extremely High-certain confrontation with enemy shinobis._

_Extra: No requirement for stealth, be as loud as possible._

_Departure: Day after receiving mission scroll, hour Nine-Zero-Zero, front gate._

"Be as loud as possible?" Katsumi queried, looking at the green spandex Jounin, who, instead, had literally bolted out of there.

"Why?" she muttered, before shaking her head. It didn't quite matter why: she was still going to follow the mission's orders so there was no trouble on that side. Taking the mission scroll with her, she hobbled off to her home. The one she had grown in years before had been leveled to the ground, by the Iwagakure shinobis, and since it had been the Hokage's mansion, and Naruto had the Senju compound, nobody had wanted to waste money in rebuilding it. Instead, Katsumi had a small cottage, barely within Konoha's walls, that was a sort of silent retreat and tinkering laboratory of her father.

It had a roof and a bed, and that was all that the red haired girl needed. Furthermore it was quiet, and usually nobody came by to disturb her. She had a day to get ready, before departing for an A-rank mission together with a team composed of Chuunins plus a Jounin. This did mean that the mission wasn't completely dangerous and lethal, but it also meant that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park either.

Thankfully, she unrolled the storage scroll her sensei had gifted her years and years before, and began packing stuff within. She kind of wondered how other teams worked, without a basic storage seal somewhere on their body, or clothes, or a scroll in their backpack. Sure, kunai pouches and small pockets filled with candies weren't things to stick in a storage scroll, but a tent, a metal pot, a bathroom towel, soap and things like that worked wonders in lowering the weight that a shinobi had to carry around.

Furthermore, she was sure that, were she to run low on money, selling a Naruto Senju storage scroll, original and also autographed, would earn her a pretty penny. She had trained under a legend…the point was making it worth it in the long run.

She watched, with a mixture of disdain and sadness, at one of the few pictures that had adorned her father's tinkering studio, it was one of her family, holding a baby her in their arms. There had been no pictures of Naruto, in their home, and even here…she carefully grabbed the picture, and frowned. It looked a bit thicker than normal, that much was certain. Carefully sliding the photograph out, she gasped, her eyes narrowing on the blond haired boy of four that had been taken as the subject of the photo, being held, in a sort of light snoring position, by an equally sleeping Kushina.

It was the rendition of tranquility and peace. It was so…so perfect in its stillness. Katsumi had to force herself not to start bawling. Her brother looked _cute_ and innocent, and defenseless, to add to that. She decided to play it by the hunch. In a moment, all pictures, all photographs, heck, even the paintings, suddenly were ripped out, or removed from their frames, and there, there they were.

All the photos of Naruto, they had never been thrown away, her father had kept them all…he had even taken some when her brother's hair had started turning grey, some of him in a Chuunin vest, with his team, with Kakashi-sensei, some of him with the Jounin vest, some of him training their team…there was even Team Senju's photograph, and…and she couldn't help but think that her father had actually loved Naruto.

Her father had loved his son so much, that he…he had died by the hands of his son's best friend. Would he think the same after seeing this? Still, he had to know, right?

"Father never hated you," Katsumi whispered…her hands trembling, "He was willing to live a life filled with your hatred, but he would never hate you…he never did…"

She grouped the photographs together, she'd show them to Naruto…she'd show them and…and she recalled that there wasn't Naruto at the Hokage's office, but Itachi. Because Naruto was probably out on a mission, and thus if he wasn't there…what was the point?

Still, she didn't want to go out on a mission, die, and not let her brother know about this. So she wrote a quick letter, four words, only those four, and then closed it together with one of the pictures, one that held the smiling Kushina, pregnant, Minato Namikaze, smiling brightly with a thumb up, and Naruto in the middle, displaying his trademarked foxy grin of old.

'_Father never hated you.'_

She'd send the letter through the postal service, even though it was within the village, to Naruto himself. So, when she would be gone, her brother would certainly be able to trace back the letter to the house, and find the pile of photos stacked, quietly, on the desk. Obviously, that was if he returned before her. If he didn't, then she'd just have to deliver the rest to his office.

Quietly reaching for the sink, she decided to put the water to boil, and have some tea. The next day, she was going to be departing Konoha, travel for a lot of miles, before reaching the land of earth, and from there go through Corridor Beta, which was the code name for a strip of land, narrow and filled with crevices, that was also the area of the war of attrition between Iwa and Konoha.

On another note, she had to recall what point Theta stood for.

Biting on her lower lip, she closed her eyes, trying to focus on it. Checkpoint Theta…it was eerily familiar and yet not so. Just what was there to begin with!? It was then that the memory hit her like a rock.

It was the no-man zone. The death area directly south of Iwagakure, the one that the Tsuchikage attack could reach to with ease…it was the point where the enemy troops amassed. It was a high heat zone with little chances of escaping without wounds, or without being dead.

Her stomach suddenly felt the need to twist for another moment…she had been sent on a probably borderline suicide mission.

She no longer felt the need for tea…she directly reached for the bathroom's toilet, to retch.

*Naruto*

The Hokage sighed: was it really needed?

He was currently trekking, in his blue armor, right behind Kakashi, while Kurenai took the rear, and he could feel it, clearly as the sun's rays: the woman was pissed. Sure, she had been on maternity leave, sure, Asuma had been pissed too, but it was an extremely important mission. Maybe Asuma had been pissed because of Kakashi's renowned lecherous attitudes, or maybe because he thought either of the two would 'sneak a peek'.

On his defense, Naruto didn't need to. If he actually wanted to be a pervert, there was the Hokage's crystal ball, some sort of strange jutsu that seemed to be the saint grail of all perverts in the world. Concentrate on a person, pour chakra depending on distance, and there: spying stuff. You just had to have a general hunch on where the target was, and the ball did the rest. It was limited to Konoha, probably it became too chakra prohibitive on the long run, but still…

Had he wanted to, he could have seen anyone naked, at anytime, anywhere within Konoha. Still, was the death gaze boring into the back of his skull really needed?

Sure, she had left her daughter, Sumire, 'Violet', in the hands of Ebisu, and his team of Genins, but Konohamaru was among them, she should trust in him, right?

Asuma _had_ been a bit more vocal about it. Naruto had just thanked Kami he had possessed wind and water affinities, because otherwise, he'd have been torn to shreds. Nothing was more horrible than an angry father. Of that, Naruto was sure.

Well, except an angry mother. Maybe both actually reached the same 'scare' level. He still remembered the outraged look on Karin's face, when he had told her to quit it making Yumi call her Kaa-san. She was her elder sister, not her mother, and she shouldn't have burdened herself unnecessarily. Obviously the girl had retorted, claiming she wasn't being burdened at all…but Naruto had merely shaken his head, and told her it was enough. Children were children, and parents were parents.

As Naruto closed his eyes, letting a pulse of chakra run its course, he merely displayed a light smirk.

"Three…Two…One…" and then Kakashi was suddenly hurled out of the way by two blurs, that literally tore through the silver haired jounin's defenses and stopped to a halt in front of Naruto Senju.

"Well there, no 'trying to kill me' training?" Naruto queried, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Sasuke and Neji, both displaying bright grins.

"Sensei, we knew you were passing through here!" Neji started, "So we decided to intercept you," he added.

"Is everything alright at home?" Sasuke queried, "is my mother still seeing…_'that' _thing?"

"Sasuke…Maito-san is a proud shinobi of Konoha, with his quirks, but he isn't an evil man…it's been three years since they started dating…you should start looking at his good sides," Naruto pointed out, as the Uchiha rolled his eyes, before erupting in a sigh.

"He's so much like his brother than I worry," Naruto stated, before turning to Neji, "Did he try to go on some stupid rant about how everyone should keep disinfectant handy?"

"He…He actually did, sensei," at that, Neji looked at the Uchiha's youngest like he had been seeing an alien, "Are we sure it's not a Genjutsu?" the white eyed Senju whispered.

"For as much as I'd love to take a rest, Hokage-sama," Kurenai spoke, "We have a tight timetable, if you recall the plan…"

"Oh, yes," Naruto whispered back, "by the way, where are Tenten and Ino? I thought they were assigned with you…don't tell me…"

The two boys quickly dismissed the issue by waving their hands hurriedly, and shaking their heads.

"No! Alive and bitching, as always!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Alive and bitching? Tenten-chan, I think I should tell Sakura-chan of how her boyfriend glances at my panties, last night," Ino snorted, coming up from behind the two, as the Uchiha, instead, paled.

"I did not!" but the remark was cut short by Tenten's grim chuckle.

"If you need someone to testify…call me, Ino-chan," and then, the weapon mistress looked to Naruto, silently.

"Alright, there is something I wanted to tell you, before you resume your patrol…" the Hokage whispered, "Since I was passing by here, I knew I'd cross you, so I thought I should tell…since, after all, it does involve you, in some way."

Naruto Senju had never, ever, dropped contacts with anyone. On one side, his agenda was filled with numbers and names, forcing him to use more than one. On the other, he was repeatedly stopped by random people along the street, or waved at. But, truly, Naruto Senju was a person's people. He'd speak to everyone, understand everyone, ask everyone, and act upon that. He was, in a word, 'friendly'.

With his students, he had been nothing less…and as such, he had also been the 'confidant' of the entire wide spectrum array of crushes, secret loves, and dreams, of his class. Which had evolved to their Genin's days, to their Chuunin's days and would, probably, still be there by the time they made Jounin and even after he retired from being Hokage.

So, as he realized just who he had sent on a borderline suicidal mission, he knew that even though there was Itachi's seal of approval, it was _him,_ out of all people that had to speak with the four chuunins, right there.

The four perked up, quietly waiting for his words, keeping attention.

"Team Gai, with Katsumi Namikaze, Sakura Haruno, Rock Lee and Shikamaru Nara will reach checkpoint Theta through the Beta corridor," at those words, the four winced, for a while…they didn't…it was interesting, Kakashi mused, to see the look on three of the four chuunins united there. They did try to contain it, but worry, anxiety, anger, guilt, emotions of betrayal, they all rose for a brief moment, and Naruto's face took on a knowing-expression, before slightly closing his eyes and finishing his words.

"They have order of withdrawal should they be overrun, but otherwise, they will hold their ground there."

"Sensei…you're on the move because of them, right?" Neji spoke quietly, "And you wouldn't send a chuunin team, if it weren't something that actually _required_ them, right? Especially not those four, right?"

"You're hoping they get captured," Sasuke blurted out, "No, you actually sent them _because_ you need for them to hold off the enemy…you're using them as bait and distraction."

"Katsumi is the Yondaime's daughter, Iwa would capture her certainly…Sakura has pink hair, and is known to be working under you as your medical apprentice…Rock Lee is easily distinguishable, and…why Shika?" Ino spoke, her voice slightly trembling.

"He can come up with good plans in a pinch, should Maito fall…he'd take over the chain of command," Naruto retorted.

"Out of all of them, it's Gai-sensei the one who risks the most, right?" Tenten queried, "After all, Iwa would rather capture the chuunins and use them as hostages, then capture a Jounin."

"Precisely," Naruto sighed out in relief. He thought they'd take it worse.

"So you sent those who had the most chance of survival, albeit that is just…playing with hellfire, rather than normal fire, sensei," Neji quietly pointed out, before adding, "and you telling us has made us anxious…you're…"

"No, Neji," Naruto shook his head, "Listen to me, all of you: I told you this because I know you, if you hadn't known, and something had happened to one of those you hold dear…and I hadn't told you, then you'd have felt far worse off. I am honest, above all. I could have sent four Anbus, but Oonoki would have crushed them immediately, from a distance, without breaking a sweat."

"We…We understand," Sasuke started speaking, "Still…are you going to end the war, sensei?"

"Damn…I didn't get called sensei once, it was always Kakashi-san," Kakashi spoke with fake tears falling down from his only visible eye, "and Naruto gets it all…damn it, I knew I had to take them youn…" and then he stopped, seeing the stares of shock on the faces of the others.

"I didn't mean it that way!" the copy-cat ninja blurted out, before returning to his porn book…a pity the author was dead, but 'Icha-Icha School Sensuality' was a post-mortem hit. Somebody had taken it up and finished it, actually.

"It depends," Naruto muttered back, "Probably it will be a harsh blow on the Iwagakure's shinobis supply lines…after all, being without a hidden village should do that."

"Sensei? You're going against Iwa…alone?" at Neji's question, Kurenai rolled her eyes.

"The Hokage has a plan, involving the Kyuubi…we were briefed of it, but chuunins shouldn't be…"

"Yeah, I'll probably raze it to the ground," Naruto replied trying to display a small smile, "Six tails should do it, if not, Ku-chan told me we can push to seven safely. For the last two, I'll have to postpone it a bit."

**The way you minimize the slaughter of children and civilians appalls me, **the Kyuubi gently spoke, in the back of the man's head, **still, they realize and yet say naught, must mean that thee…**

"_Have you been reading a dictionary, recently?"_

**I beseech your query with affirmative reply.**

"_I liked it when you were asleep,"_ Naruto thought back, rolling his eyes as the four chuunins looked at him…with a tinge of fear. Well, he was powerful, they just never realized how much. Even the Yondaime could have probably done such a feat, by using Gamabunta as a summoning animal.

The frogs, or toads, or whatever those amphibians were had funnily appeared in his office one day, speaking about a prophecy. A pity said prophecy had lost its intended recipient, since it had been targeted at Jiraiya's students, and both were dead.

"Well…we won't be keeping you here, Naruto-sensei," Sasuke pointed out, making a small bowing of his head to be dismissed.

"We'll be celebrating the end of the war soon then, Sensei," Neji added, with a small bitter smile, before turning to look at Tenten and Ino, who were still in the process of understanding just what the Hokage had said.

"Oh…right! We have to go! It's been a pleasure seeing you Hokage-sama!" Tenten exclaimed, before grabbing Ino, who was still trying to come to terms with Naruto's words, and turning to leave together with the rest of the team.

Once they disappeared from sight, Kakashi placed his Icha-Icha back in his pocket, and, making an eye-smile, began running once more at the head of the three mans' team. They still had a long distance to cover, and they had to make it work like a clockwork.

Gai's team had been tasked with creating a distraction, forcing Oonoki to overlook the back of Iwagakure's area, and thus granting them the needed time to let Naruto in. There was going to be a Kage battle, but this time, it would be in the center of Iwa, where the Tsuchikage would find himself severely impaired.

Satchels of water were silently hanging from within Naruto's armor, and the grey haired man couldn't help but repress the nervousness and the small voice in the back of his mind, the one that didn't belong to the Kyuubi, but to himself. The one that was telling him that he was no longer merely a shinobi, or a Hokage…he was a monster.

Yet he would become one, if it meant the safety of his people.

He would slaughter innocents, he would butcher civilians, he would kill defenseless beings…because the Tsuchikage had wanted war for revenge, and he would stop the war…through annihilation. There can be no revenge, when not even the children can grow in anger. There can be no hatred, in the cold ground of death.

It took them less than three days, to get in position, a small cliff, overlooking both checkpoint Theta and their own area of insertion. From there, Naruto took out a small binocular, and began observing. There was no fire, no gust of wind, nothing. Only eerily quiet silence, tension palpable in the air, and the casual trudging of Iwagakure shinobis around…

For a mere moment, Naruto's breath stopped. A second later…

"_Genins_," he muttered, cursing, "They're using Genins and academy graduates."

Kakashi stilled, keeping quiet. There could be Jounins, or Anbu-ranked Iwagakure shinobis around, so why was Naruto actually speaking? He should know better than that, unless…

"Shit." It wasn't that there were Genins, patrolling or going around. It was that there were _only_ Genins going around.

"You can't be serious," Kurenai muttered, "not even a Jounin?"

"No, it's worse than that," Naruto whispered, "There are teams of seven years old, guided by Genins, making the rounds…and not seven years old prodigies, like Kashi here…they're kids. One of them is crying because his feet are hurting too…it's…there _has_ to be an explanation, a logical one…"

"We didn't do all that damage to their lines," Kakashi muttered, letting his sharingan come around, "And even their village seems a tad empty…"

"At most, there are three chuunins level signatures," Naruto whispered, "change of plans, we infiltrate."

Standing slightly up, Kurenai was signaled to take the front, and Kakashi the left side, while Naruto took the right. In a moment, the three dashed down from the cliff, quietly weaving a three pronged Genjutsu that, being the work of two masters of the art and a sharingan user, was something akin complete invisibility. Five minutes, and the gates of Iwagakure came into view, left wide open. In two minutes, they had merged with the crowd, the civilian crowd, and hadn't yet been stopped.

Three minutes, and they stood within the Tsuchikage's tower, no traps, and no enemies that sensed them, no need to shed blood. Nothing at all, it had been so easy it was sickening, why didn't their spies report this? Had they been killed? It was just…it was just too easy.

The three Chuunin signatures stood in the office of the Tsuchikage, looking at one another with worry in their eyes.

"We're sitting ducks, I tell you!" one of them spoke, with dark brown hair and eyes.

"And so you think we should just stand up and leave?" the second retorted, his grey eyes coupled with his chestnut hair, "The Tsuchikage gave us an order: keep Iwagakure seemingly active."

"I say this is a suicide!"

"Shut it up, both of you," the third muttered, hazel eyes and raven hair, before shaking his head, "We have to obey, or do you want to end up like 'The Prisoner'?"

Naruto merely did a gesture with his hand, and suddenly, the dark brown haired Iwagakure shinobi found himself merging with the ground, letting go out of his throat furious screams, that, however, didn't work, because his mind was already taken in a Genjutsu. The grey eyed once fell backwards, while the third one found himself in front of the tip of the Raijin no Ken.

"Now, I have…" and just as Naruto said that, the third one wet his pants, and fell backwards, fainting.

"I…I made him faint?" the grey haired Senju queried, giving a small kick to the side of the shinobi in question, who, indeed, seemed to have been knocked out like a light.

"It appears so," Kakashi muttered, "You do have quite a legend behind you."

"Kurenai-san, ask yours about this…charade," Naruto stated, as he began going through the papers within the office.

It took a couple of minutes, but afterwards, the Genjutsu mistress merely released the Jutsu, letting the Chuunin in question stare at the real Naruto Senju, in front of him, in the office of the Tsuchikage.

"Shit. She wasn't lying." He muttered, "Do I get to live if I speak? Please don't reap my soul, please, please, please, I'll tell you everything, just not my soul, okay?"

"Fine," Naruto rolled his eyes, sometimes, he wished he didn't let those rumors spread around like wildfire. It did work on a battlefield, but apart from that…

"The Tsuchikage gave us three the order to stay here, grab Genins and academy graduate, and use them to patrol around the village, make it seem like everything was fine, pull off a couple of henges to full people…and so on."

"Why?" Naruto asked, rummaging through the desk of the Kage of Iwa, but finding nothing more than white papers.

"We don't know: he just took off with all the available Chuunins and above, except for us three…"

"So, he left you behind and simply got up and left?" that was suicidal. Iwagakure was the hidden village per se. To leave it this much unguarded, during wartime, with spies everywhere…it was stupid. It was idiotic. It was completely mad…

Yet it was also perfectly reasonable if…

"He knew I was coming here," Naruto whispered, his eyes widening in shock, "The damn bastard knew it! That's why he evacuated the higher ups and let the small fries around! He wanted this to be seen as a slaughtering of innocents! The…The damn wicked bastard," a small chuckle escaped the Hokage's lips, before turning his gaze to the chuunin.

"Who is 'the prisoner'?" The Senju head asked, once more, his blue eyes narrowing as the barely repressed anger started to surge.

"It's…It's the Tsuchikage's son in law," the chuunin replied.

"Oh? And why is he called that?"

"Because he was imprisoned for trying to act behind the Kage's back."

"Obviously you don't know what he tried to do, right?"

"Actually…he tried a prisoner exchange with Konoha, but was captured before he could complete it," the air, in the room, dropped of several degrees.

"And I thought…I had taken care of every spy," a light growling sound escaped Naruto's throat, "where is he?"

"He's…He's not here, he's in grass country prison," the chuunin replied, starting to shiver, and raising his hand in a 'surrender' gesture.

"Kakashi, Kurenai, leave the village," Naruto muttered, as his Raijin tore in half the head of the begging Chuunin, "Ku-chan and I are going through with our threat," he added.

"Naruto…" but Kakashi's words fell on deaf ears, as the Hokage's gaze drilled straight back at the copy-cat's one.

"Obey your orders."

*Katsumi*

"Futon: Daitoppa!"

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Katsumi's air wave was united with Sakura's fire ball, generating an intense rolling sphere of overheated fire, that turned blue from the increase in temperature, before crashing against the enemy platoons, formed by no less than fifty Iwagakure shinobis…that fell like flies.

Maito Gai had been smashing through the thirty-seventh shinobi of Iwa, when he suddenly took a moment of time to reassess the situation at hand. Rock Lee had been doing pretty much the same as him, as Shikamaru hadn't even moved from his starting position, looking with perplexity at the scene.

"Sensei, this makes no sense!" Rock Lee exclaimed, "They do not pose a threat or a challenge to us!"

"They're Genins," Shikamaru pointed out loudly, as both Sakura and Katsumi resumed their formation close to the rest of the group.

"Yosh, how unyouthful of the Tsuchikage! To make us snuff out the flames of youth from such young foes!"

Shikamaru, on the other hand, was mumbling something, something that forced Katsumi to quickly turn her head back and stare at the shadow user.

"Repeat that."

"What? That we are a bait and diversion team for an infiltration team in Iwagakure? It's the truth…it's the only valid reason, we were grouped here."

As Katsumi sucked in a breath of air, she turned to stare at the general direction of Iwagakure, where she could faintly see a couple more shinobis coming to them from there.

"We could probably push all the way to Iwa, if the enemies remain the same," Shikamaru mulled, "which is stupid. Genins to stall us would be sensible, if the Tsuchikage would later reinforce them with Jounins to catch us by surprise, or use his technique to kill us from a distance…instead nothing…it's _not_ making any sense…"

"Maybe the distraction we provided was needed for this purpose?" Sakura queried, as her green eyes scanned the battlefield. It was the truth, the enemies were grouped together, scared, and probably only fear of dying for insubordination was what was keeping them in line.

"The Hokage's plan would be something visible from this distance, my youthful team," Maito Gai spoke, "It is something he told all Jounins, and trust me, we would feel it!"

"I don't like this…not, one, bit…" Shikamaru's words fell to silence, as soon, the ground began to crack.

It cracked from the direction of Iwagakure, as the village itself seemed to be the epicenter of an earthquake, but at the same time, a pure tornado of blue flames had been rising from within the village, forcing the Genins out there to turn in shock at the sight.

The skeletal appearance of the Kyuubi stood, in a sort of laughing posture, at the center of what once was Iwagakure, with a steady stream of pearly white spheres flying into its mouth, devouring them like they were nothing more than a snack. Katsumi felt herself being torn from within her guts, clenching her stomach area while doubling in pain.

"We have to leave," Maito yelled, grabbing Katsumi by the side, "The plan's in motion!"

Nobody actually stopped them, as Rock Lee turned to paste the few enemies in front of them, strangely the only one who could actually fight without feeling the syphoning of chakra from his body.

When they stopped running, they had already covered more than enough distance from Iwagakure to be nearly half-way to the start of corridor Beta.

"What was that!?" Rock Lee exclaimed, his entire body sweating by the effort of the battle and the run, and blood covering his bandaged fists. The boy was shivering, but whether it was from excitement, anxiety, fear or plain fatigue, it was difficult to know.

"Oniisan," Katsumi whispered, a trail of blood coming out from her mouth, "It was him…I…I felt it…"

**The Bones that are broken shall not be mended with my flesh! Feast upon them, strength it what you need!**

Internally, Katsumi was cringing, the voice always spoke to her every now and then, but usually it kept quiet…it was only sometimes that it perked up, and without father to fix her seal…she was just glad it hadn't yet escaped.

"Why would you feel it?" Shikamaru asked, curious and suspicious, "And why are you in pain? You weren't even harmed during the skirmish…"

"I…I don't know," she whispered back. It was the truth, she didn't know why her Kyuubi seemed to resonate so violently with the other one, but it was there.

**The Inner is coming to seek me, pathetical whelp, feast and grow stronger, or it will be your end! I shall claim your life, were mine to fall!**

Maito tensed moments later, when two blurs of speed reached them, before stopping a step away from the green spandex clad Jounin's kick.

"Gai, it's us," Kurenai spoke quietly, before her eyes moved to Katsumi, who seemed in pain, "Was she wounded? Does she need medical help?"

"No, I'm fine…really," the red haired chuunin barely whispered, before suddenly starting to puke the crimson liquid, her hands falling on the ground.

**Devour. Consume. Grow. Stop forcing my hand wretched whelp! I…**

Then, mercifully, the voice stopped, as a hand dropped itself on Katsumi's head, bringing her hair backwards so that she could puke easily and without trouble.

"Hush…" it was Naruto's voice, as the Godaime Hokage had arrived but a second after, and just as he did, Shikamaru's eyes narrowed on the scene. The Hokage had seemed unearthly pale, to say the least. His features looked sharper, and his eyes glowed of an eerily blue light. Then he had touched Katsumi, who seemed to have been in the process of retching out far more blood than she could actually produce, and the next moment, the Hokage had returned to his normal color of skin and eyes, and Katsumi had started breathing better.

Something was on. It was something that bothered Shikamaru, because the Jounins were looking, and yet they didn't even _seem_ to be looking. It was something that they knew, clearly, but that the others didn't know.

Meaning it was at least an S-rank secret. Shikamaru groaned at how troublesome the entire situation was, but said nothing. Better not start flinging accusation and theories with the Hokage, of all people, around. He was sure he'd get an answer, had he queried…but he didn't think he'd like having to keep secrets around.

"You alright now, Katsumi-chan?" Naruto whispered, now cradling the sixteen years old, as the blue eyes of the girl looked at him for a moment, before her face moved slowly up and down.

"Good, Iwa is no more, their supplies are in disarray, and probably, by tomorrow, I will have yet another nickname added to my Bingo Book entry," the Hokage spoke quietly, before letting a small smile cross his lips. Katsumi had peacefully fallen asleep in his arms, tired from the ordeal, probably.

"Hokage-sama…was it planned for there to be only Genins against us?" Gai queried, being perplexed at the phrasing of the Hokage, about there no longer being an Iwa, but first deciding to ask about something that actually worried him.

"No," Naruto spoke, shaking his head, "There should have been chuunins, or jounins even: you should have provided a quick enough distraction of a minute, or two, for me to reach the center of Iwagakure and unleash six tails of Kyuubi…"

"Sensei…That was six tails?" Sakura muttered, paling even more…six tails had destroyed an entire hidden village! What could all nine do!?

"Yes," Naruto retorted, "And I fear I have found another limitation on them too…speak of irony," he coughed slightly, before shaking his head, "Anyway, we'd better start heading back. We can go together, after all your mission is concluded, and ours too."

"Yosh Hokage-sama! We shall reach Konoha in one week, no, in four days, no, tomorrow! Or I will walk across the Hokage mountain using only my nose!" as Rock Lee exclaimed that, Maito Gai roared again about the fire of youths.

Soon, the sun Genjutsu followed, only to be abruptly stopped by both Shika's shadow binding and Sakura's double head-punch.

"Nice double knock-out," Naruto chuckled, looking at Sakura, the Kunoichi having already started to treat the bumps and the various little bruises around.

"Hai Sensei, Tsunade-sama taught me how to increase my punch's strength with chakra…said I was wasted learning Ninjutsus when I could be a great medical shinobi…I put her back in her place! Told her if I could learn Katon then I could learn Medic-nin jutsus too, and if she didn't like it, then I'd learn it behind her back!"

"Let me guess…she flung you against the wall?" Naruto asked, curious, as Sakura instead blushed sheepishly.

"No, she offered me a drink."

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered, turning to look at Kurenai, raising an eyebrow, now that he actually could connect the dots.

"Is Asuma-sensei in Konoha?"

"No," Kurenai replied, her voice growing colder by the second, "A Genjutsu specialist was required for entering Iwa…but it seems it wasn't needed at all…I just hope Sumire is alright, because if Ebisu just so left her out of his sight once…"

"I know where he keeps his Icha-Icha stash," Shikamaru replied, a small wicked grin on his head. He was the Godfather, after all…

"You monster…" Kakashi growled, "Nobody should harm these little babies!" the fact he was snuggling one was making everyone else sweat drop…but it was short lived, as Naruto stood back up, holding Katsumi bridal style, before retorting.

"We should move," and just like that, they did.

That hadn't been a pivotal point in the battlefield. It hadn't been a glorious battle that had earned Konoha victory. It had _helped_ but it hadn't been the finishing blow.

It had just helped marking him as the most blood thirsty monster in the history of the elemental countries. Naruto Senju, the slaughterer of Iwagakure.

It even fit him well, after all, even though he hadn't seen it, he had felt it.

The lives taken.

The lives destroyed.

The chakra threads being pulled out of their coils.

The screams of pain as their own skin rotted and their bones crumpled.

The buildings falling down, crashing under their weights, because they could no longer be held by rusting iron poles…

He had done worse than destroying Iwagakure…he had killed its very ground.

The worst part…was that he had enjoyed it, deeply within himself, he had smiled…and that was what made him feel far more tainted than anything, he had ever done before.

*Amegakure*

"Tobirama…do as I taught you."

"Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu — Kakuan Nitten Suishu"

And with that…Gaara cried in pain.

**Author's notes**

**This is shippuuden, shippuuden arc! And we all have things to do, plots to add, questions to leave unanswered, because readers love questions without answers!**

**Q&A**

**Naruto is 'not' Danzo. He is a bit like him, in the sense of being shrewd, but not too much, because he still values family (whereas Danzo valued Konoha above everything).**

**To better specify it: No, it wasn't Ayame that thought that phrase, in the previous chapter. Sure, it "COULD" have been her, but it could have been anyone at the table. You have the entire clans to pick off, it could have been even Karin, or Neji, or Kiba, or Tsume, or Hana, or Sasuke, or anyone. (except Hiashi, cause he wasn't there, or Hinata, idem)**

**The battle of Amegakure**** Next chapter!**

**Stop leaving cliffhangers at the end of your chapters, damn it! **** I know you love them just as much as I do!**

**That said, thank you for the reviews! They make me feel all fuzzy and warm inside…as I tear apart characters and kill them in horrendous ways.**

**Onto the great part of the notes:**

**An Omake!**

*Nidaime Gaiden*

Tobirama stared at the slot machine. The slot machine stared back at him: the symbols on it making it pretty clear just what had happened.

"No…it cannot be," he whispered, before taking in the incredibly strange streak of luck that had taken him, on that day.

"What could possibly go worse?"

He was in Otafuku Gai, playing with slots, under a Genjutsu, just to spend some easy time out, without problems, without questioning, only…doing stuff, seeing stuff, going a bit around the world in his immortal and indestructible body.

"Tobirama-sensei!" A voice squealed…oh, that was what could go worse.

He turned around, ready to bail, when he came head to head with his Kunoichi student. Only, this time, she was _young_.

"That's a Genjutsu, cut it off, Koharu."

"Sensei…you always said I was too young for you, now I'm all grown-up," the Kunoichi teased him, making the grey haired Tobirama shiver. She was sixty-eight, for Kami's sake, she shouldn't tease people: she should play the grumpy hag in a corner!

"Oh no…Not a chance in hell," Tobirama stood up, readying himself to leave, when the Kunoichi swiftly pressed her 'breasts' against his arm. They did look kind of solid though.

"I learned that solid Henge you always did sensei," she cooed, "come on…we can have so much fun!"

Tobirama stopped, once more, before suddenly falling down in a puddle of water.

"Fine…you want to play hard to get?" Koharu muttered, "Then I'll catch you so hard I'll break your spine!"

Then, the woman giggled, and ran off, just like a love struck teenager would.

From a nearby alcoholic cocktail, Tobirama popped out, resuming his normal form from the water in the drink.

"I swear…why do these things happen to me!?" before dashing off, in the opposite direction.

**Omake's notes:**

**They hold no real weight whatsoever in the story. **_**None at all**_**. They are here only for the 'Tobirama' fun.**

**If I sent shivers down your spine with Koharu's actions, then I did a terrific good job.**


	23. SH: Setting

Chapter Twenty-Third

It was night, in Konoha. As the stars brightly lit the otherwise dark and hidden village of the leaf, a familiar red-haired teenager girl was comfortably sleeping in her favorite resting place.

A pair of hands, clearly uncalled for, but yet coming never the less, lifted her up from her comfortable spot in the bed of her father, and slowly brought her to her own. With a light groan, Karin's eyes slightly opened, before closing once more, and nuzzling as much as possible against the man that was doing said feat. Naruto Senju had just returned home, to Konoha, in the middle of the night, and was dead-tired. It wasn't just the weight of the actions he had done, or the repercussions that were about to happen on a much larger scale, or the fact that they had practically rushed back, as quickly as possible.

No, it was the information that had transpired from that single _meeting_ with those three Iwagakure Chuunins that made it all far more problematic. As he carefully laid Karin to sleep in her own bed, since the teen had decided to once more take up the habit of sleeping in his, he tucked her in, before giving her the good-night kiss on the forehead, and turning to leave.

"Otou-san…" the red haired girl whispered, making the Godaime Hokage turn around, on his face an apologetic smile, "I still love you…not matter what," she murmured, before once more returning to sleep. As Naruto left her to rest in her room, she couldn't help but grin a bit, seeing how her father's aura had calmed down, probably now more at ease after her words. She could help him, not that 'stall girl'. Yet why couldn't he understand? She'd mull over this thoughts the next day, since, right there and then, she was too sleepy: her father had come home, so now she could rest at ease.

Naruto quietly moved to Yumi's room, entering it and carefully sliding to sit on the side of the bed where his youngest daughter slept. So what if they weren't tied by blood, and she was more an Uchiha than a Senju? She was his _daughter_. He had changed her diapers, and had cooed her to sleep more than enough times to know she was his little six years old daughter that shouldn't be toying with Kunais…and yet did nevertheless.

As he sat there, watching her sleep, his mind flashed back to the destruction of Iwagakure. It had happened fast, at least…hadn't it? Was there a Yumi-chan, just like his, somewhere among the ruins? Was there a body, a dried up husk of a four year old, a still body of a toddler, somewhere among the ruins? Ashes to Ashes, and Dust to Dust, yet what was there more to it that was making this seem completely different?

He had _destroyed_ Iwagakure.

He had _annihilated_ it. It was but a word, '_annihilation'_, yet it held within it so much meaning…so much meaning that many people glossed over without realization. It meant the buildings crumbling down with pillars of dust rising up to the clouds. It meant screams of agony, of fear, yells to the gods up high to save them, final thoughts of thousands of people, cries of children…it meant loss, destruction, blood…and it had been over in an _instant_.

A sickeningly _easy_ feat, for one such as him…was there somewhere, in the world, a man just like him that had a small girl of six years old, back at home, and spent time thinking about keeping her safe by battling a war elsewhere? Was there someone from Iwa's army, that had a loving family that now no longer could wait for him at home…because there was no home to come back to?

He gently traced his fingers alongside Yumi's forehead, watching as the small girl frowned in her sleep, before mumbling and bringing one of her tiny, at least for him, arms upwards, to scratch her head, before taking a more comfortable position to sleep.

She was so much at ease right there and then…would she still be like that, in the years to come, when she developed the sharingan? When she ended up on missions outside of Konoha? Would she still sleep peacefully, after killing her first man, or woman? Would she still be his little smiling daughter? He didn't want for her to suffer his own life. He had to end this war: he had to make sure wars like those never happened again…he had to break the hatred of the enemy…by wiping it out completely from the map.

He'd become the _king_ of murderers, the _emperor_ of slaughterers, his name would be used as a curse in the centuries to come and on his grave millions would spat…but he would _never_ have his daughter follow his path. Not as long as he could prevent it.

Was that the sacrifice that his father had done for him?

"_Father never hated you," Katsumi had whispered to him, one night, after everyone else had gone to sleep._

"_Katsumi, if this is…"_

"_Pictures," the girl muttered, "Behind every framed photo of me, there was one of yours, Oniisan. Behind every painting, there were albums of you sealed into storage seals. He never hated you. He loved you so much, he let you hate him…he became the sacrifice, to let you ascend. He became evil, to let you be good."_

"_Katsumi…"_

"_Let me finish," the red haired teen kept speaking, "I am not saying he didn't do things wrong, what I'm saying is that he shouldn't be viewed as a…as a monster…because…"_

"_Katsumi…" this time, the voice was closer to the girl, and it was clear it appeared creaked. As watery blue eyes met crying blue eyes, Katsumi stopped talking._

"_I knew all along…" was his whisper, coming from her side, before he enveloped her in a hug, "The Hokage desk had a picture, after all…and I saw behind it too."_

Still, nothing would change that day, the past was set in stone, and could not, should not, be rewritten. There was no secret jutsu, no amount of worshipping god or the devil, that would make the past wrongs rights, or that would find a way to fix previous mistakes. One had the present, and the future: nothing else.

Quietly, he stood back up to leave, only for Yumi's tiny, always compared to his, hands, move to grab his own one.

"Did I wake you up?" Naruto whispered, while sporting a small smile, as his daughter merely muffled a yawn, not even trying to cover it with her hand, before closing her eyes and rubbing her cheeks against the back of his palm. She was just that cute…and that just made him feel worse.

He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath, while trying to calm himself down, before slowly, but surely, sliding his hand out of his daughter's 'grasp'. The young girl was fast asleep, after all, and Naruto quietly, this time as a shinobi of his rank was able to, walked out, closing the door behind him.

He carefully moved to the studio, where he held the various letters addressed to him that he had yet to open, and the reports on Konoha's situation. He would have time, tomorrow, to take care of the rest…and looking through the mail, he realized he'd also need to buy a photo frame…there was a photo to put on his desk, after all.

The next morning came quietly, together with the rustling sound coming down from the kitchen, the yawns from awakening people, the normal noises from the street…and yet Naruto had spent a sleepless night, standing up and walking in circles. He had the power to destroy an _entire_ village. Just a split second of decision and bum…even _Konoha_ would be gone too.

He could _destroy_, he could _annihilate_…he could…he just couldn't sleep. There was this sort of frustration, in a crescendo, coming to him repeatedly in waves. Why were people _smiling_, in Konoha's streets, when others were _crying_, on the ruins of Iwagakure?

Why were people sharpening Kunais, on the trenches of the battlefield, when the blood spilt of their friends and partner, was still fresh on the very same dirt?

He had always killed, he was a shinobi, killing was his job, his objective…he knew he shouldn't be thinking about this. He knew he shouldn't be making it something incredibly complicated, when in fact it was something simple, _terribly_ so.

Yet…he had _murdered_ innocent, weak people who could not defend themselves. Was he any different from a common bandit on the road? Was he any better because he had a reason to do so? Was he anything more than a mere stain on the _honor_ of a shinobi? Was history going to remember him only as that, as a slaughterer, instead of a great man that freed a clan from slavery, that brought Konoha to a new age?

What was he going to be remembered as? What was he going to become? Did the Sandaime ever have to go through this? Did the Yondaime? Did the Shodaime? Did the…

"Stop it!" Karin had tears in her eyes, as she barged inside her father's office, watching him pace in the studio, his thoughts as dark as pitch darkness could be, waves upon waves of pure jet-onyx black crashing against few spare glints of light.

"Karin?" Naruto's eyes turned to his daughter, and at least in that moment, there was worry in his aura, instead of…of _that_, of those _thoughts_.

She was hugging him in tears the next second, crying her heart out because she _knew_; she just knew that he'd slip away and disappear, if she let him go.

"Stop that. Stop doing it. Stop it," she sobbed, "You're father. You saved me, you're kind, you're gentle, you help people without even thinking about it, you helped Neji, you love Yumi, you love the stall girl, you have an insane passion for ramen, you're loved by the people, Sasuke and Neji would die for you, the students you taught come by to speak about their problems to you, they trust you, I trust you, we all trust you and love you and no, I don't want to lose you to your own thoughts. So stop it…please…please just _stop_."

Naruto's eyes closed for a moment, as he hugged his daughter back, being always careful not to let his hands touch her hair, because he didn't want her to feel afraid, to be afraid, and she…

"You can pat my hair, you can ruffle it, you can grab it, cut it, tear it apart from my head, do whatever you want…but please come back, please…" as the red eyed girl kept on crying, Naruto sighed. She had kind of developed a mind-reading ability, as of lately…in truth she was just sharp, terribly so too. Maybe she'd give a run on the Nara for a Shogi game.

"We're going to be late for breakfast, Apple-chan," Naruto whispered, a small grin on his face.

"I'm fine," Karin muttered back, "As long as you're fine, I'm fine."

It was a dark blue, but at least it was no longer pitch black. It was a start. She had to make it blue once more, however. She had to make the aura back to the ocean it once was. She just couldn't let her father keep being like that. Whatever had happened, whatever his mission had been, he just shouldn't have gone on it. It had nearly destroyed him, and she would be damned if she left anyone do that to him!

"Do I get ramen for lunch?" he teased her, as he gently patted her on the shoulder, before Karin released the hug, and, dried her tears with the back of her hand.

"Only if you take a vegetable one…_one_," as Karin retorted that with a clearly forced smile, she turned to leave, before yelling out loud, "Last one in the kitchen is a slug!"

It took a moment, but Karin was already down, seated, while Naruto, on the other hand found himself holding Yumi under his right arm.

"You knew she was going to intercept me!" the Senju laughed, as Yumi merely giggled and Karin adjusted her glasses.

"Obviously," she pointed out, with a light nod, before turning to Junko, who had just then finished preparing breakfast.

"Junko-san, we'll be going out for lunch today," the red haired girl said.

"Alright: do I still need to prepare the Bento for Yumi-chan?" the housekeeper asked, a small smile on her face at the heartwarming scene of familial happiness that had gone off in front of her.

"Nope," Naruto spoke with a bright smile, "If Yumi-chan goes to school without a hitch, she'll get ramen lunch with us!"

"Then I get to skip the afternoon?" Yumi queried, her eyes clearly showing off her excitement, as she was bouncing on the chair, to say the least.

"I did not say that," the Hokage retorted, ruffling the girl's spiky hair, "There, Jutsu of the Ruffled hair!"

"Aw! Oneesan! Say something!" as Yumi pouted and Naruto laughed, Karin merely sighed, before shaking her head.

Her father needed this, familial love, understanding, and comprehension. She'd kick the council in the balls next time they tried to force him to do something he didn't want to do, or the Tsuchikage, because it had to be his fault to begin with.

After breakfast, Karin waved goodbye to her father, heading to the hospital, while Yumi, albeit pouting at the realization that she actually had to go to school, dashed off, for once willing to reach the academy.

Naruto shook his head: he'd catch a nap later on, first he had to reach the Hokage's tower…while passing in front of the ramen stall.

As he crept inside, he found Ayame, smiling at him widely, and holding her ladle just so casually resting on her shoulder…ready to pounce.

"So, everything was fine, and yet you were broody, this morning?" Ayame asked, a sweet, terribly so, smile on her face, that preannounced murder most foul, in the kind way of the term, were he to lie.

Not that he would, he'd downplay the problem, obviously.

"Can't speak about it," Naruto retorted, "Hokage's secret," he added with a nod, "I suppose Karin passed by here?"

"Yeah, she said, and I quote, 'Don't let him eat ramen this morning, and I might start considering you a female-friend material'…since it's a step up from 'stall girl', I think I'll take my chances on defending my ramen from you."

"You…You _cruel_, _cruel_ woman," Naruto spoke with mock-shock, while feigning being mortally wounded at the heart, "You wound me so much…I think I'll die."

"You know, I think there is a cure, for that…" Ayame replied, with a small smile, leaning forward over the counter, "And obviously, it's the _best_ cure there is, right?"

"What would it be? Ram…" a kiss on the lips later, and Naruto inwardly sighed. Yep, he had been played. Now it was either claiming his secret girlfriend's kisses were the best medicine, or insist on ramen…and he didn't have a death wish.

"I feel cheated," Naruto muttered, "I expected a kiss _and_ ramen, together, to be the best medicine," he added, only for Ayame to form a tick-mark on her forehead, before quickly adding, "Obviously your cooked ramen, since it's filled with love, right?"

There, the threat had melted off. So, another quick kiss and he was off. He'd have to go with the secret stash of ramen within the Hokage's office.

Unluckily, as he entered the office, the snickers coming from his Anbu guards were more than enough to put him off…his secret stash had been destroyed!

"Fine…Dog!" as he snapped that, an Anbu with a dog's mask on appeared next to him, awaiting orders.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?"

"Bring me five pork ramens and two beef ramens from Ichiraku, do so without being seen, but leave the money on the counter…it's…B-rank, yes."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

"You just did not bully an Anbu in getting you ramen," Itachi spoke quietly, appearing from a corner of the room, in a murder of crows.

"And you just didn't pull a Danzo-trick on me, Itachi," Naruto retorted, looking back at his friend with a small smile, "So, everything was fine, while I wasn't here?"

"Yes…but," and there Naruto's smile died off, "There's something strange going on alongside our borders: we lost contact with the patrol guards near Amegakure."

"Only that?" Naruto asked back, as Itachi merely nodded.

"Then we have bigger problems, Itachi…I need to have the grass ambassador in my office, as soon as possible: someone tried a hostage exchange, without contacting me."

Itachi raised a puzzled eyebrow, before giving a quick nod.

"Hai Hokage-sama," as he turned to leave, Naruto slowly added.

"Itachi…I always give two strikes to people, before batting them out…if…if it's _her_ again…please don't hate me."

"Naruto…" the Uchiha heir spoke quietly, "If _she_ was the culprit…then I'll kill her myself."

"Thank you, I know I can trust you."

It was like that, that Itachi _winced_…but luckily he had given his back to Naruto, and because of that he was sure the man had missed the subtle gesture…he hoped it was the case.

*Amegakure – The battle*

"Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu!"

At the roar of the technique, Zabuza's eyes widened in fear, before looking to his side, where, sure enough, an entire division had been all but vaporized to fine _dust_. The technique of the Tsuchikage had turned the tides of battle more than once during his past years, and right there and then, Zabuza knew he had to do something fast, or the morale would drastically drop down a few levels.

"OLD MAN!" the roar came from the sky, as Deidara, and for once the Demon of the Mist actually wanted to bless that Akatsuki member, dropped a couple of white birds in rapid descent, letting the explosions rock the enemy formations. Of the Iwagakure shinobis, strangely, many crumbled to _dirt_, while only a few actually yelled in pain for losing limbs.

'_Those are rock clones, a lot of them too!'_

"Scatter and use suitons!" the yell of Zabuza was met with the conjoint noise of steps detaching themselves from the formations, while going through hand signs to generate streams of water. Many Amegakure shinobi jumped in the air, releasing the poison coated senbons loaded in their umbrellas like a barrage, against the enemy forces.

Only for said enemy forces to counteract with Doton shields and rock lances.

Of one thing, Zabuza was glad: Oonoki had taken his interest in hunting down Deidara, leaving thus him able to try and make a difference in the battle that was being done on the land.

"Come on! Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" as the water released from the other shinobis twirled around him, it swiftly turned into a stream, propelling itself forward across the ground in one big cascade, much like a gigantic waterfall, resembling a giant wave.

As the wave tore apart a group of unprotected shinobis, it also made a few other stagger, granting him the time to wield Kubikiribōchō, and howl.

"Meet the executioner's blade!" as Zabuza's sword swung, cutting with its mass and with the propulsion from the man's charge, even the rock gave away through his powerful swings. It was a good day as ever to fight, and die, for the things he believed in…and at least Haku was safe.

As down on the ground the water turned red with the crimson blood of the dying, up above, in the clouds, Oonoki was flying, staring right ahead of him, where Deidara was standing on one of his clay birds.

"You interrupted poker afternoon, old baboon," Deidara taunted, atop his clay bird, as both of his hands seemed to have disappeared within a long-sleeved dress.

"Deidara, there is nothing a master hates more, than seeing his own pupil fall so far…do you really believe I wouldn't come to cleanse this den of marauders, of scum, of missing-nins?" Oonoki retorted, as his right hand covered itself with rocks.

"Don't speak bullshit: you're here because we're a nuisance to your plans, not because you're a crusader of righteousness! Don't strain your back too much fighting, old man!" Deidara sing-sung, before pushing his clay bird forward, only to be met with said rock punch straight in the face. In that moment, the bird and the blond missing-nin exploded, but so too did Oonoki, revealing it as merely a rock clone.

"Oh no, you don't!" Deidara screamed, while in free fall, as a swarm of small sparrows flew towards a particularly dense cloud, where they exploded to reveal a half-covered in rock armor Oonoki, who had his hands in the process of completing his Jinton.

Deidara's body twisted to the side, as another clay bird flew closer to him…he just had to reach it in time…and then, flinging a constant stream of clay out of his hand-mouths, he combined it into a net, casting it at the far away bird, and using an extremity of said net to swing closer, and away of the completing Jinton, that detonated just a second after the Iwagakure shinobi was out of reach.

"You missed me old baboon!" the blond haired man snorted, before climbing once more atop his bird, grabbing the small net within his hands…and starting to remodel it: no need to waste perfectly good and useable art.

"Stand still, youngster!" Oonoki exclaimed, only for Deidara to show him his tongue, and then have his clay bird fall downwards, straight through the Sunagakure's lines.

"Tremble! Be afraid! Recoil in despair! Cower in awe! And cry your heart out, because my art… is an EXPLOSION! _**C4!**_"

The next instant, two things happened. The first, was that Oonoki, having fallen down to catch up with Deidara, found himself the target of a swarm of things that resembled mosquitoes, that suddenly detonated with enough strength to throw him off trajectory, forcing the Tsuchikage to leave a rock bunshin to take the rest of the damage. The second was that Deidara's entire body began to bubble up, increasing in size, until, with a titanic explosion that soared through the air, removing the clouds from the very sky, and leaving behind destruction and devastation in its quake.

The Sunagakure's divisions that had stood back had been decimated. More precisely, the medics and the line of command…Oonoki took a deep breath, slowly landing on the ground, near the back of his army, where the medics' tents were...Deidara had been smart in distracting him, and yet deal a crippling blow to his ally's forces. A real pity, as always, that the best one always ended up a bit crooked.

"He chose suicide? Commendable, to make me waste so much chakra…why not take me out, using Suna as the shield?" as Oonoki's head reared through the gears, he couldn't help it…but think that that wasn't the last time he saw Deidara.

"Get me patched up fast!" the Tsuchikage ordered to an Iwagakure medic, with silver hair and a pair of round glasses, who nodded quickly. Kabuto, after all, had a job to do.

As that battle had raged on the skies and behind the enemy's lines, on the frontline of Sunagakure, an army of puppets battled each other.

"Grandmother," Sasori commented, as Chiyo merely scowled.

"Nephew…I came only to fight you," with that, the elder woman whispered, letting a scroll fall open on the ground, "Shirohigi: Jikki Chikamatsu no Shū!"

As ten white clad puppets burst from the scroll, Sasori merely shook his head, _within_ his puppet, as well as _with_ his puppet.

"Fight, fight, always fighting…this is what brought Suna to its knees, and yet you don't see it!" Sasori snarled, before a set of chakra strings suddenly sprouted from Hiruko, his armor puppet.

"Let me show you, grandmother: the technique that I used to annihilate a country! Akahigi: Hyakki no Sōen!" there was _passion_ in Sasori's voice, and for once, Chiyo missed a breath. What had heated her grandson so much, to actually show emotions, for once?

"Sasori, you seem… _different_… what happened to you? Sanbō Kyūkai!" as the question was asked, even with a relatively amused tone, the next moment three of the puppets attached themselves in a strange combination, and a strong gust of wind began to appear in the center of them, actively making them able to suck in a large amount of puppets at once, before clogging.

In that instant, a couple of puppets wielding Katana made short work of those three, who couldn't defend themselves after said attack.

"Akatsuki happened," was the quick reply of Sasori, who seemed to be sporting his usual smirk on his face.

Chiyo didn't flinch, instead moving just so delicately a chakra thread, to send puppet three and four on the attack. The number three attached its hand to the Four, before sending it, like a sort of spinning blade of doom, against the opposing army.

Yet, as it soared through the enemy puppets, a lucky hit from Sasori's tail of Hiruko smashed the number three, and in the following split second, a group of puppets banded against number Four, removing it from battle.

Puppet Five and Nine had been fighting side to side, the first using its protruding cables, to pierce and stitch together Sasori's puppets, while the second had been using a cleaver sword to detach their heads. Yet, they fell to a load of senbon needles, coated in a strange corrosive substance that destroyed their wooden frames.

It was then, that puppet two unleashed a barrage of bombs, creating an opening for puppet One and Ten to pass through, and with One smashing with his giants fist at the upcoming remaining puppets, number Ten was suddenly wielding in his arms buzz saws, that he used to cut open Hiruko's carapace.

In a second, a young teen emerged from within it, swiftly jumping away, as his remaining puppets clamped together against number two and ten, before detonating in a glorious explosion.

"Deidara would be proud," Sasori commented, "To mix both arts…don't tell him that, obviously, or he'll keep on boasting about it…"

"You did not kill them all!" Chiyo commented, as number One closed in with his punch…only for a wall of iron sand to rise, and block the incoming attack.

"That's…" and the old woman, finally, _saw_. Her grandnephew hadn't aged a single year since his disappearance from the Sand. The Sandaime Kazekage had disappeared too, a couple of years later…and there it was, now a puppet of Sasori.

"This is my old self's selfish desire for perfection," Sasori muttered, "With life, everything changes…and yet I so horribly failed, years ago, to understand my path…"

"What are you talking about, Sasori?" Chiyo didn't understand: did her grandson…change? But if he did, in what way? And if he actually _did_ change for the best or at least for something better…why was she still fighting him?

"I fight for a future where puppets can be built without being used for war," the red haired boy spoke quietly, "for one where no children is left alone with toys devoid of love," he added, "for that future, I will do my stand here, grandmother…please…_forgive_ _me_."

And with those words, the iron sand _rose_ and kept increasing in volume, and width, until it became a veritable tsunami of iron mixed with normal looking sand.

"The sand is poisonous…I know not of your reasons behind being here…but I cannot let you pass, Satetsu Shigure" and with those final words, the sand launched itself forward, like a wave. As it did, puppet number one came back to Chiyo's side, widening himself as much as possible, to protect the elderly woman.

The shinobis that had watched the fight from behind could but curse their lucks, as they tried the same to escape.

"Kikō Junbū" was Chiyo's low murmur, as her right hand brought forward a shield of chakra, to protect her from the iron sand that still seeped through number one's defenses.

What was she fighting for? For the Kazekage? Hadn't she already decided, years before, what her final objective would have been, in her life? Hadn't she decided, by creating that jutsu, just what she intended to do? Then why…why was she hesitating?

"Sasori…let me ask you a question," Chiyo started, as the iron sand realigned itself near the puppet user, who stood in wait, "if you could turn back time itself… what would you change?"

"Myself," was the reply of the red haired puppeteer, "I did so many wrongs…and I'll never fix all of them…"

"Thank you, Sasori…that was all I wanted to know…" and with those words, Chiyo's left arm shot forward, unleashing from beneath the sand, where she had lay in wait, Haha to Chichi.

"Mother and…father…" both puppets' blades serrated themselves against the red haired teen, holding him still, as Chiyo moved forward.

"You know…I came here fully prepared to die, taking you with me," Chiyo started, "I thought I'd meet my stupid nephew, look him go around, killing Suna shinobis because of some great plan of world domination, because of _hate_, because of _anger_, because of a million different reasons, but I didn't expect to die here, doing my nephew one last favor…I'm sorry, Sasori…I should have been with you, not leave you alone with wooden toys," and as the only working hand of Chiyo rested upon the boy's chest, the elder woman from Suna closed her eyes.

"Kishō Tensei," and then…Sasori _screamed_.

As the blades from his father and mother puppets departed from his chest, it _bled_, before closing up. As the tail that he had kept hidden detached itself, and was thrown out, a spine grew in its place. As the venomous sacks, the senbons, the secret weapons, the wooden arms, all splintered and destroyed themselves, flesh, bone, muscles, replaced them.

As his organs returned and his body shook, Sasori felt pain, and his heart began to beat, and pump blood through his veins, that he had so long ago cast aside.

As saliva coated his mouth and mucus his stomach, as sweat and tears came, as his hair actually grew instead of being a mere choice of design…the puppeteer's eyes cast themselves on the now limp form of his grandmother.

And as Akasuna no Sasori fell on his knees, letting the puppets around him fall down limp…he couldn't help it: he _cried_…for the death of his grandmother.

But as one side of the front took that heavy blow, another wasn't going as well.

Kisame, especially, was starting to think Kami hated him.

"So, explain to me this predicament," on one side, there was him, the ex-swordsmen of the mist, with his Samehada in hand, on the other, instead, was some sort of big, round, lump of fat of an Iwagakure shinobi, "How the hell did they seal the three tails in you? Did you _eat_ it?"

"Hey! That's not a nice thing to say!" Akatsuchi had never been so proud of being an Iwagakure shinobi, like the day the Tsuchikage had made him the Jinchuuriki of the Sanbi…how could this sort of shark-man offend him!? How dared he!?

"Isobu is offended too!" he added, before letting his right hand encrust itself in a mixture of earth and corals.

"Wait a second…you actually know his name?" Kisame was shocked, to say the least. He couldn't fathom just how this sort of big mess of fat had managed to pull off training in using his Bijuu's abilities, in a short time, and was in talking terms with his Bijuu…it just seemed…impossible!

The Iwagakure shinobi merely punched on the ground, letting a wave of rocks and crystal depart from where he had hit the ground, heading straight towards the swordsman, who quickly rolled to the side, before closing in for a swing. Only to be met by protruding coral pikes that rose from the ground itself, forcing him to cut them and then jump backwards, to avoid the crushing rock fist of the shinobi in question.

"I can't get close, that he uses those damn pikes, I can't attack from far, that he uses those damn corals, he's got the chakra of a three tail…damn: I should start learning Raitons…" Samehada actually growled her agreement, as the blade was hungry, and yet was being fed rocks and corals.

"Anyway, now that the big bad meanie is taken care of…" As soon as Akatsuchi said that, Kisame raised an eyebrow, before quickly going through a set of hand signs, and releasing a thick jet of water from his mouth, to propel himself upwards, like a rocket. The next moment, a dome of earth and corals shot upwards from the ground around him, trying to enclose him within, but failing to do so.

"Aw you got away!" as the Iwagakure Jinchuuriki jumped, reaching for the side of the dome and then running upwards, Kisame growled his anger, before deciding to try and charge in again…only for his feet to get stuck on the half-dome.

Corals had grown naturally to block his movements, and as the giant lump of fat that was Akatsuchi closed in, a rock and coral covered fist ready, the shark man…chuckled.

From a nearby puddle, on the dome, a Mizu Bunshin of Kisame appeared, his right hand aiming straight at the Iwagakure's shinobi right shoulder, where, seconds later, a sphere of water appeared, blocking the man within.

Kisame grunted, letting his Samehada remove the chakra from the corals at his feet, and then jumping down from the dome, back on the ground below. Seconds later, an explosion of coral and rock happened, freeing Akatsuchi, the originator of said explosion, and making Kisame wince.

He could dally all day long, but he should end this quickly, after all. He was a bit sad for the lump of fat, however…he might have accounted to something, had he not been brainwashed in serving the Tsuchikage.

"Got to do what a man's got to do, Suiton: Bakusui Shōha," as Kisame's mouth released a veritable tsunami of water, the shark man rode the wave straight through the Iwagakure's forces…giving his back to Akatsuchi, and _'tactically charging in the opposite direction'_, knowing full well that the vast majority of them would merely duck underground, or use Dotons to create walls…but those who didn't actually go beneath the ground would be in for a nasty surprise.

Sharks of chakra flew within the waves of water, biting the back of the Iwagakure shinobis that had used half-shields to cover themselves, jumping through the domes of rock and drowning to their death the shinobis within, while others merely chewed upon those caught in open ground.

The Amegakure shinobis merely merged with the water, disappearing from view, while Zabuza, having more expertise, and knowing that particular trick…joined Kisame atop the wave.

"Just like old times!" Zabuza laughed, as he beheaded an Iwagakure shinobi that had somehow managed to create a small cliff beneath his feet, while Kisame chuckled back.

"The Demon and the Monster of the mist, you recall that mission to Marsh?"

"How could I forget it? We scared the shit out of them all! Kirigakure No Jutsu!" and then, the mist grew from the very same wave that was sent forward.

It was like watching a fog bank, roll forward with the same speed as highly compressed steam would be able to, only worse, because it was coupled with the hidden tsunami, and two swordsmen of the mist hidden within it.

"Doton: Doryūheki!" as a group of Iwagakure managed to generate a high enough wall of rock, effectively halting the attack, they didn't expect the mist to roll off on them, and, from within, the two swordsmen to jump out and begin their slaughter.

"Kisame! I think we have overstayed our welcome!" Zabuza yelled, his eyes scanning at the form of Oonoki, in the distance, standing back up in flight.

"Yeah and…"

"Don't you dare leave me hanging!" Akatsuchi yelled, coming in from the side, atop…a rock and coral golem, whose fists were as big as a house.

"Oh shit," was the quiet swear of Kisame, as one of said golem's fists crashed down on him quickly, leaving the earthen wall completely smashed on its quake.

"That had to hurt," Zabuza whispered, before running straight into the mist. He was a Demon…not an idiot.

Kisame had barely managed to jump to the side, using Samehada to deflect part of the blow, and avoid the splinters from embedding themselves, using the sword also as a makeshift shield.

Zabuza had seen the shark man survive the blow, and right then, he just had to sound the retreat, hoping that the village would provide a better battlefield, at least for ambushes.

Gaara, on the other hand, was quietly watching, atop a small sand cloud, the useless attempts of Kankuro, and a group of Suna shinobis, to pass through his defenses. Maybe, one day, years before, their attacks would have caught him by surprise.

Maybe he would have relied on his defense, shielding himself and waiting for the moment to drink their blood. Right there and then, however, he didn't care. Even though Kankuro had his puppets, all that Gaara had to do was cover them with sand, break the chakra string, and destroy them. Even though the Sunagakure shinobis had their Kaze no Yaiba, he had his sand and sand armor…it simply wasn't a battle they could fight against him and win.

Their top fighters were busy elsewhere, and there was nothing that seemed to let Gaara think he'd lose the battle.

Arrogance always comes with a price.

In retrospect, he should have thought it was too _easy_, to merely fend off Jounins of Sunagakure that easily, or even his brother, who had been named Kazekage in his stead…yet, he had thought it was simply his strength.

So when he lowered himself on the ground, to listen to Kankuro's strange speech of hate, about Bijuus, and try to at least make him change his ways…the trees sprouting from the ground, surrounding him into a wooden sphere, and entrapping him…caught him by surprise.

The wood wasn't normal wood, instead it seemed to be sapping upon the red haired defenses, and his sand seemed to be useless against it.

Letting one of his sand enhanced punches crash against the wood, he found that no matter how deep the gash was, it simply would regenerate in a matter of seconds.

"We got him trapped," the haughty voice of his elder brother spoke, from outside the wooden sphere, "let's bring this demon close to his den, so he can hear his friends scream when Oonoki destroys Ame…"

At that, Gaara's eyes widened. It couldn't be that they actually…were there to destroy Ame? There was no reason to!

As the red haired boy kept on trashing, and clashing, a voice in the back of his head came back, whispering.

**We need their blood.**

"_No, I'm done with you! I will not…"_

**You misunderstand…as always.**

"_I do not! You are mad, you seek blood and you whispered in my head for most of my life!"_

**You would have done the same, trapped in a body that is not yours, an ant, when once you were a god.**

"_Why would I have whispered such atrocities? I wouldn't have…"_

**You would have tried to escape. Like you are now…that is why I'm speaking again. Do you feel powerless? Do you feel what it means, to be trapped without escape? This is my life, this has been my life, and this will keep being my life until the day you die…so, we need their blood.**

"_I don't trust you!"_

**You don't need to…you just need to accept my powers, and break free…but you will need their blood.**

"_What are you talking about!?"_

**Souls and flesh, feast upon them for greatness. Have the soul thus feast on the flesh, have the flesh thus feast on the soul. You have my powers, my 'soul'. Their blood makes you stronger, I never lied on that…you just never **_**understood.**_

"_I'd still need to get out of here, however."_

**Just accept…time is running.**

Gaara's mind stopped, as he began to think, while his ears picked up the noises coming from outside. There were explosions, crashing sounds, there was the gurgling of water, the blasting of fire…it was a war all around, and he was feeling weaker by the second.

"Tobirama…do as I taught you," the voice came from an older man, clearly, but it wasn't one that Gaara had known, at all…

"Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu — Kakuan Nitten Suishu," this voice belonged to a younger one, a child, maybe.

Just as the voice finished speaking, branches shot out, hitting the red haired Jinchuuriki in the stomach and with that…Gaara cried in pain.

*Orochimaru*

The new body felt _good_. It was smooth, easy to walk around, even with those '_lumps'_ of fat in front, the muscles were well toned and thus acceptable. Furthermore, with the Byakugan, he was able to see through walls, at incredible distances, and anything and everything was within his reach now, oh the wonders he would learn of, he would steal from, the things...

The only thing strange was the light jingle he was hearing at the back of his head. It had to be one of those damn bells: when he first founded the village, he seemed chose a casual theme for it. 'Sound' came out as the winner, and thus he had begun attracting people with the same interests. The negative side was that a lot of shinobi actually trained with sound, meaning that bells, jingles and noises were a common thing…and his keen earing caught them all.

As his hands went through the motions to cover himself with living flesh, a voice mirthfully spoke when the job was finished, making him freeze in his tracks.

"_Guess the snake got owned by Hinata-chan,"_ the voice was…it came from his side of the vision, where Tayuya was standing, her flute resting on her shoulder.

"You're right," the voice…_his_ voice, spoke, "Want to know the fun thing? He hadn't realized it yet," and with that, Orochimaru _screamed_, because he wasn't in control of his body, no, he wasn't in control of the body to begin with. He was trapped, but how, why!?

Hinata winced, for a moment, with the now semblance of Orochimaru on her.

"He realized it now," she chuckled, "Well, Tayuya-chan…let's go, shall we?"

"Yes Hinata-chan," Tayuya replied, only to be forcefully grabbed by one of her breasts by Hinata, who eyed her with fury.

"It's Hinata-_sama_, I'm your _master_; you're my _pet_…understand?"

"Y-Yes, Hinata-sama," Tayuya replied, gulping as she barely suppressed a moan in her throat. Hinata merely nodded, before turning to leave, just so carefully swaying her hips…that were those of Orochimaru, since the camouflage jutsu had been placed.

"Good, let's get out of the village…oh, right," as Hinata, in Orochimaru's body, pointed at Jirobo, just outside, she ordered with her best stern glare, "You have a mission: go with the rest of the Sound Four, Tayuya excluded, to Konoha, and kidnap Yumi Senju…bring her here, alive, and…do not fail me."

For a moment, Jirobo stopped breathing, looking at the man in question. Then he paled, and nodded quickly.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama!"

As the fat sound Nin left, Tayuya kept her face neutral, following, in silence, as Hinata packed her stuff, and then set off the village. Nobody dared to stop the two, not because it didn't matter, but because it was Orochimaru that was heading out, and when the snake sannin did, nobody stopped him, no matter what.

Once the two had left a relatively good amount of distance between them and Otogakure, Hinata grabbed her Orochimaru-face and pulled, destroying the dead skin, and removing it, to reveal once more her feminine figure.

"And that's done," she muttered with a wicked smile, "With this, Otogakure will be no more soon…now, ask away, Tayuya," Hinata remarked, knowing that eventually she'd have to answer the girl on their direction.

"Where are we going, Hinata-sama?" the red haired sound-nin asked, curiosity clear in her voice.

"To Sangaku no Hakaba, north of Otogakure," Hinata replied, "We are to meet…a friend there, who can help us with my revenge," she added, a small, cute for Tayuya, but wicked for everyone else, smile on her face.

"Against…that man?"

"Yes," Hinata replied, "Now let's make haste…if you can keep up, I'll give you a prize, when we stop to rest," the Hyuga girl winked at the red-haired kunoichi, before dashing off. She knew Tayuya would do her best to keep up and not slow down…but she wasn't going to let her get any prize out of her. Now she no longer needed her for much…just some company.

*Konoha*

So, the meat bag was there, in a corner, as always whimpering. The scene had been old already after a year, and yet she had never been relocated anywhere else. She had always stayed there, taking care of 'her', making sure everything was precisely like ordered. Who cared that she had started to call the 'girl' a thing? She was nothing more than a stress reliever; only, those usually came with some soft rubber to press, while here, she had flesh and blood to mold.

The Iwagakure kunoichi no longer even answered to being called, but, after all, three years of prolonged torture can do that to a lot of people, and Mitarashi Anko had been tasked with _breaking_ the girl, and keeping her broken, certainly not drink tea with her.

Maybe she'd have tea with dangos in the afternoon, together with Yumi-chan?

She didn't feel like doing much to the girl: after all, what was there still to try? The only order was to leave her face in one piece, nothing more, probably to make it easily recognizable. Yet, after three years of war…not a single request for hostage exchange.

And now…now Ko…Naruto, the Godaime Hokage, was in the same cell as the 'meat bag', his back against the wall, quietly _watching_.

That unnerved her because she didn't want…she _never_ had wanted to show this side of her to anyone. The side where she brought out all of her frustration, all of her pent-up anger and hate, and unleashed it all…it was selfish, wicked, evil maybe, but it was justified by the laws of the Hokage, it was something she was paid to do, thus…she wasn't evil, she was in the _right_.

She was doing what was requested of her.

"Hokage-sama," Anko muttered to Naruto, before grabbing one of her kunais, and turning to stare at Kurotsuchi, who, however, didn't even seem fazed by the glint.

"Your hair has grown again, toy-chan!" Anko smiled wickedly, as she moved closer, letting her kunai twirl in her hand, "My…we need to cut it, right?"

Anko knew she wouldn't be getting any screams that day. It was a long-term work now. First, she had to fake pampering her, for a while, until she could feel her loosen up and relax. Then she'd start the pain again. Otherwise she'd just clamp up and become unresponsive…and that wouldn't do.

Just as Anko's kunai was about to touch the girl's hair, Naruto spoke quietly.

"Why was she brought outside, one year and a half ago?" the Senju queried, his blue eyes scanning for every single movement of Anko's muscles, from those in her shoulders to those on her face.

Anko blinked, for a second, before remembering that day.

"Well…she had clamped up pretty bad…tried suicide…so I came up with an idea, Saturday morning, of feigning her release, she didn't get further away than the hallway, however…she was already back in here, screaming her lungs out, five minutes later…" Give hope, and then smash it away and crumble it till nothing remains.

"Only that? No outside influences?" Naruto queried, once more, making Anko raise an eyebrow.

"No…why?"

"Just asking," the Senju replied, shrugging, before moving closer to Kurotsuchi, and slowly kneeling right next to her, "Ku-chan."

The next moment, Anko took a step backwards, as the ghostly blue furred head of the Kyuubi emerged from Naruto's stomach, and bit straight ahead into the girl's neck, before disappearing a moment later. Straight there, on the girl's shoulder, stood nine blue nines, that flickered for a moment, before disappearing from view and Naruto, briefly closing his eyes, saw the second mirror.

"Good."

"K…Na…Hokage-sama?" Anko queried, perplexed, and repeatedly biting her tongue to avoid being overly familiar.

"Can you keep a secret, Anko?" he whispered, looking at her with his blue eyes, those blue eyes that had made her feel loved years before, and that now were nothing more than a painful torture and excruciating remembrance of what she had, and that she had lost.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," she muttered back, furiously nodding…she had betrayed him once: doing so again…wouldn't have boded well…and she would have rather died, than try to break his heart again.

"I hope so…I'll leave her to you," Naruto whispered, before standing up, and leaving. When one removes the impossible…he just hoped he was right, because if he wasn't…

He shook his head furiously. No, he'd do what he had to…no matter the consequences. As he walked through the streets of Konoha, reaching for Ichiraku's ramen, and thus prolonging his time outside 'taking care of a problem', he couldn't help but sigh. The hospital had been rebuilt between the Hokage's tower and Ichiraku ramen. Thus, as he walked, if he wasn't careful enough, he would end up being intercepted by…

"Otou-san," Karin snapped at him, her voice with the same admonishing tone that she used with Yumi when she broke something, her right foot tapping on the ground rhythmically, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Along the road?" it wasn't a lie: he was going along the road, to Ichiraku Ramen. As long as he didn't say something else, maybe he could still reach his oasis of food.

"Going to the gates to see team Au?" the name was merely the most common vocals in the surnames of the four chuunins within said team had in common, namely Senju, Uchiha, Yamanaka and Tamura, which was Tenten's surname. It was either that, or hearing both Sasuke and Neji's whines on whose name had to be first, or letter had to be first, or...things like that.

"Oh, they came back today? Good!" Naruto's eyes glimmered for a moment, before sporting a smile, "Are you on lunch break?"

"Obviously," Karin retorted, "I was just about to go with Sakura-chan to the gates, and then make bets on who would step inside first."

"I bet on Tenten," the Hokage pointed out, as he stood in front of his daughter, looking at the hospital's doors opening up, to let Sakura come out, dressed in her work clothes.

"Karin-chan, we have to get back in one hour, so we'd better be quick…oh, Hokage-sama!" as Sakura made a quick bow in his direction, Naruto sported a mock pout, before replying with a chuckle.  
"No Naruto-sensei? I feel wounded…nobody loves me…" as he removed a phantom tear from his right eye; instead Karin rolled her eyes, grabbing her father by the arm.

"Yeah, you are not getting any ramen while on my watch, I'll be holding you close, you know? The Bunshin trick won't work twice," she muttered, with a bright smile…that had some wickedness in it.

"Bunshin trick?" Sakura's eyes lit up, as she made a cute pout, "Please Naruto-sensei, what is it? A jutsu? A variable of a jutsu?"

"It's just a basic application of Bunshin, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied, dismissing the issue with his free hand, "misdirection, and then appliance, while swiftly moving behind the target and then heading in the opposite direction, thus having a brief window of opportunity to do what one wishes to."

As to confirm that, Naruto Senju appeared on the other side of Karin, an empty ramen plastic bowl in hand.

"Ayame-chan sends her regards, by the way," he added before dumping the bowl in the bin near the hospital.

"Otou-san…" Karin's hands clenched tightly, as she pinched the Mizu Bunshin that fell down in a small puddle, "you're incorrigible!"

"Yes, nobody keeps '_me'_ away from ramen, nobody and nothing," Naruto replied with a knowing nod, as the three began to walk towards the gates.

"One day, you'll have a heart attack," Karin muttered, "And that day, I'll have you tied to the bed in the hospital, and will hold you there for the remainder of the year."

"Keep dreaming, Apple-chan," the Senju's head replied with a wink, as their leisure walk ended a couple of minutes later, with them in front of the gates.

"Are you sure they'll be passing by here soon?" Karin queried, "I do have to look at that mysterious patient's charts…"

"Mysterious patient?" Naruto queried, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes: that old hag has been researching some blood samples of a mysterious patient, and I'm not going to trust her again, not after that last trick of hers…" Karin growled, before taking the chance to hug Naruto once more, "I'll never, ever, trick you Otou-san!"

Chuckling nervously, Naruto patted the red haired girl on her back.

"Okay, but you can let go now, you'll never find a boyfriend if you keep being a daddy's girl," just as soon as the Senju's head said that, the Senju's daughter decided to deck a fist straight against her father's stomach, that obviously bonked against his armor.

"You! What's wrong in being a daddy's girl, huh!? I'll scream it to the entire village if I have to: I lov…"

"Sensei!" the twin high pitched scream, coming from the 'Au' team reporting in, forced Karin to shut her mouth, thankfully so, because she did blush a couple of seconds later, thinking how she had been saved in extremis from saying something completely embarrassing.

Both Neji and Sasuke dashed forward, trying to reach the gates first, with Ino behind them and Tenten last. Only for the weapon mistress to grin, fling a chain to capture the three, and then enter first, while hauling the three behind her.

"Hokage-sama…I'm sorry for these idiots," she politely said, while bowing, "Team Au reporting in."

"Good, anyway, I'm sure you'll all be hungry, so how about…" as Naruto tried to speak, Karin's gaze became murderous, forcing the Hokage to flinch, "Yakiniku?" he hazarded, hoping it was the correct answer.

"You keep low on the oil," the red haired girl hissed at the Godaime with barely controlled anger, "And maybe I won't force Junko-san to prepare boiled cauliflowers for dinner."

"Sensei, is my brother deployed? I need to ask him something," Sasuke queried after a while of walking and small talk, his features a bit pale, albeit he didn't seem wounded, or bleeding.

"No, I sent him out to Grass country on a diplomatic mission, something you needed to ask?"

"Well…it's just that…white eyes one day decided he wouldn't look where he was walking, and ignited a set of explosive tags," Sasuke spoke quietly, "the next thing I saw was that the ass had placed a Kawarimi with an henge, but at the present I didn't realize it…so I kind of went on a murderous rampage, obviously because I was pissed off I couldn't beat the Senju's ass anymore."

"I told you: he's the gay one!" Neji exclaimed, swiftly moving next to the Hokage, "Sensei, please protect me from the Uchiha!"

"Senju! Anyway…after the skirmish…my eyes turned like this," as his sharingan plopped into view, and then later on moved to a second stage…Naruto took a deep breath, because there, in Sasuke Uchiha eyes, stood the Mangekyou sharingan.

"I don't know if you remember your mother's words, that day, when I was in the hospital, years ago," Naruto began quietly, "But that's the Mangekyou sharingan…however you are hereby forbidden from ever, _ever_ using it, do you understand me?"

The tone was so serious that Sasuke flinched, as his sharingan returned to the three tomoe state, before his eyes got back their normal dark color.

"Sensei?"

"It enables the use of powerful techniques, like Amaterasu, a fire that cannot be stopped, Tsukuyomi, a Genjutsu that cannot be halted and many others…but it also robs you of your sight, Sasuke…so I want you to promise me you will not, under any circumstance except imminent death, use the Mangekyou."

Sasuke faltered for a moment, before querying.

"But Itachi-nii…"

"Your brother had to transplant _three_ pairs of Uchiha eyes, Sasuke," Naruto replied sharply, "and that was because Danzo had stolen them during the slaughter. So, whatever happens, do not use them…please."

"I…I promise, Naruto-sensei," Sasuke replied, "But…how did they activate?"

"Oh," Naruto popped a smile, "It's when you suffer through the same level of anguish of seeing a loved one die in front of you, or a best friend…you know, Neji might be right on your preferences…"

"That's not true! Sakura-chan is…" and then the Uchiha bit his tongue, while the pink haired girl next to him blushed slightly, before letting her jade eyes settle on Sasuke's face…before quickly looking elsewhere.

"I called it," Ino sing-sung, as she sped forward.

Just another normal day in the village…for how long would it last?

*Grass Prison*

Hōzukijō, the prison of Kusagakure stood quietly perched atop a mountain, surrounded by deadly whirlpool, lethal traps, and that was ruled with a quiet, but fierce hand by the Aruji, the master of castle, Mui.

Said Kusagakure Jounin shinobi wouldn't have normally agreed, to let a prisoner kept in check by one country to receive visits from a shinobi of another, but in this case, he had been forced to comply. After all, the offer he had been given had been something he had wished for since years before…and there was no way he would refuse it.

Nobody would ever know, after all, and even though the Tsuchikage would probably be angry…what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. So, as he stood at his desk, he waited, patiently and quietly. The silence was disturbed by a mere knock at the door, and by the entrance of one of the prison's guards.

"Mui-san, there is a Konoha shinobi at the gates, demanding to speak with you," Mui raised an eyebrow, before nodding and standing up.

Did they already have the box of ultimate bliss' key ready? They had merely offered their help in the research of it…but to actually have found it already…maybe they had it in the first place, and prepared themselves to deliver it after talking with the prisoner?

As he carefully walked down, and reached for the gates, he stared at the dark raven haired man on the other side, the Konoha forehead protector on.

"Do you have the package?" Mui queried, as the man in front of him raised an eyebrow.

"Package? I have yet to speak with the prisoner…" Itachi, for it was the Uchiha heir, replied.

"I was told to expect one Konoha shinobi, a raven haired Uchiha…he already came by," at Mui's words, Itachi's eyes widened in shock.

"He who?"

"Wait…you're the assigned one!? Guards! Look at the Iwagakure prisoner's status!" as the gate was opened, Mui and Itachi literally flew across the ground, instead of merely running. The Uchiha followed the master of the prison through a set of hallways and corridors, his mind dead set on at least catching a glimpse of the impostor, before he fled.

As they reached the cell, there stood a wall, a melted off wall, with black flames sprouting from it…and the dead corpse of Kitsuchi, the Iwagakure son-in-law.

Mui's eyes bolted in shock, as Itachi entered quickly, scanning for anything, on the man's corpse, that could be of help…and instead, there was nothing. He hadn't even defended himself, and his eyes were open, even in death.

"This complicates things," Itachi muttered, "Somebody killed him before he could speak…somebody who knew I would arrive…but who?"

It was then, that a thought crossed Itachi's mind. Maybe the spy in question was someone close, close to the Hokage, close to the Uchiha, close to the Jounins, close to Konoha and skilled, terribly so…it couldn't be…

Itachi's next thought was suddenly snuffed out as he felt a sharp and burning pain cover his entire body. The pain spread across his entire body like liquid fire and, turning around, the Uchiha heir couldn't help but stare with shock at Mui, who had barely finished whispering…

"Katon: Tenrō"

"W…Why?" This was madness, in its purest forms. He had dropped his guard a moment, the shock of the revelation too great, and now he had been captured as a prisoner…but why? Mui certainly had to understand that this wouldn't bode well with Konoha...and especially with the Godaime.

"I have gone too far, to lose just now my objective…instead of a prisoner, I'll exchange a hostage," as soon as those words left his lips, Itachi's eyes flared with the sharingan, only for his entire body to burn in pain. So the seal reacted to chakra, even the smallest trickle would make it flare up and force him down with severe pain…but he wasn't an Anbu, or even a Kage-rank shinobi for nothing.

Gritting his teeth, Itachi stood, wobbling, back up.

"Release me," the Uchiha scion whispered, "Or face the wrath of Konoha."

"With the seal in place there is nothing you can do, accessing chakra will make you burn up alive," Mui replied, calmly, before turning to leave, "and if you leave the castle, it will activate nevertheless," he added.

Moments later, the sharingan stopped being active, and indeed, to Itachi's senses, the burning sensation dwindled to a stop.

If the master of the castle wanted to play a game with him, then so be it…he just hoped he'd manage to free himself before the end.

Sword in hand, he pushed himself straight against Mui, only for the seal to activate again, sending him to crash on the ground.

"I can also activate it from a distance, did I forget that?" the man added, not even turning around to stare at the limp form of, supposedly, the right hand of the Hokage, "There is no escape from here…take his weapons, and then throw him in isolation..."

The guards frowned, before gulping down their saliva and quickly obeying. Even though this had probably broken every law on treating foreign diplomats, Mui controlled the castle, and everything, and everyone within, was his to command as he saw fit.

The Uchiha was thus grabbed and pushed into one of the locked wooden cells, to stay there in wait, but yet…something told them this had gone far too easily, even with all the recent mess of the dead prisoner.

The Uchiha was dragged through a set of hallways, passing through a good amount of cells, prisoners who taunted him and guards who sneered at him. His eyes locked for a moment on where the control panels were, in the prison, before returning to the task at hand: looking at who could help him in this mess.

Itachi didn't bother speaking, not until the guards near him eased up, considering him a meek and subjected prisoner. Quietly, his hand produced a small blade, kept hidden mere centimeters under his forearm, a nasty trick he had learned from a missing Nin, a surefire way to avoid being completely devoid of weapons…albeit it did have him risk infections, most of the time, if the blade wasn't clean when inserted.

The guard outside felt a noise to his right, and just as he turned, the blade rammed itself deeply into the man's neck, hitting the spine with deadly precision, and killing him on the spot. Using his right arm to keep the guard uplifted, Itachi grabbed the keys from the man's waist, before quietly unlocking his own cell, and dropping the guard in his place.

Grabbing the guard's uniform, a mere button jacket of a dark green color, and a metallic helmet, he quickly made his way through the cells, silently reaching for the commands at the end of the hallway. Once he did, a quick jab to the neck of one of the two guards, with the throwing of the small blade to the second one, and the panels were at his mercy.

Two seconds later, the cells popped open…and chaos erupted.

With the chaos, Itachi literally disappeared among the crowd of prisoners, a small smile on his face…if only Anko was there…oh the fun they'd have.

The noise of the flintlock guns going off in the distance did little, to stop him from his intended mark.

She wore a sleeveless kimono over a green top that only has a long green sleeve covering her left arm along with the green bandana. Both her arms were bandaged up to her elbows. She also wore black trousers with shinobi sandals, and, to many, she would have seemed no more than a casual prisoner, maybe a bit less ruff.

However Itachi wasn't 'the many' and his eyes could not be fooled. Indeed, when his hand touched her shoulder, he swiftly removed it, to avoid having his wrist broken by the quick spinning the woman did, and the move that would have pinned his hand in a dead lock otherwise.

"You're Anbu," Itachi merely whispered, narrowing his gaze, "Your objective?"

"Assassinating Mui…and you're ruining everything," the Anbu hissed back, "Now he'll put the lockdown on the prison."

"How do you remove the seal?" Itachi asked, seemingly unfazed.

"Killing him works," the silver haired boy retorted, "But there is no way you can…"

"That's easy," it was a moment, and Itachi disappeared again, leaving behind a dumbfounded Anbu, whose name was Ryuzetsu, that tried to come to terms with the strange raven haired man that had been in front of her mere seconds before. Certainly he was jesting. There was no way he'd be able to get close enough to Mui to kill him, of all things, before his seal flared up and burned him alive.

A moment later, Ryuzetsu found herself in the courtyard, where, sure enough, Itachi was staring straight ahead at Mui, the two merely looking at each other.

"I should have known that it was too easy, to trap the right hand of the Hokage," Mui whispered, "However, why coming out in the open, like this?"

"You can't kill me," Itachi spoke quietly, "Whatever you wanted from the Hokage requires me as the exchange…and trapping me…was foolish."

A second, a battle that lasted less than a second, happened in the courtyard that day.

Black flames sprouted from the very body of Mui, turning him to ashes as small flickers of smoke started to appear on Itachi's skin, only for them to disappear, since, with the death of their maker, they would not stay.

In an incredibly tense, and eerily silence, Itachi slowly walked back into the prison, while the guards, and the prisoners, made way for him.

The small drip of blood flowing down from one of the Uchiha's eyes was left unnoticed, because the shock was there.

Nobody trapped Itachi Uchiha, and lived afterwards to tell the tale. Mui shouldn't have been so lax in taking security measures, all in all.

*Battle of Amegakure – Second Part*

The mass exodus had begun in earnest, through the use of the boats and the various ships that Amegakure possessed, and that were being put to good use. Amegakure had a large lake, that protected the village on one flank, and thus they did not possess battleships, but mere fishing boats that were, however, wide and armored…a remain of Hanzo's paranoia.

Haku stood at the docks, helping people walk safely and using her ice to create slightly tall guard rails, to avoid people falling in the docks' water, or out of the ships.

Temari, instead, had a group of barely ten Amegakure shinobis, and was probably the last line of defense, should the S-rank missing Nins that composed the bulk of Akatsuki fail to grasp enough time…while Konan, instead, seemed to have disappeared.

As explosions rocked the first section of the walls, Haku didn't know whether to feel relief, or worry, at the sight of Zabuza arriving with a wide gash on his chest.

"It's nothing," the demon of the mist muttered, shaking his head at Haku's tries to at least bandage the wound, "We need to get those boats moving to the other side of the lake, and then out of here. How many trips will they need?"

"Two, at least," Haku replied, just as Temari appeared near the two, holding her battle fan ready.

"Zabuza…Gaara?" at the question, the demon shook his head.

"I don't know, he took to fight Suna shinobis…seemed he had the advantage too, but then…I stopped looking, don't know."

A quake made everyone, among the civilians and the shinobi, come to a halt. Temari's gaze turned to just barely outside the village's walls, where a sight that still haunted her dreams stood.

Shukaku, the Tanuki, the Ichibi, the one tailed beast…was there.

"**Blood for strength, flesh for soul, feast and be done!**" the roar echoed throughout the village of Ame, the enemy shinobis, and straight into the hearts of everyone, as dread and fear filled everyone…Temari more than the rest. She had seen the Ichibi go rampant, once, when Gaara had been targeted for assassination by his own uncle. That night, she had never forgotten it. Yet…this Ichibi…it seemed different. For once, it wasn't made of strange golden-like flesh with blue veins, but instead seemed to possess a golden hue, and looked largely immaterial, like made of…chakra.

Secondly, it seemed to recognize friends from foes, as the sand of the tailed beast had all but formed a veritable bridge, from the docks to the other side of the lake, with a message written upon the sand that read but one word: _'Hurry.'_

"We'll ask him later," Zabuza decided, before giving the signal for everyone to retreat, those on the boats to depart, those not on the boats to take the bridge.

Just in time, as with a sudden glow of white light an entire section of Amegakure's walls came down in dust, leaving nothing behind…Oonoki had taken to the battle once more, and this time, he was coming for them.

"Haku," Zabuza muttered, looking at his apprentice, while stopping his run just meters before reaching the start of the sand bridge, "if he aims at the bridge, it's over…I'll take him."

"Zabuza-sama?" Haku looked at his master with surprise…why was he speaking like he was about to…the next moment, a sharp hit on the back of the head sent the ice release user on the ground, knocked out. Then, the Demon of the mist turned to face Temari, who had watched the scene perplexed, and, wordlessly, handed the girl over.

"Listen to me…if anything happens to her…I'll come back and kill you myself," and with those words, Zabuza was off, sword in hand.

Meanwhile, Oonoki, for once, was cursing whoever had built and designed Amegakure. Iron pipes, electrical cables, traps, his only choice to reach the heart of the village was to literally use Jinton to create a narrow and straight path. Which led to ambushes from the forces of the village hidden in the rain that still lingered around, ambushes that were easily dealt with, but not before they could take out more of his troops.

He had lost a great deal of chakra, fighting Deidara, and even though the medics had patched up his bruises, they had obviously warned him not to stress his back too much. Yet he had to finish this…he had to finish this before it went out of hand.

Oonoki of Both Scales had been a lot of things, in his life, but the one that he had carried out, for all of his life, had been his headstrongness and his clear grasp of political maneuvers. To what seemed like suicide, to him was a calculated plan.

He knew that without the Jinchuurikis to protect Iwa, it would be a matter of time for the Hokage to come personally to deal the finishing blow. With the information he had received, he had been able to pull off one last majestic stunt. He hadn't come to Iwa with Suna to win the war…no.

He had come there to snuff out all hope for peace in the elemental countries, because if Iwa had to fall…then it had to fall together with the rest of the shinobi world.

If the Kyuubi caught the bait, Iwa would have laid in ruin, and the political backslash would cripple severely the land of fire, granting Kumo and the other lands a reason to attack. If he didn't, then he wouldn't earn anything from that village, and his army would return stronger than ever…but he knew the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki would destroy Iwagakure.

He knew it the day he decided the plan, alone, within the boundaries of his mind. He hadn't come here to conquer Amegakure, no matter what Sunagakure had said…he had come there to crush Ame. Only half of his troops had participated in the battle…the other half lay in wait, just on the other side of the lake of the land of rain, ready to intercept the civilians, that were escaping.

Nobody would come out of there alive, and the fault…the fault would be decided by the victor. The one who won chose the truth, the one who lost abode by it. If Iwa won, then Akatsuki would turn out to be nothing more than a den of missing Nins, who only worked for their benefits and had to be removed for the common good of the elemental countries. If instead Iwa and Suna lost, then they'd be forgotten, his army would become nothing more than a band of shinobi without a home, but with a great deal of hate towards Konoha…and eventually the leaf village would fall.

If the Hokage didn't take the bait…then his army would return to Iwa, and maybe seek peace, if they ended up defeated here…but he'd go out with a blast…something his student Deidara would have actually approved.

Oonoki was old, before being anything else…and old people need to leave their way to new ones. Akatsuchi had been trusted with the three tails: the stupid idiot was actually one of the most promising Jinchuurikis, for some strange and twisted reason. Maybe the less neuron one possessed, the best Jinchuuriki one was? The Hachibi's training had actually made him think that only idiots could be Jinchuuriki…

As his feet took him across the empty streets, covered in slight rubble, Oonoki's ears caught the telltale sign of a man, a broad one too, coming closer to him, as a light mist began to creep around him, and the few Iwagakure shinobi that composed his battle guard.

The first one fell within a moment, and the blood splattered on the ground, as the blade swung, cutting the air and leaving nothing more than curls along the mist as it walked its path. The second was a Jounin, and was prepared as the blade sprung, but wasn't prepared at the strength behind the blow. The kunai broke and so did the neck.

The third was a Tokubetsu Jounin, who dropped on the ground, avoiding the swing, but taking straight to the face a prolonged kunai, special Kiri facture. The fourth barely turned to run, and the kunai embedded itself in his back.

It had been swift and merciless, and then the sword of the Demon of the mist dropped down on Oonoki, who raised his arms, covered in stones, to block the blow, before actually pushing the parry away from him, with a strength Zabuza didn't think the man could possess.

Flinging his sword to the side, not wanting to give the old man any respite, he was terribly surprised, when Oonoki…actually followed him in speed, ducking under the swings of the blade, dodging, blocking it repeatedly, and making each attempt seem easier than the previous, like his own movements had become more sluggish.

Two more Iwagakure Chuunins joined the fray, albeit not seeing in the mist that surrounded the two fighters: they still wanted to help the Tsuchikage. Kunais in hand, the first one barely managed to discern a shape that he found himself crushed by a rock punch in the stomach, while the motion allowed Zabuza to cut straight through the man, his vest, and nick at the Tsuchikage's chest, letting small sparks fly where the metal blade grated against the rock surface.

It took Oonoki a second, to understand his mistake and think an apology. There was no time for words, as his hands slid on the ground, a hole formed straight beneath Zabuza's feet, a slimmer of hope of catching the Demon by surprise.

The sword quickly pierced the ground, bringing Zabuza to use it as a lever, to swiftly get out of the hole, generated by Oonoki's technique, and bring his left shoulder in the fray, literally ramming his side against the enemy, and sending him backwards.

"It's…It's been a while," the old man muttered, coughing, "That someone faced me in close combats…the Yellow Flash was the only one with the guts to do so…"

"You did something to Kubikiribōchō, didn't you?" Zabuza growled, letting go of the blade and extracting a pair set of those Kiri kunais that had an elongated, and curved, blade.

"G…" 'Good' never left his mouth, as he quickly ducked under a flurry of blows. The blade of the demon of the mist was heavy, and that just meant that without using it…Zabuza became fast. The twin kunais seemed to dance in simple, basic, yet deadly motions against the Tsuchikage, that instead was forced to use his earth release more and more, to avoid the potential death from blood loss.

Oonoki was having fun, in that moment. The heat of the battle, the adrenaline of losing one's own life… they came rushing within him, and he didn't even feel his back in pain any longer! It was, quite frankly, the moment he had waited for.

In all of his life, this was how he had planned to go out.

Yet, in the flurry of blows of Zabuza, he gave himself an opening. One that Oonoki of Both scales exploited, and that was all the older Tsuchikage needed, truly, to end the battle. His fist merely transformed from a covering mallet to a spear of rock, and with that, the demon of the mist bled from his open side.

As blood began to seep, Zabuza began to flinch, the pain from the torn muscles getting to him, as his eyes fatigued to keep themselves open, all the exhaustion from the previous fights wearing off on him, just like they did on the elder Kage.

"You're going to die here…will it be worth it?" Oonoki spoke softly, as both of his hands came crashing down on the man's head, having him slowed down a lot more, thanks to his altering of the kunais' weights.

Before the Demon of the mist exhaled his last breath on earth, with his head becoming paste, for a second…the Tsuchikage was sure he had heard the feeble reply…

"_Yes_."

And then, the explosive tags strapped around Zabuza Momochi, demon of the hidden mist…went off.

*Pain*

For a second, Nagato's eyes looked at the horizon, before returning to the task at hand.

"Shinra Tensei," he whispered, as the assigned path pushed away yet another pile of rubbles and ruins, while Roshi and Han took care to steal from the sea what land they could, and reinforce the foundations of the bridge they had carefully walked upon.

The Nibi Jinchuuriki had barely come back with a boar, for food, when Tobi, of all people, materialized right next to Nagato.

"How is project Atlantis going along?" The masked man queried, looking at the scene in front of him.

"Pretty well," Nagato replied in a low whisper, "However…are you sure we can trust her?" As he asked that, his eyes pointed towards a peculiar red haired woman, who was wearing what appeared to be a black Jounin vest, of the same facture that those of Konoha had, only with the Uzumaki whirlpool embroidered in gold at the chest level. Her eyes were a deep violet color, and she seemed to sport battle tattoos on her arms, since she was wearing a sleeveless shirt beneath the vest.

"She's your family after all, Nagato…we were lucky to find her here, of all places…and she agreed with little trouble."

"Strange, considering your history…"

"We just came to terms…I attacked them to save the Jinchuuriki from their village, after all, since they'd make it a weapon otherwise…and yet I failed…something that will not happen again," Tobi whispered, his single sharingan eye, the only one visible behind the mask, showing itself for but a brief moment.

"Is there anything else you need, Tobi?" Nagato asked, seeing how the masked man was still lingering.

"It appears I underestimated Oonoki's shrewdness or Naruto's darkness…if they keep this up, there will not be anyone to save…it's disgusting, seeing beasts fight and kill each other's cubs in an attempt to make the other suffer more."

"Oonoki? Did he charge against Konoha?" Nagato queried, perplexed.

"I'd tell you…but then you'd insist on doing the _right_ thing, while the _best_ thing would be to finish project Atlantis," Tobi replied, shaking his head, "I trust your judgment, but not all your emotions."

"What happened…Madara?" Nagato hissed, venomously so, to the masked man, who merely looked at him again, before replying.

"As of today, Amegakure has followed the same fate of Iwagakure: razed to the ground…together with their civilian population…Gaara, Deidara, Sasori, Zabuza, and everyone that was left behind…are nowhere to be found. Zetsu managed the report, but we lost their army while stalling the…"

Nagato's answer, to Tobi's words, was disbelief.

He looked, from his 'throne' born of his pain, to the masked man, who slowly and quietly told him the report of Zetsu…and he didn't know when, but he actually started to cry.

No sobs escaped his lips, no shoulders began to shake…but tears began to fall down his eyes, continuously, until everyone else stopped in their doings and moved closer, trying to understand just what had happened.

"No…" was the meek whispered of the red haired man, who slowly shook his head, "No…No…Ame was strong, we had patrols, we had defenses, we had…we had weapons, electricity, we…"

"Somebody tipped them off. Even though we changed most of the routes after Kabuto's defection, someone else tipped them off…"

"So we have a spy among our ranks," Nagato snapped, his eyes narrowing, "But who?"

"Somebody at the top…" Tobi replied, his eyes scanning the remaining Jinchuurikis, "where is Fu, to begin with?"

"She went patrolling: she's the only one who can fly long distances and disappear quickly…you aren't suspecting her…are you?"

"She'd be the only one able to avoid the guards by flying off, and I have invested too much in this project to be left with nothing at the end of it. If she did commit the deal, if she betrayed the organization…"

"I understand," Nagato whispered back, "I'll use it."

"Good," and with those words, Tobi disappeared once more.

*Tobi*

"So, what brings you here, in my laboratory, little darlings?" the masked man spoke with a bright and cheerful tone, as Hinata and Tayuya stood on their guards, barely having reached the clearing before the entrance, and yet immediately blocked by the strange orange-masked man.

"I overheard Orochimaru talking of you," Hinata spoke, "He told of how much of a backstabber you were, and of who you truly served…"

"Hum? What are you implying, little girl? Naughty, naughty girl! You should be punished…"

"I came to offer you a deal," the Hyuga whispered back.

"A deal? And what would it be, child, that you threaten me, Uchiha Madara!?" as his voice grew far more serious, Hinata smiled, while Tayuya, instead, began to sweat…and not because of the heat.

"I think you will like to know that I can have the Hokage, outside of Konoha, and in a most suitable position for you to capture…together with the other half of the Kyuubi," the once Hyuga added, a coy smile plastered on her face.

"Oh? Both halves? Now that is interesting…if I didn't already know of who the second half is," Tobi retorted, a kunai appearing in his hand, "Now give me a better deal, or say goodbye."

Hinata gritted her teeth, before starting to ponder on something else…what could she offer, more than Naruto Senju, on a silver platter?

"Another Uchiha!"

"…Repeat that," Tobi whispered.

"There is another Uchiha. Mikoto Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha...and Yumi Uchiha…I can deliver Sasuke Uchiha to you," she whispered, "I will deliver Sasuke Uchiha to you."

"And how would you do that?" the man sang, the kunai spinning in his hand.

"I know how to place cursed seals," Hinata replied, "and they have been bettered…now there is no longer a risk of death on the subject," she added, carefully.

"Hum…and why would he follow?"

"Mind control…pain, the seal doesn't only make one stronger…it makes one compliant, and grants the owner total obeisance on the marked."

"So…you could mark anyone, huh? Now this…this is interesting…you'll just have to tell me _more_…"

Hinata smiled, while relaxing her posture…deals with the devil were easy, if you kept your best aces hidden.

**Author's notes**

**In the previous story, I was told that I kind of 'accelerated' the end. So, while I'm trying my best to keep things moving, I'm also trying my best to keep them slow…it adds to the suspense. **

**Is Tobirama 'evil'? Who knows, but certainly a kid is a kid, easily manipulated.**

**The 'aftermath' of Amegakure will be next chapter, with its consequences.**

**Ah, if there is yet to be seen any difference in treatment for Naruto, it's because news need to travel. I was never a fan of 'Did X, suddenly everyone knows' that is the common 'metagaming' aspect of every Dungeon and Dragons gameplay session ever.**

**Digital cookies to who guesses where project Atlantis is located.**

**Digital Bacon to who guesses which character lied the most in this chapter (it's easy!)**

**Digital pie to the one who guesses who is the spy in Konoha…but if you spoiler it in the review, I'm coming to hunt you down!**

**Author's last words:**

**The previous chapter, I referred to Neji as 'Hyuga', while in this I'm using 'Senju' for the most part. Now, one way to see it is that Sasuke is used to calling Neji 'Hyuga' and has kept the surname, thus the author was bullied in using it, the other was that, like muscle memory, an author that writes of Neji as 'Hyuga' keeps it along the way, even though it changed.**

**Try writing Naruto stories, and then suddenly changing the protagonist's name to something else…the first few chapters are a nightmare of correcting, (Trust me, I'm currently trying)**


	24. SH: Preparing

Chapter twenty-fourth

The sea glittered under the light of the sun, as white clouds lazily flew in the air. Seagulls' screams pierced the air of the beautiful morning, in New Kirigakure's harbor, and yet, everyone was preparing for war. Ships were filled with supplies, armaments, and shinobis. People were waving goodbye to their loved ones, from the docks, as the battleships began their motions, helped by their steam engines and the wide and lengthy white sails.

Mei Terumi, looking over the scene from her Kage's office, at the top of the Mizukage's tower, kept a frown on her beautiful face, her eyes darting to the side, where Chojuro stood, seemingly fidgety.

"Chojuro," she muttered, "spill it."

"Mizukage-sama," Chojuro exclaimed, jumping literally to attention, "It's nothing."

"I told you to call me Mei-san, and it's not nothing: you're fidgety."

"Is this the right thing to do?" the swordsman of the mist asked, his eyes not leaving the scene.

"It is. We cannot provide help to the _real_ Amegakure, until we take care of Kumogakure."

The blue haired man stood quiet, once more, his eyes nervously casting themselves everywhere, but on the woman's face.

"Chojuro, you know why we have to attack Kumo…I told you once already," the woman replied, pushing away from her face a strand of her hazel hair.

"Hai, Miz…"

"I'll kill you if you say it again," Mei replied, snappishly.

"Hai, Mei-san," Chojuro answered quickly, only for Mei's only visible eye, since the other was hidden by the fringe, to still keep on staring at the man in question.

"And why is it that we attack Kumo?" she asked him, displaying a terribly sweet smile.

"Because they're one of the villages who still has a Jinchuuriki, and could potentially be our downfall?" Chojuro queried.

"No," Mei retorted, sighing, "Listen, I'll say it just once more…" the Mizukage stood up, pointing at the map of the elemental countries with her fingers, letting them slide along the coast of Kumogakure, then that of Shimogakure and that of Yugakure.

"The northern islands of the land of Water have been subjected, since times past, to raids from 'brigands' who called themselves 'corsairs'," Mei spoke, "they held their bases close to Kumogakure, and, by giving off a profit to the Raikage, managed to avoid the shinobi interference on their jobs…"

Chojuro nodded, recalling that part with ease. The Kiri battleships couldn't be everywhere at the same time, and the corsairs seemed to always know where those ships went, thus making it incredibly difficult to come up with a patrol route. Many times, ships pursuing had to turn around, because the corsairs had entered the land of Lightning waters.

"The way we fixed the problem was to hire mercenaries from the land of the moon, who would, with their insignia, be granted travelling rights within Kumogakure," Mei added, "however, since a couple of years ago, that has stopped. We're sure it had Konoha's hand in it, but we couldn't quite…prove it, so we were forced to chew on it…that was probably payback for demanding reparation money after the stunt their fourth Hokage pulled on the lot of you," she muttered, grabbing a kunai and slamming it straight ahead in the middle between Kumo and Kiri.

"Here we have placed, a couple of months ago, since the blood bath of Iwagakure, an advanced contingent of troops, in wait. Now, we're going to send in those battleships, on a corsair run…but with the order to keep going until they reach Kumogakure. Five days later, and the advanced contingent will start a blitzkrieg all the way to Kumogakure…passing by the land of Yugakure, and by then, the army of Kumo at the front," pointing at the line that stood traced with the tip of her finger, "Will be attacked from the flank, and destroyed."

"But…why?" Chojuro's words left his mouth before the man could keep them prisoners, and with that, the Mizukage rolled her eyes, before turning to her desk.

"Because, unless we take care of Kumogakure, we cannot launch an attack on Sunagakure…and since Suna is now busy taking care of her wounds, the land of lightning will have no allies, and Konoha will stay out of it, especially the mass murderer himself," Terumi's words hit more nerves than one would have thought, as Chojuro's eyes clouded for a second, recalling what had happened when the news had gotten around.

At the start of the war, the diplomats of the various countries had been told to leave Iwagakure by Konoha, it had been at the very beginning, but since it hadn't been protocol, nobody had actually done that, except Sunagakure, who at the time was still an ally.

The result had been that, once the blood bath happened, the Godaime Hokage had walked scot free of murder of diplomats…since he had preemptively warned them that attacks on Iwagakure might damage their own forces.

It had been flawless, prepared even, to the point of making various Daimyos considering cutting down funds on their villages, if they engaged in the battle between the two principal individuals.

Using Grass country, Konoha had barged straight through Iwagakure's front, and from there one day, the Godaime Hokage Naruto Senju had strolled through, and had annihilated the shinobi village of Earth Country in the blink of an eye. Only, the village had been empty of the entire chuunin and upwards force, but plenty with children and women and civilians…all refugee of the war.

That was the point where the reports claimed that hell itself had retched out the Kyuubi's own skeletal appearance, to feast upon the souls of the people in there. No matter what, nobody could comprehend what the trick was, and thus it had been added, to the already increasingly titanic bounty on the Godaime Hokage, the notice to _evacuate_ on sight. His father never had more than the 'escape' on sight.

The Tsuchikage, Oonoki, had died later, fighting in Amegakure and being ambushed, while Sunagakure had been forced to capitulate, following the death of their Kage, by the hands of the Ichibi Jinchuuriki. The two armies, both without heads, had thus decided to claim the ruins of Amegakure…and that had been the problem.

Konoha immediately clamped down, acquiring most of Iwagakure and Sunagakure's territories before even deciding to let them on a peace discussion. Without Kages, without a head to guide the armies and severely crippled, both armies had declared surrender, and, with a small council of Jounins, of both sides, the decision was made to accept peace.

Yet, with peace, the two puppet governments placed on what remained of Sunagakure and Iwagakure, bundled with the acquiring of Amegakure…had spelled that, ironically, the armies that had battled in Ame, were now shinobis unrecognized by their own nations, meaning for them the status of missing-nins…until they turned to Ame.

So the conjoint armies of Suna and Iwa were now Amegakure's new shinobis. The very same that had been mindlessly slaughtered both on the civilian and on the shinobi side, by the second Iwagakure front just near the lake.

It had been…a glorious political maneuver that nobody could have predicted, and that yet had happened with such speed and intensity to make Mei, and by consequence Akatsuki, take time to come up with another plan.

The consequences of those actions had been something…unparalleled, because it gave way to Konoha's dominion, but more importantly…it gave Konoha the west side of the elemental countries secured, meaning they could charge through the east one, without trouble, while at the same time both puppet governments would take care of the remaining stragglers...brothers would fight brothers, and they'd weaken each other severely because of that.

The annexation of Grass had been a punishment, for trying to keep Uchiha Itachi prisoner, but with that, had come the silent cue that the smaller countries 'had' to be pay..._protection_.

The inflow of money had been massive, and with the blood and the strength of the new generations… Konoha possessed in name one and half as much territories as the beginning of the war, which was now officially over…but in truth had much more.

The reason to attacking Sunagakure was thus clear: the puppet government could be removed with ease, and then Amegakure's shinobi could wait and strike when Konoha shinobis would be sent to solve the situation. From there, Kiri shinobis would claim the upper hand through naval warfare, and start harassing the very same countries, in the north, that Konoha 'protected'.

The Blood Soaked Hokage wouldn't be able to come in, touch and destroy Kirigakure…because Kirigakure itself had been moved elsewhere, somewhere safe.

As the final ships left the docks, giant iron walls closed themselves upon the village, and then…the village sank to its depths, while the artificial lights began to glow with a light similar to that of the sun.

New Kirigakure, reborn on the ruins of Uzushiogakure, cradled in the depth of the sea unless needed, was Project Atlantis. This time, there was no way the blood soaked Hokage could come for them, no way could he reach them. There simply was no, possible, way…everything was covered. At least…the hope was that there was nothing they'd overlook.

"We could have asked for Kumogakure's help," Chojuro tried, "Instead of attacking them," he added to his words.

"How can I put this? You see, Kumogakure would not fight with us against a tough enemy, instead, he'd rather help them and get something out of it…while us fighting them will have Konoha, who is right now once more at peace, steer clear from battles…eventually, we will face Konoha…but if we can manage to convince Kumo to accept an alliance, and at the same time have Konoha attack us just a day or two later…"

"We'd be ensnaring them into fighting both of our countries," the swordsman spoke, "If we win, we can proceed with bullying the weaker ones, if we tie, we can spring a trap…but what if we lose? I mean…Mizukage-sama," Mei flinched, before throwing the kunai between Chojuro's legs.

"Mei-chan!" she exclaimed back, "Since you can't seem to remember it, you now have to add the –chan to it, understood?"

"Hai, M…Mei-c…chan," Chojuro winced, before trying to calm his nerves down…why did the mad Kage end up being a woman who tried her hardest to feign being a teenager?

"Good, what if we lose? Well…we won't," Mei replied, with a bright smile, "We have the perfect anti-Jinchuuriki weapon after all…or should I say…we have three."

*Konoha*

Peace was fun. People were happy, people got married. People, of the female sex, got pregnant, especially the kunoichis who had kept themselves away for fear of giving birth in the midst of war. People, mostly, went about far happier than in war times. The fact that Konoha had actually won the war had been a pretty big boost. The fact that Konoha had won the war, with a large margin of profit, and had avenged all those that had died at the start of the conflict… that had been an enormous boost.

Now, Karin Senju was trying her best not to start laughing maniacally, as she literally skied across the wooden floor of the Senju's dojo, gloriously happy that today, her father was free, and it was her birthday. She was seventeen now, one step closer to eighteen, and, with every year passing by, the difference in age between her and her father dwindled to the point of becoming 'not an issue'.

There was still the familial love, but she could work around it, at least, she still hoped on that. Quietly, she moved back outside, after all this was meant to be a surprise party for her, and she shouldn't have been in the dojo that afternoon. Although with all the decorations looming around, it was quite difficult to hide it from her…and she had sensed the chakra of the helpers and of the Senjus, running around placing the tables, chairs, and various different things.

Now the Senju compound was practically deserted, as everyone was busy going to the various suppliers, or at the academy, or doing various jobs. The branch family of the Hyuga had always been responsible for most of the clan's income, and due to their intrinsic natural displeasure with the main family, every job required to spend as much time as possible away from the compound. After having changed clan, while now they actually enjoyed spending time around, they still kept up with their jobs, since it would be distasteful to abandon them, even after all those years.

Many were in Anbu, or border patrols that lasted months. Many more, having been drafted since the beginning of the war, were still out on assignments to keep an eye out that everyone played fair, since the end of the battles.

She was no longer a kid, but a surprise party was always fun, especially if it was her father who had prepared it. Maybe she could go on a girl's afternoon, and chuckle every time Ino or Sakura tried to hide their attempts at buying her presents? Albeit probably, with Shikamaru also invited, he might have already planned it well enough with everyone else.

She came close to a halt when the bees began to buzz ravenously. The Aburame clan's guard bees, gifted for her father's marriage to that harpy of a whore of a woman, were buzzing furiously, just like they did while attacking intruders, or while warning of thieves. The loud set of crashes, following the massive beehives, carefully hid underground, to come out in full strength, made the red haired Senju wince.

She could activate her chakra sensing, but she'd have to stay still, and whatever it was, it was coming closer and closer. She barely managed to run out of the dojo, that an entire section of the ground fell down on the servant's quarters, literally smashing it to splinters.

Karin could barely keep her stomach in check. Did an Iwagakure assassin manage to come through? Was he targeting her father? Was there truly no-one in the quarters? She just hoped that was the case...

Another set of earth pikes emerged from the ground, whatever the attacker was doing it only wanted her dead, and quickly, because Karin barely managed to get out of the way. Whoever he was, he didn't want to play around.

The red haired girl had no choice but run, trying to get, at least, towards the exit, and the road, from there certainly the assassin wouldn't be able to go far. She was sure her father was going to snap at Neji, and then she'd have to act the mature and good woman she was, and tell him that he couldn't possibly fault the boy. She had been the one to ask him to go on an errand…damn boy guarding the Dojo's entrance.

She had just wanted to see how the preparations were going on!

A shadow loomed over her, from above the mansion's roof, and the next moment, something, as cold as water but also vile, literally tore through her shoulder…and then her body stopped moving.

"Why…hello there," a voice spoke with a malignant tone, as her right hand moved to squeeze at her own breast, "well filled out too," it added, as a…a tongue started to lick at the side of her cheek.

"Wh…Wh…" Karin was frozen, but her body wasn't, as it began to slowly move backwards, where another man, a sort of extremely tall but also fat shinobi, stood with the typical garb of an Otogakure shinobi.

"Sakon, tell your brother not to harm the target," Jirobo spoke quietly, as another figure emerged from behind Karin, albeit the red haired girl couldn't see her, she still could feel the other man moving closer…and then pinching her ass.

She shivered some more. She was surrounded by lurid, wrenched, bastard…

"Calm down Jirobo, we just have to bring her to Orochimaru-sama safely…he never said we couldn't play with her, don't you want a ride, fat-ass?"

"Ehi brother, we should go first, he'd break her," the voice came from her right shoulder, and now Karin was sure…she was surrounded by monsters. Her thoughts drifted to Raiga, of all people, and what he did, they wouldn't…

Her hair was forcefully yanked by the guy called Sakon, earning himself a growl from Ukon.

"I felt that you fucker!" Karin's right arm went to slap Sakon, before stopping midway, "Hu-hu."

"What?" Jirobo queried, perplexed.

"She just fainted from shock," and the next moment, the body went limp on the ground, with Ukon emerging from it, to re-fuse with his brother.

"Now I have to carry her," Jirobo muttered, grabbing the girl and hoisting her lithe frame, compared to his, on his left shoulder.

"When is the patrol making the switch?" he asked, as he carefully moved together with the two brothers towards the end of the compound's walls.

"Five minutes," Sakon retorted, laying low on one side of the wall, "This is our only window of opportunity, the guy was pretty clear about it."

"We're playing with fire, you know Orochimaru-sama won't be pleased," Jirobo whispered back.

"Doesn't matter, he wanted the youngest, we'll use the eldest as exchange…the toddler's got more guards around than a Daimyo," Ukon murmured, and, as the minutes passed, all three disappeared in a flicker of shunshin at the five minutes mark.

Naruto Senju frowned, looking at the latest document on war damage to be refunded. Many were valid, obviously, however every now and then some came up forged, if only to get some of the reparation money for themselves. For example, a tea shop called 'Tea and Me' claimed that a Konoha shinobi had basically vandalized the store, emptying it of its contents for the war effort. Albeit the description matched that of Itachi, Naruto was pretty sure he had been emptying the shelves of 'The Tea is your friend' shop on the Sunagakure border.

Thus the claim was clearly unmotivated. Turning to his cup, he drew a long winded sigh, since the word's 'World's best lover' were inscribed on its sides. If the gift had been given to him by Ayame, he might have even understood it, albeit the most the two had done was kissing. Unluckily, it was Karin's idea of a perfect kiss for a 'loving' father…and Kanjis were tricky, at least in her idea.

Rolling his eyes, he decided he'd need to get his elder daughter someone to go out with. Neji was out of the question, as well as Sasuke, and that pretty much barred out the two boys he actually trusted with his daughter's well-being…because he could actually break their bones otherwise.

Kiba was busy in a long-term tracking mission, and Naruto couldn't help but start to feel worried, about the Inuzuka. Whether he had cleaned his problems with his mother and sister or not, the boy was kind of his adopted son, just like Neji, and he couldn't help but feel worried about it.

Still, the two, Kiba and Akamaru, should have been able to manage it after all: they had been tracking the missing Nin, Hinata Hyuga, for a long while.

Just like the Sannins had once done, with one turning rogue, only this time, it was because of recent reports that had forced his hands. Hinata had been all but _kidnapped_ by Hiashi, and she had started serving Orochimaru willingly after a while. If the reports he had received were true, then the Hyuga had simply too much blood on her hands, innocent blood, to be left alive.

How sickeningly ironic that he, the bigger monster, was instead the Hokage…he had ten times the amount of blood Hinata had on her hands, and that only considering his pinkie finger. Yet he had attacked _enemies_ of Konoha, the Hyuga girl had attacked _people_ of Konoha. The difference between 'enemy' and 'people' was the difference between 'hero' and 'murderer'.

It took him a moment to close his eyes, and calm down his lingering thoughts, as a knock at the door warned him of someone wanting to speak with him.

"Come in," he said, quickly assuming his most serious attitude, as the door creaked open. Maito Gai entered the office, alone and with a terribly grim expression.

"You wished to talk to me, Hokage-sama?" he queried, trying his best to keep a serious attitude…albeit being clad in a green spandex wasn't something that made it easy, to actually assume 'seriousness'.

"I do…I have received words from the island of the moon operatives that Kirigakure has been moving ships, as of lately, to increase their anti-corsairs patrols…due to the delicate nature that surrounds said actions, I will be leaving on an unofficial trip to try and speak with the Raikage about the situation. While I'm gone, since Hatake-san and Uzuki-san will be with me, and Uchiha-san is busy elsewhere…I'm having you assume the spot of my representative, while I'm not here," at those words, Gai's eyes bulged, and his mouth flapped open for a moment in shock, before closing down.

"H…Hokage-sama! But certainly, there are more…"

"You are not to disclose the contents of this folder to anyone," Naruto muttered, handing over a folder, made of thick red leather, "understood?"

Gai took the folder, and carefully opened it, before…staring. He stared, hard and with silence, at the lines written on it.

"H…Ho…"

"Gai-san," Naruto muttered, "Do we understand each other?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the green beast of Konoha closed the folder, before spitting out a small fireball to reduce it to ashes, and turning his stern and hardened gaze on the Hokage, the perfect symbol of seriousness.

"That is why I'm assigning you here," Naruto added with a light chuckle, "you have one of the best masks around us…let the fire of youth burn brightly, during your 'reign'," at those words, Maito Gai showed back a bright smile, that, however, seemed just as sincere as any of his usual ones…but it was fake, after all.

"YOSH! I will do my best not to delude you, Hokage-sama! Or I will run around Konoha ten times! And if I can't do that, then…"

"You can go now, Gai-san, I'll have you called when I'll be leaving…and, truly, not a word to anyone, understood?"

"Obviously, Hokage-sama! And if I won't be able to keep my word, I'll clean the Anbu toilets with my teeth!" at the disgusting sentence, the green clad man saluted, before dismissing himself.

It was then that Kakashi appeared right next to Naruto, his dog mask on.

"I fear he's going to put green spandex as obligatory shinobi equipment," the copy-nin deadpanned, only for the Senju's head to chuckle.

"And the orange leg warmers, man, maybe I should implement them, they're comfy," as the Hokage retorted that, the other Anbu in the room appeared, a pleading tone in her voice.

"Please Hokage-sama…no."

"Fine…I think I'm going to need you two to leave the office…I feel stomping," true to Naruto's words, the door literally was unhinged by the powerful fist of Tsunade Senju, who came in, completely and utterly furious.

"What the hell is this!" she yelled, waving around the clipboard she held firmly in her other hand.

"Tsunade-sama," Yugao spoke, a hand to her sword's handle, "You are in the presence of…"

"Both of you, leave…" Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes, "I can handle this."

"But…" the purple haired Anbu was shot down by Kakashi's shaking of the head, and the two shunshin'd out, leaving the Hokage, and his 'mother' to discuss.

"Look brat, I understand after the stunt I pulled that you didn't like me, but doing _this_, behind my back!?" the yell of Tsunade was soon interrupted by someone else entering the studio, this time, however, the kunai was flung first, and the words were spoken later.

The kunai sailed through the air, impacting against Naruto's right armguard, and harmlessly bouncing off, while the attacker literally leaped through the air, and ended up crashing against the Hokage.

"You _bastard_!" Anko roared, "I knew you were going to make me suffer! I didn't think you'd sucker punch me like this! You Kami be damned piece of…"

"Anko, stop this," Tsunade's words came both as a warning, and also with a slight tinge of worry, as she grabbed the Kunoichi by the neck, and pulled her away from the Hokage, who simply stood dazed, for a moment, before narrowing his eyes.

"And now what?" he hissed, venomously.

"You took complete custody!" she screeched, "You told me I had to be there for our daughters, and when I go and get Yumi from school, your damn Anbus stop me, before telling me I've got a restriction order placed! You kami be damned bastard! You asshole…"

"It was within my rights…you are a liability…as you are clearly showing right now," Naruto muttered, anger clearly rising in his voice.

"So you just had to give me another slap on the face, huh," Anko whispered, with tears in her eyes, "Now what, you're going to have me executed? I don't care anymore…why did you do that? Just what did I ever do to you?"

"You mean…except everything?" the Senju hissed, moving closer to the woman, just as Tsunade, for once, stood in between.

"Naruto, listen, we should all just calm down and…"

"No, I'm perfectly calm…Kakashi!" Naruto's roar was accompanied with the grey haired nin's appearance, who had already a kunai in his hand.

"Take Mitarashi Anko to T&I, and have Ibiki schedule a torture session with her, this should teach her not to try and attack the Hokage…she was on trial, and now she's off the active shinobi registry for good," and with those words, he turned to Kakashi, who nodded, before grabbing Anko by the back of her arms, and, with a bit of effort, pushing her away from the office.

Naruto took deep breathes, calming himself down, before turning his gaze to Tsunade.

"What was that about?"

"That what?" Tsunade queried, nervously, as her amber eyes moved sideways.

"Oh, I get it," he added with a grim chuckle, "Friday night getting drunk, both of you meet up, and strike a friendship over having screwed with my life, right?"

"Naruto! We knew each other since before, and you know it! She was my daughter in law when you two married!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"Yes," the Senju's head hissed, "The only problem is that you now know she worked for Danzo, and swapped my son for a daughter, and now I want to know why you insist on being her friend nevertheless, well?"

"Naruto…that was years ago, and she was ordered to…can't you just forgive her, like you did with me?" Tsunade whispered, only for Naruto to shake his head.

"No, I give everyone a fair chance, but I do not make the same mistake twice: tell me what you wanted, barging in here like that, before I have you leave in the same way as Mitarashi."

Tsunade kept quiet for a moment, closing her eyes to calm down, before taking the medical clipboard, and handing it over to Naruto.

"This is yours…except it's code-called as patient two-hundred thirty-one, while the Hokage's secret file is always code-named patient five…and they're completely different."

"So?" Naruto queried, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"So…so you have to tell me why it seems as if your heartbeat is that of a sixty year old, your bones are as brittle as one with osteoporosis and everything in your blood screams 'should be dead', and yet you're still here, going to work every morning!" Tsunade snapped.

"A healthy breakfast made of ramen," the Senju's head replied, with a good nod of his head.

"You could potentially die on your next mission! Was that the price for the seven tails!? Just how are you still standing there!?" The screech received a sigh as a reply from Naruto, before the Hokage returned to his desk.

"I'm fine, 'mother'," he muttered, and the lack of affection in the tone was clear, "But I do not need you fretting over it…just leave, would you?"

"You need check-ups, and tests, and a vitamin intake, you just don't tell me I have to leave and watch you burn through what remains of your lifespan," Tsunade retorted, just as the Hokage's hand hit against the desk, forcing the Senju woman to shut up.

"I will do what I need to, to save Konoha from harm! Now get out, and if you'll speak of this to anyone, anyone at all, I will have you executed…don't force my hand, Tsunade, you know who'd come out the victor after all…" Naruto whispered; his eyes narrowed into two pools of deep hatred that forced the blond pigtailed woman to shiver, before turning around to leave, not even saying goodbye to the boy.

"The job's never easy," the Hokage muttered to himself, letting his back fall against the chair, his eyes closing up for a moment, "At least the chair's comfortable."

*Hinata*

Tayuya was, if anything, boring. As a person to talk to, she couldn't go without degenerating into crass language every now and then, as a lover, she always had the same tricks, as a sparring partner, she was just too weak. Her only good point was that once she shut up, and simply used the flute to let some music fly in the air, she could, if barely, be passable as a furniture.

Hinata had taken her precisely because she was boring, useless, and easy to sacrifice, should the need arise. Furthermore, she at least had some music to listen to, when the dullness that was her life, at the moment, came up. Zetsu was an annoying thing, popping up from the ground every now and then, and leaving hints that clearly showed he had been peeking on both her and Tayuya, however she just couldn't wait for the damn plant-man to show up, because this time, he'd bring a good news together with him.

The Hyuga girl stood in the clearing, at the base of a cliff that held a strange dragon-like skeleton, in the mountain's graveyard, north of Otogakure. There was little to nothing, unless one knew that within the skeleton, there was actually a trap door that led to a hidden lab, where Tobi, or better yet, Madara Uchiha, had prepared a group of very special surprises.

Zetsu just had to give her the white flag for the plan, as everything was now set to start…and then from the ground, right in front of her, the aforementioned ninja appeared, with a lecherous smile on his face.

"Your cute butt always moves so sensually," the plant-man spoke with a grim chuckle, "but on to business for the moment…"

"So, is Madara fine with the plan?" she asked, keeping her tone neutral, albeit she had half an idea to use Juken on the plant-man.

"Indeed, he has received confirmation that the plan will most certainly work…and a bit of juicy news, concerning the Hokage's current health status," Zetsu smiled, before chuckling, "He will probably die soon enough, using seven tails of Kyuubi seemed to have far more lasting consequences than what is seen…"

Hinata gritted her teeth, but said nothing, albeit her entire posture clearly showed how frustrated she was.

"I wanted to be the one to kill him, but, anyway, we have the all-clear to go, right?"

"Yes, Madara will let you go on your hunt…"

With those words, Zetsu disappeared within the earth, as a bright, wicked smile appeared on Hinata's face. It was so going to be fun, seeing her teammates again…and the other rookies. All she had to do was sway them to her side, and, at least for one…she was sure it was going to work.

All that mattered was for everyone to play their part, especially Tayuya. She would feel important for a day, at least.

Heading over to the depth of the laboratory, she cooed at the sight of a couple of foaming beasts that held bright markings on their sides. What once were but rabid dogs were now fearless and fierce beasts that could snap the neck of a lion in two. Yet, with her, they purred like kittens.

Tayuya stood quietly in her room, she didn't get the same purrs of the beasts, and she had no intention of becoming the snack of one of them, because Hinata wasn't there to stop them on time. The red haired sound kunoichi was sitting, her knees popped up between her hands, on the small bed she had.

She seemed depressed, for some sort of reason, and Hinata, mentally sighing, decided to take the bait on such a whiny behavior.

"What is it, Tayuya-chan?"

The girl looked at her for a moment, before averting her gaze, and looking at her hands.

"You know…Orochimaru always said that the cursed seal was like a personal slave brand…but that it would disappear with his death," she added, "he also said that as long as someone had one, he'd always think about following his principles…ideas, always faithful…yet I betrayed him for you, right?"

Hinata slowly nodded, as she didn't understand where the girl was going.

"Then he lied about the forced loyalty part, right?" she queried.

"It would seem so, why are you asking yourself that, Tayuya-chan?"

"But if that was the case, wouldn't the beasts outside try to eat you, nevertheless?"

Silence remained in the room for a while, before a light chuckle escaped Hinata's lips.

"You worry too much, Tayuya-chan, the seal on them is a modified version, a better one, it's clear that the old ones didn't have the loyalty enforcement, but the new one did."

"It's just…Orochimaru was a Sannin…would he go down that easily?" Doubts, always doubts, truly, Hinata had been right in her assessment. At first she had thought about using Jirobo, but out of all of them, Tayuya had been the most insecure, and thus, the most easy to exploit and turn to do her bidding.

"Do you love me?" Hinata asked, quietly, looking at Tayuya's face turning a blushing red color.

"Yes," the girl replied.

"Then what is the problem?" the Hyuga retorted, "Just keep following me."

"I…I understand," the kunoichi whispered, grimacing, "It's just that…"

"We have no time to keep thinking about what ifs, we got permission to hunt: we should use it," with those words, Hinata closed the argument, before grabbing Tayuya by the arm and pulling her up, on her feet, "now stop whining and move, or that flute _will_ go where you don't want it."

The teasing tone was coupled with a light feral growl that made Tayuya nod frantically, as she grabbed her stuff. They'd probably hunt along the way, and if not, there were those beasts ready.

She just kind of wondered how everyone seemed to know what was going on…except her.

*Neji*

He knew there was no failing this mission and coming back to Konoha alive. It wasn't because Naruto would kill any of them: no, it was because he'd commit seppuku rather than tell the Hokage that he couldn't save his daughter…and lose the youngest one.

Neji wasn't the only one nervous, in the group. Sasuke was nervous too, glancing every now and then to the side, where Katsumi had Yumi-chan on her back, the little six years old sleeping peacefully, placed under a small Genjutsu to keep her, at the very least, in the dark. The message had reached the Hokage's office two hours after Karin's disappearance had been reported, together with the damage at the Senju compound.

Naruto's reaction had been far worse than furious: he had been shocked with grief and had doubled over, falling prey to what had seemed like a heart attack…only Tsunade's intervention had avoided the death… yes, the death of the Hokage. Naruto Senju had always been smiling, always been worried in taking care of others and nobody had noticed just how weak and feeble the Senju actually was.

Katsumi herself had been a wreck, but she had managed to steel herself long enough to actually receive the mission from the acting substitute. Maito Gai had been a surprise, since nobody would have actually expected him to be chosen, but as it stood, it was him that prepared the team. Neji Senju, Katsumi Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha and Yakumo Kurama had been handpicked to carry Yumi Senju to the exchange point.

While they actually wouldn't have wanted to use the real Yumi, they had little to no choice, as the kidnappers had clearly stated they would kill Karin, should they fail to arrive in time for the exchange to take place. So, the reason for their breakneck pace through the woods was also that.

They had to make the exchange, but at the same time make sure it ended up favorably for them…and all without Jounins or Anbus to oversee it, because the village was being kept under control…if anyone left that wasn't any of them, then everything would turn sour quickly.

How the kidnappers knew their names, or why they had wanted them, precisely, was a mystery, but still, Gai had been keen on keeping up a show of good will with them, because he too knew perfectly well what would happen, should they fail.

They didn't know what to expect, they didn't know anything except the fact that the valley of end was where they should be going.

"Everything is going to be fine," Yakumo kept muttering to herself, "Everything is going to be fine and everyone is going to be fine," she chanted in a low whisper, only for Sasuke to literally snarl.

"Shut up!"

"Sasuke!" Katsumi exclaimed, reprimanding him with her tone, as Yakumo flinched, and tightened her clenched hands even more.

"What!? We've been playing on the kidnappers hands, sensei is down and he might _die_ if we give him the wrong news…do you think this is easy for any of us!?" Sasuke's exclamation was met with Neji's quiet remark.

"It is not easy, but we're shinobis, Uchiha," the Senju spoke, "We should deaden our emotions until the task is done. Afterwards, we can decide on Seppuku or partying," the chills ran down everyone's spines, as the byakugan user had used an incredibly serious tone while speaking.

"Neji-san," Katsumi gulped, "I don't think Naruto-Oniisan would be happy, if we were to…"

"I know," Neji replied with a little sigh, "And that's one of the reason I'd rather commit ritual suicide than go back and face him, if we were to fail…because he'd probably forgive us nevertheless…"

"Which is even worse…is there anything he wouldn't forgive us?" Sasuke muttered, only to receive the reply of Katsumi.

"Betrayal, I suppose…"

"One thing I don't understand," Neji mused, "Is why Yakumo-chan should be part of our group," he added, only for said girl to gasp in shock.

"W…What do you mean, Neji-san?"

"I can understand the Uchiha's second best skills, and mine, to be something that might interest the kidnappers, since, after all, they were the ones to choose who would deliver the girl…and Katsumi-san might be in because of her lineage…but it is an extremely well hidden fact that the Kurama clan has something worthy of notice…they would have no reason to actually request you."

Sasuke muttered a low set of curses at the Hyuga's back, only for Katsumi to snap straight back at the Hyuga.

"Stop offending Yakumo-chan! It's clear they picked us because they knew us from the chuunin exams…and Kakashi-sensei told us those were Doton jutsus aftermath, in the compound…so it's Iwagakure, maybe a band of rebel nins."

"I was just stating the strangeness of the group chosen," Neji pointed out, "kidnappers should have asked for something like a single Genin, not four specific chuunin-level shinobis."

"Hyuga, they'll probably be springing a trap for us, so keep that Byakugan of yours active," Sasuke retorted, as Neji merely snorted an agreement.

Moments later, Neji called the stop, his posture tensing as he gulped down nervously.

"Karin is just ahead, unconscious and tied to a tree. There are two men are in the clearing, right in front of her, an overly fat man and a skinny one. They have no village symbol on them."

"This reeks of trap Hyuga," Sasuke hissed, "This is a kami be damned trap."

"What choice do we have, Uchiha?" Neji retorted, "I will not fail sensei."

"I won't fail my brother," Katsumi muttered, "What's the plan?"

"We go in, they're expecting us…but if you could place some Kage Bunshins around…" Neji muttered, "I'd trust in your henge skills, if you had any, but as it is…"

Katsumi's forehead sported a tick mark of annoyance, as the words of Neji struck true. With all her training in high ranked ninjutsus, and an ever increasing chakra capacity, her chakra control had repeatedly gone to new lows…she simply couldn't train chakra control as fast as her chakra reserves increased. She had passed the academy because she had created three thousands of bunshins, and she had done a shaky henge…three years before.

"I'll spin a Genjutsu while we'll be facing them," Sasuke whispered, "with that in place, I should get enough time to free Karin."

"I can do the Henges on Katsumi-chan's shadow clones, to take our places, and have one transform into Yumi-chan, while I hold the real one…I'm not actually suited to frontline battles," Yakumo offered, as Neji bit his lips.

The plan was sound, it was workable, it was perfect…yet it was too perfect.

The team assembled would have been the perfect counter team. So why…why had they been chosen?

"We'll have to go with that," Neji blurted, seeing how the two were seemingly starting to get agitated, and in a moment, the plan was in motion.

Jirobo was looking perplexed at the four shinobi that appeared in front of them, he'd never understand why Orochimaru-sama had sent Tayuya to them, to give out those orders, but since the sound girl had claimed their master had a plan, he hadn't questioned it.

Still, when the four appeared, Jirobo immediately smelled trouble, as Sakon did the same too. There was something _wrong_ with the way their shadows…fluctuated?

In the blink of an eye, Jirobo had turned to stare at a raven haired teen that had swiftly cut down with a kunai the red haired teenager ropes, and with that, the sound Nin charged.

"Rakanken!" the fist soared through the air, as the fat shinobi actually held a speed uncommon for his mass, forcing Sasuke to jump backwards, while his sharingan began to spin. To underestimate an enemy always meant defeat.

The Katsumi's henged clones charged, as Neji and Sasuke began a tactical retreat…but a strong quake from Jirobo's fist smashed the ground, letting earthen spikes erupt and destroy the clones.

"Chakra Chains Barrier!" the female scream of the jutsu forced everyone to freeze, as perplexity ran over everyone's faces, as pure golden chains sped through the air, and erupting from the very ground, a figure materialized from outside the barrier, having kept underground and thus out of sight of the Byakugan.

Kushina Namikaze held a sort of sad gaze, as she looked at the assembled shinobis, all trapped within the boundaries she had set. It took a moment, for everyone to bear their surroundings, worse, was when the ground gave way, and a fist erupted straight beneath Neji's location, forcing the boy to jump back, or actually lose a limb.

Two figures leapt out from within the boundaries' ground, and everyone stood silent, gaping in shock at the scene.

Hinata quickly jumped together with Tayuya right in the middle of Jirobo and Sakon, while on the other side, Sasuke was the first to actually manage something intelligible.

"_**You!?**_" A small chuckle escaped Hinata's lips, at the blurted exclamation from the Uchiha.

"My, what a touching reunion," the Hyuga girl pointed out, just as Tayuya took out her flute. Jirobo and Sakon didn't, at all, mind getting some back up, but the fat Oto shinobi was perplexed, since Orochimaru had left Otogakure without Hinata, but with Tayuya, so…what were those two doing there? Probably nothing strange, there might have been something going on during the months him and the two brothers had spent finding holes in Konoha's security to get past it.

"Kaa-san," Katsumi whispered, her eyes looking to her mother's form that was outside of the barrier, and holding said barrier on.

"Shit," Sasuke's exclamation was cut short by Tayuya's hands bringing her flute to her lips, and the beginning of a low hummed tune, "Genjutsu! Leave her to me!" just as he passed easily through the music sound waves, knowing full well that his sharingan would automatically understand the Jutsu and counter it, as long as his sight never left the enemy Kunoichi, he was at an impasse.

If only Yakumo could provide some sort of…where was the Kurama clan girl to begin with!?

"Namikaze-san, here," the two words were enough for Sasuke Uchiha to literally lose it. Neji Senju was no less enraged, but the one most hurt…that was Katsumi.

Katsumi's blue eyes looked, as Yakumo Kurama, from outside the barrier, grabbed a hold of Yumi and handed her sleeping form over to her mother, Namikaze Kushina. The red haired woman nodded, as she took the sleeping six years old form, holding her with both her arms, as the chains required no hand signs.

"Katsumi-chan, you can come with us, if you want," Kushina smiled, "Please, be a good daughter and come with your mother, okay?"

"W…Why? Why are you doing this?" the red haired girl queried, sadness evident in her broken voice.

"I should ask you why _you_ aren't doing this," Kushina replied, her eyes displaying sorrow, "Didn't you love your father? I left at first without you because I thought you needed time to become stronger, but now…now you can come with me, with Akatsuki, we can be a family again."

"Father betrayed Konoha," Katsumi replied, "He betrayed everything the will of fire stood for. He allied himself with Danzo, he sacrificed an entire clan for petty politics! He was a monster, mother!"

"And your brother isn't?" Kushina muttered, "He slaughtered an entire village! He didn't think twice of letting Itachi kill your father! He even took away your heredity and yet you defend him!"

"How do you know that?" Katsumi whispered, "I didn't tell…oh Kami…" as a strange shock and realization dawned on her, it was too late, because Hinata spoke swiftly.

"Less talking, more fighting," and with those words hell broke loose in the small bubble of chakra chains.

Jirobo's body deformed, as his skin turned red, while Sakon and Ukon detached themselves, immediately reaching for the second level of the cursed marks. Tayuya did the same, but kept behind Hinata, as Sasuke flashed through hand signs as fast as he could, Katsumi stood still, not even bothering to watch the battle unfold.

Neji's hands coated themselves with fire, as he charged forward, leaving Karin behind, before performing a spin in mid-air, the fire surrounding him as he snarled.

"Katon: Tsuga Kaiten!" the fire tornado sped to levels unparalleled, as the mixture of both the Inuzuka's Tsuga and the Hyuga's Kaiten created a devastating attack, that literally tore through Jirobo's rock defense. Even though fire wasn't the strongest element, the jutsu annihilated the man, leaving behind only half a charred body, unrecognizable.

Sasuke's attack seemed to be the usual Chidori technique, but Hinata was quick to pin Tayuya down, as the Genjutsu was disrupted, to reveal that a hail of electrical lightning senbon had struck Ukon and Sakon in various points, killing them in the process, as both fell down limp.

"It is useless to resist," Neji spoke, "We won."

"Tsk, Neji-Niisan," Hinata spat that out with a terribly sweet and fake sound, "maybe you should realize that we let you kill those two…weaklings _should_ be killed, the strong eat the weak, after all."

"I don't think so," the Senju replied quietly, "The strong should nurture the weak, so that both can strike out at their enemies."

"And the weak one was you, right Senju?" Sasuke chuckled, as he got into position, right next to Neji.

"Two on one? No chivalry?" Hinata raised an eyebrow, as her Byakugan quietly flared to life, "Come then, Tayuya…just disrupt the Genjutsus."

The girl probably whispered a yes, because the next moment, fists began to sail through the air. Sasuke's left fist drove itself forward just as Neji's right did the same, while Hinata merely bent backwards, before trying to strike at both boys' sides, only for the two to sidestep the blows.

Hinata's movement of both arms seemed to be specific as a small smile plastered her lips…she was _toying_ with them, not fighting them. Her right hand deflected the punches from Sasuke like they came from nothing more than a child, that needed to be slapped on the wrist, only, the Uchiha knew, the slaps were harming and hurting his muscles, and slowing him down by the minute.

Neji, on the other hand, knew where Hinata would strike, and managed to minimize the damage, but he still couldn't get through her one armed defense. Just what had the girl trained with to become that strong? It wasn't even on a human level anymore. It was just…a different type of speed.

Realization hit the Uchiha, as he put three steps back, only for Hinata to smirk, and exclaim with mirthful glee.

"You're in range! Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō!" as her fingers connected with his Tenketsu points, Sasuke suddenly went 'poof', disappearing in a small cloud of smoke, before twin hands emerged from the ground, grabbing at Hinata's ankles.

At least, the intent was there, but the Hyuga merely grinned, before letting fire chakra sear through her legs, forcing Sasuke to grit his teeth and renounce the attack for the split second that Hinata needed…to crush her fist down, literally tearing apart the ground with inhuman strength, the girl smiled coyly.

"This is like Tsunade…" as Neji's words hit the rest of the group, Sasuke barely managed to get away with a substitution, and land close to Katsumi, who was still in shock.

The Senju, instead, was at a loss. The girl in front of him had him beaten on all departments…speed, strength, technique…there was no way out of this…it was the worst nightmare possible.

"_Listen Neji, the three principles you must abide to is to have a strong mind, a strong technique and a strong body. You will face opponents who excel in one, two, or even all three areas, while others will lack in something. Remember, however, never to give up, even if completely outclassed, you still have hope. Fling kunais, launch explosive notes, use caltrops, be creative! The Nidaime said there were only three things to look out for, but in truth, there is a fourth one…Unpredictability. Use it. No matter how strange it is, no matter how stupid it might seem, a second is all it takes, to kill someone. A second is all it takes, to gain the upper hand… a second. Gain that second, and kill the enemy."_

"Fine! I'll have to use my secret technique then!" Neji yelled, pushing both of his hands together, as Hinata's muscles tensed, stopping for a second, ready to strike out but curious to smash down the next 'technique' of the stupid cousin of hers.

"Henge!" Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief, as his hand gripped tightly Katsumi's arm.

"Snap out of it! Neji's going on a suicide run!"

Truthfully, in the small enclosed by chains area, Neji Hyuga had transformed with a mere Henge…in Hiashi Hyuga.

"You will never account to something, pathetical brat!" the elder Hyuga snapped, charging in, but just as Hinata seemed perplexed, suddenly the face shifted, and it became…

"Han…"

"You killed me, sister," the voice spat out with venom, ducking under a blow, and landing a set of quick strikes to her sternum, "Do you sleep well, at night?"

Then it morphed again, into that of an elder Hyuga.

"You were always the weak one," then face morphed once more, and to this, Hinata's entire frame stilled.

"I would never love such a monster," Naruto Senju's face spat out, as the blows, this time, hit her entire left arm, before an elbow hit on her stomach sent Hinata to crash against the barrier's wall, making her gasp in pain.

"I'm going to kill you!" Hinata snarled, as the black flame motif ran through her entire frame, while even Tayuya stopped blowing through the flute, her eyes lingering on the mutating form of the Hyuga girl.

Katsumi's eyes left her mother's apologetic face, and turned to the situation at hand, especially when Hinata's transformation reached its end…because there was just another thing to be shocked at.

Bat-like wings that seemed composed of nothing but flesh emerged from Hinata's back, in four distinct spots, at her shoulders, stood set of glowing black eyes, that opened and closed without rhythm, while her front seemed to be covered in thick black scales, her hands protruding into three-fingered claws, that looked more like the talons of an eagle, than hands.

The dark and evil chakra that permeated her entire frame was clearly visible by Neji, who was doing his best not to shudder. He didn't blink. He was sure he hadn't been blinking, yet…the talon claw protruding from his back made it appear like he had actually decided to take a nap, because that was all there was to it.

It was even a clear hit. Neji couldn't help but try and smile at the irony of it. He had survived the removal of the caged bird seal. He had survived the death of his father. He had survived everything…yet he hadn't managed to kill Hinata nor stop her… he wasn't even feeling pain, and that was strange, because the claw was there, the blood was there, and that, most definitively, was his heart that had been smashed through.

Maybe he was already dead. Died on the hit, and everything was simply…that.

He didn't want to die.

For once, in his life, Neji realized that no, he didn't want to _die_. He was ready to sacrifice his life for a higher cause…but dying like this, here? He didn't want that…he wanted to help Naruto…at least once more…at least…

As Hinata's hand sloshed out, and Neji fell on the ground, Sasuke's roar was something barely intelligible by the Hyuga.

So he was going to die there…blood was everywhere, and Hinata was spitting on his body…before turning to the other two…he had to stop her…but…

His eyes closed to the darkness, because death held no mercy.

"I'll kill Karin-chan now," Hinata retorted smugly, "And then I'll break every bone in Sasuke-kun body, and bring him to Madara-san…" she added, licking her lips, while showing sharp piercing fangs.

One of Sasuke's eyes closed, as a thick dribble of blood came down from it, while the other was merely eying her with promise of murder.

"I…I _promised_ I wouldn't do it," the Uchiha muttered, "I _promised_ him, I wouldn't do it," he added, "But…I'm not letting you go away…I'm going to kill you, and I'm going to make sure you _**SUFFER THROUGH IT ALL! AMATERASU!**_" the black flames literally appeared on the spot that his only eye was showing, and with that Hinata screamed, one of her wings having caught on fire, before the fires kept piling up on her frame, "Burn to death, you kami be damned snake whore!"

Just then, a punch docked him in the side of the jaw, only for the line of the Amaterasu to follow his gaze, towards the barrier, and actually starting to set it ablaze.

Kushina looked in shock, before letting the barrier go. If any more air was taken, they'd all die, and she didn't want her daughter to die…Hinata had clear orders, at least…Tobi told her she did have them.

As Hinata rolled on the ground, her screams echoing through the air, Tayuya's second level of the cursed mark flared, as she decked punch after punch into the Uchiha.

"Stop the damn jutsu! Stop it! Stop…"

And then Hinata jerked, doubled over, and from her mouth a well renowned form dashed out, slithering away from the burning heap that was the Hyuga's body.

Stopping and coiling on himself, Orochimaru smiled wickedly.

"My, my…what have I missed being…_dead_?"

*Sasori*

It was fun. To breathe, to eat, to drink, to piss, to take a dump, to wash, to feel the sun's rays, the wind on one's skin. It was funny, to feel the blood flow, the heart pump, the lungs fill and close, the muscles move. On his back, the scrolls that contained what puppets he could salvage, and next to him, stood the cloaked figures of father and mother, two puppets that he kept out to provide for his protection, while he moved together with his ragtag group of…survivors? People who knew each other? …Friends?

The last one was a bit far-fetched, but, right then, he was happy. Next to him, Gaara stood in quiet contemplation, silently looking around with paranoia, like he expected an attack at any second. At the same time, Kisame was going through a set of low growls and curses to his sword that seemed to be the same bickering of an old married couple.

"I said it wasn't my fault, you damn retarded sword."

"Grrr…"

"What? You prefer coral-bastard's chakra? Fat chance seeing him again, that's what," Kisame snarled, smashing the sword's head against the ground, "You're stuck with me, you ungrateful bastard, so live with it!"

"Thankfully puppets don't have sentience," Sasori commented, "Or I'd be fending off the annoyance of a whole lot of them."

"Ichibi says we're close to someone else," Gaara spoke quickly, his eyes looming around, "Someone strong too."

"Hum? You don't think it's the Konoha's Hokage, right?" Kisame growled, as the Ichibi Jinchuuriki merely shook his head.

"Until we reach the base close to the border, we won't know much of what is going on," Sasori commented, "It might be Fu or Utakata…as long as it isn't the Hachibi or the Kyuubi we should be fine."

"_**Guys**_!" the cheerful female yell echoed like a buzz through the air, as Fu descended, folding her small chakra wings that had been used to fly her quickly towards them, "I'm so glad I got to find you first!"

Fū wore an orange clip in her short, spiky mint green hair that matched her eye color, which was also orange. Her ninja outfit consisted of a short sleeveless white midriff shirt with fishnet armor underneath, long white armlets, and fishnet shorts with a short white apron skirt over it. On her back stood a small and hidden hive of ferocious flesh eating insects, kept contained in a cylindrical red wrapping.

"You know, I looked for you everywhere! Really! I was so afraid something happened to any of you! Are you alright Kisame-kun, Sasori-kun, Gaara-kun? Really? Really, really alright!? Is everything fine? No, because I…" as the motor-mouthed Jinchuuriki began babbling senselessly while at the same time running in circles, randomly hugging one of the survivors, it took of all Sasori's calm and collected attitude to stop her.

"Fu, we're fine. Stop it," the red haired puppeteer snapped, without any anger in the voice. The green haired girl immediately sported a frown, and a sad lip-pout, more than enough for Kisame to show a shark-like growl in the direction of Sasori.

Fu was the Akatsuki's mascot, after all. She had belonged to Takigakure, until Roshi and Han had come by to talk to her. By coincidence they had met with Kakuzu, who was an old Takigakure shinobi, belonging to Akatsuki and that had decided to come by to free her from the village's grasp…thus the adding of the Jinchuuriki to the organization.

The Chomei Jinchuuriki, however, had been kept in isolation in the forest, and thus, while physically she was a pretty twenty-two years old woman, mentally, she was a teenager.

"Kakuzu-Otousan says that if you don't hurry Uncle Hidan is going to go on a rampage for Jashin," the girl added with a light giggle, "I should really, really, go and tell them not to worry, but they're busy looking for survivors along the Konoha border."

"Did some escape?" Gaara queried, raising an eyebrow as a slight glimmer of hope that his sister was still alive shone in his eyes.

"Probably Gaara-kun," Fu pointed out, "We got words, quite a lot of them, that there's been a lot of moving of patrols along the borders. Konoha's netting every single refugee and hauling them off…but we don't even know where, and we're still rebuilding…anyway, it's been months! What happened, where are the others? Is…"

"Fu-chan," Kisame spoke quietly, "We spent months escaping patrols, and laying low in the woods. The most we saw of life were the maggots on a bunch of corpses in a village, ten miles away from here."

"Oh…" Fu's voice died in her throat, as she hastily nodded, before turning to Sasori, just then realizing something.

The puppeteer found his cheeks being _pinched_, repeatedly, by the seven tails Jinchuuriki, who seemed in awe over something.

"You've become real!" the girl exclaimed, starry eyed, "this is so much like that story, Pinocchio, right!?"

"Please tell me she just didn't compare me to a fairy tale," Sasori muttered, his eyes moving to Gaara, who was seemingly unfazed by the turn of events, but actually quietly thinking to himself…probably about his sister.

Temari had actually helped Gaara escape from Sunagakure, and had followed him rather than stay with her village. The simple fact the Ichibi Jinchuuriki hadn't died in his home village was because of her…if she had died, then how could Gaara not consider himself the cause?

"Yes, Fu-chan, Sasori-chan is just like Pinocchio," Kisame chuckled, "He's a real kid now!"

The nervous tick mark that appeared on Sasori's forehead was enough, especially when both father and mother's puppets began to rattle, like they were pleading to fling some venomous weapon at the shark-nin.

"Can't take a joke, grouchy kid," Kisame added, before sighing, "Well Fu-chan, you'd better go and warn your father we're alive…if you stay too far from him you know he just starts worrying."

"Hai!" Fu giggled, "Otou-san is a bit protective, but I'm a grown up woman now! I'm able to take care of myself! And I still have to look for Deidara-kun!"

"There's…no need," Sasori spoke quietly, his eyes drifting to the ground, "He blew himself up together with the back of the Iwagakure's army…if we haven't seen him in all this time…then he's dead."

"Oh…" Fu muttered, "I'm sorry Sasori-kun."

"Doesn't matter," the red haired puppeteer commented, shaking his head, "I'm sure he wouldn't want us moping around, and he got the death he wanted, by explosion. I'm sure he's happy yelling up above in the clouds how his art managed more than mine could."

"Oh…well, project Atlantis is finished!" the Chomei Jinchuuriki chirped, "So you can set course over there, but…with all the patrols, maybe you should rest at the border base?"

"At least some good news," Kisame muttered, "I think I'm going to enjoy a warm bath, when I get one…"

"Anyway, I'm off real quick! See you all later, okay!?" with that final cheerful exclamation, and a good exaggerated waving motion, Fu flew off with incredible speed, soon disappearing from view.

"So there are survivors," Gaara spoke quietly, "We should…"

"I know, but we can do nothing right now," Sasori interrupted the Ichibi Jinchuuriki, "There's little except moving, resting, and moving again…if your sister's strong, she'll be fine. Remember she had Haku with her."

"I just hope they're both fine…I wouldn't doubt Zabuza to maim our asses, should anything happen to her," Kisame pointed out, with his usual shark-like grin.

"If he's still alive," Sasori retorted, only for Kisame to snort.

"Alive or not, trust me, he'd come back nevertheless."

*Konoha*

Mitarashi Anko was sharing a cell with her meat bag. Whether that was because of some sort of sick sense of humor, or because her ex-husband had decided to spite her, she didn't know. What she did know was that for the past hour, she could feel the snickers coming from outside the hallway, of the 'torturer now tortured' and if someone would 'break' her.

She snorted, as she eyed the form of Kurotsuchi, that didn't, at all, seem to move from her position. The silence in the cell was starting to get to her nerves, mostly because she was actually thinking what her K…Naruto had in mind, throwing her in there, with little to no reasons.

She was going to miss the Friday alcoholic night with the ladies, and that was a damn shame. Mikoto always had those funny stories about Gai's stamina and resilience that made everyone blush and stutter…except her. It was strange, but as her mind kept wandering, and wandering, she found herself more and more coming to terms with the fact that she couldn't actually live without her daughters.

Even the snotty and bratty Karin was something…precious, to her. Yumi was her little darling, and when she had been told she would no longer see her…she had snapped. In retrospect, maybe she had been a bit drunk, that morning. It wasn't her fault she had found a perfectly conserved bottle of sake in her fridge and she was meant to have a free day!

She had thought she could hold in her alcohol, after all…and instead…the only thing she was perplexed of was why he had let her keep her weapons and tools. Probably they hadn't thought of it, or maybe they had just assumed she was to 'cool down' before being released…or maybe he just wanted her to do something stupid, again, and justify her execution.

"I'm an idiot," she muttered, "he was just starting to look at me with normalcy…and now it's back to square minus three hundred again…"

"I don't think so," a voice spoke from behind the cell, as the door swung open.

Mikoto Uchiha, in her Jounin vest, was holding a scroll with the Hokage's seal on it, and was sporting a small, yet kind smile.

"Huh? Mikoto-san? What are you doing here?" Anko asked, perplexed.

"You see dear, the Hokage couldn't get back with you publicly…but he wanted to speak with you," as the woman's tone grew sad, the purple haired Kunoichi froze, for a second. Mikoto had never seemed like a cruel woman. She wasn't cruel to begin with, so maybe, just maybe, this wasn't some bullshit interrogation method that Ibiki had learned, and this wasn't some sort of tricky Genjutsu of hell.

"He wanted to give you another chance," Mikoto added, "As well as get rid of the Tsuchikage's daughter, to show his kindness, you know…so we have to deliver her, in secret, to Iwagakure's ambassadors south of Konoha…you should have understood it when he left you your weapons, right?"

Anko's eyes widened in shock: so that was the reason Ibiki hadn't taken her weapons! This had to be a secret S-rank mission, meaning that if something went wrong, it would be her head on the executioner's stump…but if it went well, from what Mikoto had hinted…maybe she wasn't at square zero. If she had known that pounding on Naruto would work like that…she would have been more forceful from the beginning.

"Ibiki has sent away the guards, we must leave quickly, up and walking, Anko-chan, come on," Mikoto smiled, as the Uchiha woman grabbed Kurotsuchi, holding her up and then starting to walk. The Iwagakure's Tsuchikage's niece had little more than rags on her, and yet Anko found herself querying how they were going to leave in silence.

Maybe once outside, she could use her summons, to get them out of there. Still, quietly, she shadowed Mikoto's steps, until they reached a seemingly normal wall…that however was one that Anko was too well accustomed with.

"This one is the exit," she whispered, pressing a hand against it, and letting the Genjutsu disrupt itself, as, for the first time in years, Anko descended behind the Uchiha's matriarch the stairs that led to the secret Root base. Quietly, two walked in silence, while the third was merely dragged, until they reached the cave where the battle, that battle that had decided everything about Danzo, had come to pass.

Wincing, Anko repressed a bad feeling in her guts, as she could see the fallen rubble hastily pushed aside in a non-professional matter, as a tunnel seemingly lay on the other side of the vast cavern hall. The tunnel hadn't been there the first time, but maybe, it had been placed under a Genjutsu, so that she wouldn't sense it.

As they carefully walked through the stone tunnel, Mikoto began to talk again.

"So…you think you'll give it another shot at him?" she asked, with a gentle and teasing tone.

"You can bet on it," Anko replied, "If he'll have me again, obviously…" the last words were muttered with a glint of sadness, as Mikoto, instead, rebuked her.

"Now, now, none of that my dear!" in a sort of kind and grandmotherly way, "He seemed quite sad recently, probably couple fights with the Ichiraku girl… you need to be the one sure about the relationship, for it to work…"

"Oh?" Anko whispered back, her eyes falling on the ground, "trouble in paradise with the stall girl?"

"I heard something like that. She's a prude, and the Hokage prefers a woman with _fire_ in her veins, at least, that's what I heard…" Mikoto chuckled, as the two made their way finally outside, a good distance out of Konoha's walls.

"So I've got something waiting for me back home, when I finish this mission, huh?" Anko whispered softly, before closing her eyes for a moment and breathing in deeply. She had to concentrate. This was her chance, her last shot.

The two began to dash through the forest, carrying in turns Kurotsuchi, for a couple of days, until the border with Amegakure came into view.

"Ah…I see, we're handing her over to the Iwagakure's army, and not to Iwagakure's proper," Anko muttered, "You still won't tell me what the mission is about, right?"

"I'm sorry dear, orders are orders," Mikoto replied, her smile always in position. As an Uchiha, she was a bit of an excessive smiling person. Probably the only reason she and Fugaku had hit it off was because she had kicked his ass in more than one spar.

"I s…" and then both women stopped, as Itachi, quietly, emerged from the front.

"Itachi?" Mikoto queried, perplexed, as Anko instead narrowed her eyes. The elder Uchiha boy seemed not required to be there.

"Mother," the Uchiha spoke, slightly bowing his head in recognition, "The Hokage wanted me to help you out in this endeavor," he added, a small smile on his lips.

Mikoto sighed in relief, before shaking her head, and returning the smile.

"Seriously, you scared me appearing out of nowhere…anyway, we're nearly there, how did you come across us?"

"My crows tracked you," Itachi replied, letting a hand rise up in the air, as a small black crow gently landed on it, "And I'm not the right hand of the Hokage for nothing," he added.

"I always forget how much you've grown, Itachi…I'm proud of you," she replied, before the now three Konoha shinobi began to walk once more.

"Everyone knows what the mission's parameters are except me and little meat-bag over here," Anko whined, after a moment, "I feel lonely," she added, playfully trying with banter to remove the tense silence. Probably, they were getting closer. Just a few more steps, just a few more words, and then the mission would be over, and her Koibito would be…well, _hers_, once more. At least, she would no longer have to go to be crying herself to sleep.

She had survived her previous sensei's departure, so why the hell couldn't she survive losing Naruto? She knew the answer, obviously. Deep down, she knew that Orochimaru-sensei would have never loved her, and she rationalized her crush for him with time…but Naruto, she had come to love him, and it didn't matter how much of an emotional training she had, or how much of a kunoichi she was…she just couldn't keep her emotions bottled up on him.

"It is lucky," Itachi spoke quietly, "they're already here."

The next moment, a group of four shinobi, wearing Amegakure headbands, appeared in front of them.

"The deal's here after all," one of the four commented, eying Kurotsuki, on Anko's shoulder, "Well, I'm surprised you delivered, after all, I thought the Uchiha's clan was loyal…"

Time froze as the words entered her mind, and she could feel hands grabbing her ankles and flinging her beneath the ground, trapping her in a Doton from which she knew there was no escaping, not if done by a master of the art.

Kurotsuchi's body simply limped next to her head, as Anko couldn't help but watch, shock in her eyes, as Mikoto Uchiha spoke with a bright, kind, and gentle smile.

"I'm glad you liked it…does the bonus satisfy you too?" as Mikoto gestured to the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, one of the Iwagakure, now Amegakure, shinobis nodded, a smile appearing on his face.

"With her we can put up plead to the Daimyo thanks to your brainwashing schedule…the bitch is the one who broke her, right? Good Kami, call it irony."

"You…You…" Anko's next words were stammered out, as Mikoto pushed the sole of her shoe on her cheek, pushing her head to the side.

"I did what I had to, you good for nothing whore. You really thought that Senju bastard would forgive you? Guess what, he had a heart attack after the news that his precious daughter was kidnapped! He didn't even send you on this mission, you're nothing more than an escaped convict in Konoha's eyes, and they'll hunt you down and kill you on the spot!"

The purple haired Kunoichi closed her eyes, trying to come to terms with the Uchiha's matriarch words. Naruto had a heart attack? But he was…he was young, he shouldn't suffer from one: there was no way he could…and what was that about a daughter kidnapped? Yumi was fine last time she looked at it, and so too was Karin…there was no way Naruto would have let them come to harm.

"Oh, you don't believe me, do you? Always so easy to read through…truly, you're a failure of a kunoichi, if you can't even lie and keep your emotions in check…well, have some good news: his slaughter of Iwagakure cost him his health, accessing the Kyuubi's chakra took everything he had, and now he's nothing more than a seventy years old in all but appearance! He was in a hospital ward, last time I checked, hazily breathing through his last straws…"

The Iwagakure shinobis kept quiet, but eyed each other. That piece of news would sell well, especially to the neighboring countries. The problem, however, was Anko's face. More than shocked, now, she was filled with pure unbridled rage, as her eyes bloodshot themselves, as sharp elongated fangs began to grow from her mouth.

"You…You _lied_ to me!" she hissed, as the ground around her menaced to break apart, only for it to reinforce itself. A set of quick punches later beneath the ground later, and Anko was forced to relent her anger…the bitch had warned them of her special 'qualities' it seemed…she would make her pay, she promised it. No amount of torture from Iwagakure would make her relent from finding Mikoto Uchiha, and killing her in cold blood…after a lengthy torture session.

"I'm a kunoichi…I _lie_ to everyone, I don't trust," Mikoto replied, as that kind smile appeared once more, now clearly a charade, a mask to hide her true wicked persona, "Want to know something else, little girl? I'm the one who planned the coup for the Uchiha…and I'm also the one who tipped Itachi into finding most of the incriminating deeds…because the weak side of the family had to be eliminated," the Uchiha matriarch giggled, like a teenager, as she spoke once more, "And you know why I'm telling you this? Because you won't be able to use it against us! Madara-sama promised us greatness, and with him as my new husband, one finally worthy of me and not that spineless coward, the Uchiha clan will be reborn anew!"

"You'd betray Konoha…you…I can understand…but…" Anko's eyes turned to Itachi, albeit her neck was starting to stiffen from the earth's pressure, "Why…_you_? He _trusted_ you…"

"I never stopped working for Akatsuki," Itachi spoke quietly, "Their ideals are set to peace, how could I betray such ideals? I'm sorry for Narut…"

"Don't say his name!" Anko hissed once more, her eyes deforming into slits, "You aren't even worth the tip of his shoe! You backstabber! He gave _you_ another chance! How could you spit on it!? Why you…why!?" Why him…and not her? He had done far worse things than her, at least…she had given him love in return, instead of…of this! She wasn't going to stay in there, but there was one last thing she wanted to know, before she simply stopped fighting the ravenous and murderous instincts the cursed seal was demanding her.

"Who helped you…who's in this little shit game of stabbing? Tell me, so I know who to kill and butcher and break in tiny pieces," as every word was pronounced, her voice became deeper and more hissing, the seal flaring to life, as the black markings once more seemed to be spreading on her body.

"If you want to know, your friend Ibiki helped me…but now that he's of no use to me…I might as well drop him dead," the Uchiha woman replied, shrugging casually, "To think he did it to hide his pretty girlfriend's gambling troubles…consequences."

"Well, anyway here's our part of the deal…we heard enough, and we can say it's been a pleasure, doing business with you," one of the shinobi spoke, gesturing to the bushes, from which two others appeared, carrying in binds a blond haired teen, of maybe nineteen or twenty years, chakra suppressor placed on his entire body, and both of his eyes covered, while his mouth was gagged.

"Deidara of the Akatsuki, we captured him when he tried to escape after his last stunt on our backlines…he's the one you wanted, correct?" Mikoto nodded, as the exchange went underway. The moment Itachi's hands touched Deidara's arm, pulling him to their sides, something literally tore itself out of the ground, was flung through a set of trees and smashes against the ground repeatedly. The dead corpse of the Iwagakure shinobi, possibly the one responsible for ensnaring Anko, stood there, motionless.

The next moment, a flash of electricity materialized into the clearing, and two icy blue eyes looked at the reunited group, murder clearly promised in his eyes.

Anko's eyes bulged in shock, as fear ran clearly through the Iwagakure's survivors that tried to scamper away, trying being the key-word, because the same flash of thunder darted from Naruto's hand, and pierced through the bodies of the escaping shinobis, before returning in his palm.

The purple haired kunoichi's fury dimmed down, until it came to a halt. Tears once more menaced to come out, but she was a tough one, she was a T&I woman, not a whiny pathetic Genin kunoichi. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't cry seeing the man she loved coming to her rescue, even though he didn't love her anymore. She would just quietly wait for him to finish the massacre, and then she'd wait orders…hoping he wouldn't kill her. Praying he wouldn't.

The Iwagakure shinobis, on the other hand, had been killed without mercy, without contempt or sadness. Only with pure blind hatred, just like it would be a really annoying fly, but the true center of anger…that was the two Uchihas.

The handle of the Raijin no Ken stood quietly humming, shining of a pale light, as electricity flowed through Naruto's armor, letting small sparks run around.

"_Really_?" he hissed, and for once, the air seemed to dry completely around them, as the sounds of thunder and the raindrops began to pour down around them, "Really? After _everything_ I've done…_Everything_…_this_ is what I get?"

"Blood runs thicker than water, Naruto," Itachi whispered, while his sword came out from his sheathe, as Anko couldn't help but stay silent, watching the scene unfold.

"So it was a trap for us," Mikoto spoke quietly, seemingly unfazed by the turn of the events, "A pity…against two users of the sharingan, what hope do you think you have, Senju?"

Naruto's eyes closed, and the next moment, both Uchiha struck, just as Anko barely managed to yell a warning, or at least…try to…

"_**KOI!**_" and then the sword came down.

Mikoto Uchiha had unlocked the Mangekyou sharingan, after seeing the brutal murder of a couple of woman she had befriended in life. Even though said murder had happened with her wielding a kunai, it still hurt, but, in the greater order of things, it was meaningless. What was not meaningless, however, was the sword sticking straight through her heart, letting the blood fall down its length.

The wound was fatal, there was nothing she could do to survive it, and if that wasn't enough, the Raijin had seemingly struck her in by the side, busting both of her kidneys and whatever stood in between. The blade of the thunder god…just who had taught the Senju its full potential?

"W…Why…" she whispered, her eyes returning of their normal color, as Itachi's blade emerged from her corpse.

"Senju! I will not underestimate you again! You will pay for the death of my mother!" Itachi exclaimed, before quickly jumping back, as the Raijin no Ken buzzed, letting the electricity run around Naruto's entire frame, as a silent, but quick nod, was sent in Itachi's direction.

The next moment, Itachi and Deidara disappeared, the latter carried by the former, while Naruto, stopping the charade, turned to stare at the wide eyed Anko Mitarashi.

Anko felt the ground loosen up, as she finally managed to pull herself free, and stand back on her legs, looking with a mixture of perplexity, surprise, guilt, worry, and also a good dose of hurt, into the Hokage's own eyes.

"The…heart attack was a lie…" she muttered, slowly moving closer to him, not even caring that Kurotsuchi was still there, in a corner, staying down on the ground. To the girl, there was nothing interesting, and everything was just another try at letting her feel freedom, before bringing her back to jail.

"Yes," Naruto replied with a small nod, as Anko literally tackled him, starting to punch him in the chest.

"You made me worry! You _used_ me as _bait_! You kami be damned bastard _used_ me!"

"Yes," the Senju added, once more, looking at her with a silent nod.

"I earned it, right? One last laugh, then let's throw her out of my daughters' lives, let's marry the stall girl, let's invite Anko to the wedding while we're at it, just to make her suffer, and then…"

"Anko…I said I would never love anyone else, ever again," Naruto whispered back, "She's doing her job feeding false information to Hakkaku, a cooking-nin of Kumogakure, and our relationship is a front…"

The purple haired kunoichi froze, once more, listening to him whisper in her ear those words…it just couldn't be, Naruto wouldn't…

"I'm just using her, Anko," he finished, "I gave my heart to a single woman, and she destroyed it. I gave my trust to a lot of persons, and they smashed it to the ground…I…I'll never trust anyone ever again, hell…I can't even drink Karin's brewed tea without making sure it's not poisoned…It's paranoia, to its finest…I know it…but…"

"You don't love the stall girl," Anko stated, once more, locking her gaze with his.

"I like her like a big sister, I'm happy when she's happy, but…" as Naruto shook his head, the purple haired kunoichi bit her lip once, before insisting.

"Why are you telling me everything, like this, just because I ask you?"

"Can you keep a secret?" Naruto whispered in her ear, making Anko actually blush, before she suddenly tensed and turned around, kunai in hand…since Kurotsuchi had just stood up.

Pale flickering blue eyes met her light hazel one, as the nine nines seal on the kunoichi's back shone for a moment, a smile plastering itself on the girl's face.

"**My…It's a pleasure.**" The voice spoke sweetly, as the dark haired girl stretched for a moment, before starting to look at her assets.

"**I had better hosts once…still, this is satisfactory…and there's no stupid silly strong mind barring me control,**" she added.

"Who…Who are you?" Anko snapped, only for Naruto to gently hold her kunai hand, and let her put it back in the kunai pouch.

"Ku-chan…Anko, Anko…Ku-chan, the Kyuubi's Yin chakra," as the Hokage made the presentation, Kurotsuchi, who actually was the Kyuubi, merely gave her a small smile.

"My…we'll talk about this later…fill her in," the Kyuubi said, before starting to go through the various shinobis' corpses, probably to find stuff she could wear.

"Anko, this is terribly important, and I want you to listen to me," Naruto began, quietly locking eyes with the purple haired kunoichi, "Orochimaru…works for me."

*Orochimaru*

"Now…who should I kill, I wonder?" he muttered to himself, as his golden eyes scanned through the amassed people, "Oh, I know! The Hyuga is down, the Uchiha is at his wits ends, Tayuya is a weakling, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is at a loss because she's a sissy…that leaves me the Kurama brat and the Uzumaki whore…choices, choices, choices," the snake sannin grinned, before letting out a grim chuckle.

"I know: first, we get the Kyuubi out of the deal," and with those words, Orochimaru literally disappeared from sight, while Katsumi could but watch, her brain in overload from the sheer amount of impossible things that had happened in such a short amount of time.

Just…the next second, a pain in her stomach forced her to fall, once more, on the ground.

"Gogyō Fūin," the snake sannin muttered, before turning his gaze to Kushina, and, by consequences, Yumi.

"Oro…" but Tayuya's words died in her throat, as her seal flared up, sending her on the ground, foaming from her mouth.

"A daughter for a daughter, would you?" Orochimaru sickeningly smiled, as his hands deftly encircled Katsumi's neck, preparing to snap it, if the Namikaze woman did not obey his command.

"You…" Kushina bit her lips, holding Yumi…on one side, she knew this would work just as well, but on the other…how could she trust the sannin to keep his side of the deal?

"Well, if you're having such trust problems, hand her back to the Kurama girl, over there…then we can have a nice little hostage exchange, Namikaze-san," the grin on the snake's face was wide and fierce, displaying the two fangs of his smile.

Kushina was torn, but had really not much of a choice. She knew that if it had been anyone else, she'd try using her chains in a creative way, by having them stay underground and fling up at the right moment…but Orochimaru of the sannins was a different story: he knew what he was doing, and clearly, he'd see through it in a second.

With a slow nod, Yakumo Kurama gently picked Yumi up, once more, and began to walk towards the Sannin, while at the same time Orochimaru slowly unhinged his arms from his shoulders, actually elongating them as he pushed Katsumi forward, a little at a time.

"Don't…please…don't," Katsumi mouth-spoke: it was one thing to take Yumi back from her mother, a bit of convincing would do…but from Orochimaru? There would be no way out…no means to do it; there was no way they'd ever be able to take Yumi-chan back from the snake.

"Good, now leave the girl on the ground," Orochimaru spoke quietly, as Yakumo had already reached three quarters of the distance, while the sannin's arms had done pretty much the same while pushing Katsumi.

"One," Orochimaru muttered, as soon as the Kurama girl gently dropped Yumi on the ground, "Two," Kushina tensed, as she saw the snake's hands recoiling, "Three."

It happened in a flash, chains departed as well as snakes, and Yakumo found herself pierced on both sides, unable to move from her position. Kushina looked in shock and with a bitter taste in her mouth, as her chains had literally torn through the girl's back. Orochimaru merely smirked, having used his snakes to pin the girl on the spot, and use her as an improvised shield to get to Yumi quickly.

"My…" he commented, watching as light and life faded from the Kurama girl's eyes, "What a cruel thing to do, Namikaze-san…being a monster runs in the family, doesn't it?"

"You did this!" Kushina hissed, as her chains, some of them, wrapped around Katsumi, quickly bringing her away from the snake sannin.

"I did this?" Orochimaru mocked, "No, you did this, choosing to betray your village."

"You're one to talk, Orochimaru!" Kushina exclaimed, "You're an S-rank criminal, your crimes and so called experiments…"

"Were all sanctioned by the Yondaime Hokage," and with those words, a loud laughter escaped Orochimaru's lips, "He was so afraid of Iwagakure coming to fight, so trembling, so bastardly worrisome, that he would have made a deal with the devil himself, wouldn't he?"

"You're just lying, Orochimaru!"

"Oh, but you see…every lie has a fragment of truth…I worked with Danzo, I worked with the Yondaime, I worked for the Hokage, and really…how many missions would I possibly have needed, to fund an entire village? You know Otogakure's true purpose? Want to know what that village was all about?! It was to fund a mercenary unit that would normally obey no-one, and in truth follow the leaf's orders! But no, your precious Yondaime had to try and have me killed! He slipped the info to the Sandaime, brought everything to light, and legally sent an entire team of Anbus to get me killed…who do you think sanctioned the cursed seal!? Who do you think granted me that precious Fuinjutsu knowledge, considering Jiraiya was actually _deceased_!?"

"That's…that's not true," Kushina whispered, shaking her head.

"What does the cursed seal do? I'll tell you…" Orochimaru replied, a smile on his lips, as with the snap of a finger, Tayuya suddenly stood up, like a puppet, "It draws upon Sage chakra…and tell me…how many sages do you know lived in Konoha, when I defected?" the smile kept growing, as Kushina shook her head, repeatedly, "You were about to say 'Jiraiya', right? But he died, didn't he? Oh my…how amusing…and obviously I'm sure you'll have a lot of questions…but let me tell you this."

A group of snakes materialized in a puff of smoke, right to the side of Orochimaru, each of them moving to grab one of the wounded chuunins, except Yakumo or Katsumi, as the snake sannin finished his speech.

"The feeling of betrayal…is something terrible, because it doesn't seem much, in the beginning at least," Orochimaru spoke quietly, as he nodded to his snakes to leave the clearing, "At first, you don't believe, you fight it, you think it's not possible…but then…it sticks to you, and you simply stop believing in others…you start to use others, and in the end…it brings you to such unfathomable depths that there is merely no way out…"

"Oniisan isn't…" Katsumi's raucous words were cut off, with another booming laughter from Orochimaru himself.

"Poor, poor Katsumi-chan…who gave out the mission slips? Who had the Hyuga compound empty of guards? Who changed the patrols? Who trapped you…on the other side of the barricade?" the snake sannin added, with a bemused expression on his face.

"He wouldn't do that! I'm a loyal Konoha kunoichi!" Katsumi screamed.

"Are you?" Orochimaru queried, "You're the son of traitors…you saw your mother…you didn't help in the defense of your teammates, instead standing still…and now…now you will be going with her," he snickered, "And even if you do go against your will, she won't be letting you go that easily…your mother is the one with a choice…she actually has no hostages…only your fate in her hands!"

Kushina Namikaze clenched her fists. Just…how was any of this possible? Why would Naruto, of all people, ally himself with Orochimaru…certainly he knew who was responsible for his son's disappearance, right? But if he knew…then why would he still…

"You can't be serious…he _knows_," just as Kushina hissed those words, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, before resuming their normal appearance.

"Of course…I served the Hokage after all…I obeyed every, single, time…"

"But…but the battle…"

"Who do you think gave me the Edo Tensei?" Orochimaru hissed, "Or at least, gave me enough hints to it? He had planned on my ego to use it, and I indulged him for revenge on Minato Namikaze! Why do you think he never led an assault against Otogakure, albeit my subordinates helped be with the barrier jutsu? Why do you think he never set his trackers against me, his Anbus, his best men? Why do you think Itachi was partnered with me in Akatsuki? I have been the spy all along! I have helped Naruto, just like any sensei would do…and he helped me back, just like any student would…" with a last chuckle, the snake sannin's eyes locked with those of Katsumi.

"It seems you have a choice now, Kushina Namikaze…run with your daughter, or leave her here…and I'm sure, this time, after Yakumo Kurama's untimely demise…that she will be used as the weapon of war she was meant to be…"

Was there even a choice, in that situation? No, there wasn't one; no matter what…she couldn't leave her daughter there with Orochimaru…there was no guarantee of anything! Holding Katsumi tightly with her chains, she fled, without turning back, without even daring looking behind her, as the sickening cold gaze of Orochimaru rested on her shoulder, watching her leave.

"And another pawn moves on the chessboard," the sannin chuckled, amused, "to think that my student could device such a ploy…he took the best of my qualities, I suppose…it's always the quiet ones…that walk in the darkness like its best denizen."

*Amegakure*

Yamato flinched. He was used to displaying little emotions every now and then, when it was required by his mission parameters, but this was too much. Truly, had it not been for his double-agent work in Root, maybe he wouldn't have found himself in this situation.

Right now, he had the delicate work cut out for him: train Tobirama, his Hokage's son, in Mokuton. At the same time, avoid making it seem like he was protecting him for anything other than his skills, and, furthermore, await contact with a high-ranking spy codenamed 'Ku'.

Truly, he had expected anything. Doing the double agent, triple agent, quadruple agent or similar did that. In the end spies could be anyone. Ranging from the elderly woman who handed out fruit, to the seemingly street urchin in the corner, to the newspaper boy, passing through an infant in a crib who had just wetted himself to a bird perched on a tree.

Having jutsus to hide and transform made spies…bizarre and eccentric, to say the least. Still, with his mokuton ability, and aided by Tobirama, the two had actually managed to help rebuild large section of the village, while, at the same time, adding to the infrastructure. Now Amegakure seemed a mixture of wood and metal, a sort of technologically advanced Konoha.

The name of the village remained that one, but there was little of a village. The few civilians who had remained in their houses had all but been reduced to slave-work, while those that had followed the army from their respective homes were little better off. The shinobis from Suna and Iwa, now abandoned by their respective new Kages, had no choice but stick together.

Yet everyone knew: this was just postponing the inevitable. Their very armies had marched with the concept of making charred earth, leaving nothing behind. If not for the supplies of the village, and the lake itself, that seemed to house some sort of food deposit in the form of various tunas and fish varieties, they'd have already lost many to hunger.

Yet…Yamato flinched. He had expected anyone, as a spy, obviously…but this? No.

Kurotsuchi was wearing Iwagakure Jounin attire, albeit her hair, long from the years of imprisonment, had been tied in a ponytail behind her.

Yet, no matter how much this screamed of trap, she had given him the correct passcode, after having aptly placed herself in Tobirama's running trajectory.

"Have you seen my cat?" she had asked, her eyes looking at him with a hint of amusement, and he had flinched, before actually replying.

"Barbequed with his siblings," whatever the running gag was, he didn't know, but Kurotsuchi actually chuckled at that.

"Ah…fond memories," she replied, before looking down, at the six years old that held grey hair, and two different colored eyes. Tobirama was sporting a small sandy-yellow jacket, with a pair of loose brown shorts. He had no forehead protector, but a pair of goggles on his hair. On the side of his pants stood a small pouch, with nothing more than a single kunai within and probably scavenged somewhere.

"Please, excuse my apprentice," Yamato spoke once more, concern being faked in his voice, as he put his hand on Tobirama's hair, knowing full well how much it annoyed the boy, "He should have been watching where he was running."

"I was just tired of standing still and…meditating," Tobirama spat the word out with a bit of disgust, "I mean, really, Sensei…meditating!?"

"Mokuton requires finesse to become great," Yamato spoke back, "And we are the best suited in destroying Bijuus, and thus also Jinchuuriki."

"Oh…I know! I heard about you," Kurotsuchi replied, "**Saw it in action, too, long time ago,**" her eyes briefly flashed blue, with slits, and in that moment…

Yamato flinched again.

Did the Hokage really send the Kyuubi, of all people, as a spy in Amegakure!?

But, more importantly…how the hell did he manage that!?

Yamato's head was filled with screams of 'impossible', 'madness' and many other exclamations and cuss words…but till then, he'd play the game.

"Kurotsuchi-sama, please don't run away from your guards," a voice, an oily one, spoke quietly, moving closer to her. Kabuto Yakushi, in shinobi attire, swiftly placed himself right next to the Iwagakure…possessed Tsuchikage's grandchildren.

"Kabuto-san, I was just speaking with the twin heroes of the Mokuton…our rays of hope in the upcoming battle against Iwagakure's fake government," Kurotsuchi pointed out, as Kabuto sighed.

"Kurotsuchi-sama, please, the elder Jounins advised you against speaking of this around…you never know who might be listening," the medic-nin, triple or actually quadruple agent himself, replied sternly, only for Kurotsuchi to pale, or at least fake to, and turn to Yamato and Tobirama.

"You won't say anything, right?"

Both nodded, quickly, as the girl let out a sigh of relief.

'_Damn she's a natural at this,'_ was, most aptly, Yamato's thought.

He just hoped this would be the cue for his soon relief.

He had to escort Tobirama back to Konoha, after all…he was long due meeting his real family.

*Konan*

She stood, in the proximity of Amegakure. Her eyes settled on the lake, quietly, before a hand raised itself from her side.

Blood would always call blood…Nagato had told her not to, but how could she let those tramps, those arrogant bastards walk away free? Yahiko would have sold his souls to the demons of hell, rather than let foreign shinobi put a single foot within Amegakure.

"Yahiko…this is for you: let their souls scream in the afterlife, that blood calls blood! Kami no Shisha no Jutsu!"

**Author's notes**

**So…**

**You didn't expect that.**

**Did you?**

**Now…be serious, you didn't expect that!**

**No you didn't!**

**Q&A Time!**

**Chapters to finish? I don't know. Truly, I never have a 'fixed' amount of chapters. I just…write. What flows flows, and when it ends it ends. Could be 28, 25, 98273 (that would a looong number of words)…dunno.**

**Is Neji dead? Read those lines carefully, and remember the possible sharingan uses (I'm too kind, I know, by giving you the answer on a silver platter, but truly…I'm too good!).**

**No frigging way Mikoto is the spy! Just…HOW!? 1) Gai's relationship seemed off to some of you, but nothing is ever 'off' with what I describe…usually. 2) yes, she was the one who made that single-line thought at the table. 3) She's the raven haired Uchiha who came by, obviously camouflaged as 'Madara' 4) Who distributed Naruto's sickness to the outside? Mikoto, once more. (Friday night alcohol, ladies night)**

**Did you just make Kiri a sort of 'shinobi-rapture/atlantis'? Yes. Because I go by the creed that, if a super-weapon is born, then so must a super-countermeasure be born…it's the law of mankind, to evolve.**

**Why did Naruto basically…use his daughters, Anko, his very own students, as bait? Why did he sell out his sister and fight hard to brand her a criminal?**

**For the first one, he had everything under control. (Yeah, right, Hinata killed Neji! Sasuke nearly died, lost an eye, and Yakumo died!) (You shall see) secondly, it was that risk, or letting the village suffer through a set of spies that wouldn't come out. (Mikoto, Ibiki…someone for the next chapter too) And yes, it's also because he's going down on the 'cold and dark' path of being a shinobi. A real one. Not one that is clad in orange and goes around singing 'let's shake hands and make peace!'**

**Is Orochimaru good? No. He did his experiment, he kidnapped the 'babies' and all…but he had the back-up of the Hokage…and Danzo. Thus…while he was 'a necessary evil'. (Which is kind of like Naruto-verse portrays him, only with less madness in him)**

**Is Hinata dead and a burning heap? NO! Hinata's body is controlled by Orochimaru, once more, because the girl lacked chakra. That's all. Obviously now Orochimaru is in control.**

**Is it true what Hiashi said, about Naruto 'selling' Hinata off? It would appear so. However it is explained later on **_**why**_**. (Next chapter? Probably)…and if there is a second chance. (For more confirmation, look at the 'kidnapping' word. It's in **_**italic**_**.**

**Mei is Akatsuki, she claims they have three anti-bijuu weapon, but two (Tobirama and Yamato) appear on Konoha's side, while the third (Kushina) is on theirs truthfully…what's the deal behind it? Wait and watch.**

**I suppose I solved most of the questions, and doubts…for many others…just wait next chapter!**


	25. SH: Conflicting

Chapter Twenty-Fifth

"Konan...do you realize what you've done?" Nagato spoke softly, from his seat, as his rinnegan eyes looked at the blue haired kunoichi, wearing the Akatsuki garbs. Both stood in an underground section of New Kirigakure, kept dry and free from water infiltration by a complicated array of seals. The rock was smooth and without impurities, yet wasn't humid or slippery.

Normal commodities, just like the small hall was any other office, were scattered around. A desk, a chair, some shelves, normal things…except they were a long way beneath the ocean's surface.

"I…I couldn't let them go on," the woman retorted, "Nagato, please, Amegakure was Yahiko's…"

"Do you think he'd be happy about it?" Nagato's lips purled, as the words came out quietly, in a hushed tone. The red haired man shook his head slowly, his eyes, with their ripple-like pattern, concentrating on Konan's face.

"He would have…"

"Understood? No, he wouldn't have," Nagato replied, "He wouldn't have condoned any more killing than necessary. He wouldn't have destroyed Amegakure and he wouldn't have razed his own home village to the ground…"

"They were walking like they owned the place!" Konan snapped back at Nagato's true body, before closing her mouth quickly, and averting her gaze, "Someone had to do something."

"But that someone wasn't meant to be you, or any of us," Nagato muttered back, "How can we pronounce peace, when we slaughter the losers of war? How can we be seen as a force of good, if we don't show mercy?"

Konan closed her eyes shut for a moment: she knew he was right, Nagato was always right, usually…but she just couldn't let it drop like that.

"So what? We should wait and see? Nagato, we have to act before it's too late! Konoha is…"

"Konoha won't be doing much, any time soon," the red haired man replied, calmly, "If only you had waited…there are news of the Hokage's sickness spreading all across the land, you know? There would have been a long time for peace…but now?" the rinnegan user shook his head, with a sad expression plastered on his face, "Now we can only hope chaos doesn't erupt again, and so soon…"

"Why?" Konan queried, as her hands clenched against the fabric of her Akatsuki cloak.

"Amegakure was the last thing that could prevent Konoha from turning its hungry gaze to the east, Konan…to Kumogakure and Kirigakure…" Nagato replied bitterly, "It would have been a temporary time of peace that would have granted Mei the time to conquer Kumogakure…but now?"

"Now Konoha might intervene _directly_," Madara finished the sentence, appearing in the middle of the room with his usual trick. His orange mask was a twirl with but a hole for a single eye to see through, but, most importantly, he seemed to possess a sort of battle fan on his back.

"Madara, what brings you here?" Nagato queried, locking his eyes with the man that had backed them up, in the plan for peace.

"I was overseeing an _exchange_…let's leave it at that, for the moment," Tobi replied, grinning behind his mask, "The new girl, Kushina, got her daughter and came back here…but it turns out _Orochimaru_ was a spy for Konoha, and Otogakure is their ally too."

"Orochimaru? Isn't he a missing-nin?" Konan's question was met with a glare from Madara, who growled.

"No, he was just the used and backstabbed tool of the Yondaime…and obviously the Godaime is nothing like his father: he's well in the process of giving him a full pardon…"

"Isn't he sick?" Nagato muttered, only for the Uchiha to merely chuckle.

"He's already back in full health. It appears the report on him using the Kyuubi's Yang chakra to heal himself were false: using the Yin does him no harm, at least, from what Itachi said when he came back here."

"That…complicates things," the rinnegan flared for a moment, as the door opened to reveal both Deidara and Itachi, of all people, entering. Itachi was the one bound with chakra suppressing chains, but the Iwagakure missing Nin had a sort of sympathetic expression, like he was sorry.

"Sorry boss! I didn't think you'd have visitors, but I kind of wanted to have this settled quickly: Itachi-san did save my life after all," as the blond man spoke, Madara merely scoffed, before exclaiming.

"Oh Tobi wants to know too!" he couldn't tell the ex-explosion corps specialist that in truth he was Uchiha Madara. Well, actually, he wasn't _Madara_ per se, but he didn't want them to know who he was truthfully, and to the others, he was Tobi: someone without neurons but rather sticks of wood and sawdust in the brain, preferably all mixed up with glue coming from a construction set.

The only thing he was glad of was that Itachi was useful to him, and was going to be useful again, in the short future. He'd make sure to use him, until he'd get everything he desired.

It didn't take much for Deidara to recount the events of the prisoner's exchange with all the words he had heard, albeit without any visible input it made quite a nice picture. Uchiha Madara, 'Tobi', instead, kept quiet.

Nagato's eyes scanned Itachi's, for a moment, before closing.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he queried, "We could have helped you."

"There was still Orochimaru in the organization: he would have known…sensei always _knew_ things."

"I did find it strange, your silence over Akatsuki's location…fair enough," Nagato said, "welcome back, Itachi…and I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's good to be home," Itachi whispered, "and I _swear_…my mother will be avenged," he added, his tone turning serious.

"No," Nagato retorted, shaking his head, "revenge brews hatred, the cycle can only be stopped when one side stops seeking payback, when one sides realizes that pain is not the way to solve everything."

"But we…we decided to fight Konoha," the Uchiha replied, perplexed, as Tobi, this time, intervened.

"Tobi knows what to fight! He was there! He saw the Senju master the Raijin! We must stop the Hokage!"

"You…were there?" Itachi queried, keeping a stony façade, hoping the small and subtle signs he and Naruto sent each other passed unnoticed…but to the eyes of Madara, would they really be just _glanced_ over?

"Tobi was curious! I just _watched_ and ran because the Hokage was scary!" he exclaimed, grinning behind his mask. Good to have Itachi tense. Oh, he knew what had happened…he just hadn't been the one watching over everything.

The only good fact was that now half of the Kyuubi was in their hands. The only thing they needed was the other half…and then a _peaceful reign_ would come to all. He wasn't even displeased with the Uchiha matriarch's death: Mikoto's death just meant that, instead of him using the woman as a breeding machine, to produce purebred Uchihas, he'd have to resort to the young Yumi…once she came of age, obviously.

"Tobi," Nagato hissed dangerously, "You left Itachi to risk death at the hands of the Hokage? I thought you'd value your _friends_ more."

"Tobi is sorry! But I was really scared!" 'Tobi' replied, as Deidara merely rolled his eyes.

"Not that the shrimp could do much, leader…I mean, you know him! He's actually an S-rank shinobi probably because of his luck of his!"

"I'm not a shrimp! I'm Tobi!" Madara replied with a nasally high pitched voice.

"Itachi, Deidara…you're both dismissed…" Nagato commented, waving his hand, before adding, "Konan, we will speak of your punishment later…Tobi, you stay here."

Just as Itachi was dismissed and the shackles removed, at the same time, but in another spot within New Kirigakure, Katsumi was eying with murder in her gaze her mother, who was standing on the other side, the outside, of the cage the red haired girl was currently trapped in.

"Let. Me. Go."

"Katsumi-chan, this is for your own good: your seal is unstable, prone to leaking, and…" as Kushina tried to explain it to her furious daughter, said girl grabbed the bars of the cage, that shone brightly with seals, and forced out from Katsumi's mouth a yelp of pain. The girl's hands quickly moved away, but not before having actually charred her palms, that nevertheless swiftly healed.

"This cage is designed to contain and suppress it," the woman finished, before sitting down in front of her, the bars separating the two, "We can talk now, you know?"

Katsumi merely muttered a curse, turning her gaze to the side, while crossing her arms.

"Oh well, then I'll talk, and you'll listen to me, it's been a while since we had a girl to girl chat," the red hot habanero began to talk, asking questions that she herself answered, while her only daughter tried her best to put up a scowling front.

There wasn't much else to do, considering both were in new Kirigakure's prisons, albeit one of the two was the visitor, and the other the prisoner. The prisons were nothing more than an elaborate under the sea collection of metal blocks. The moment a prisoner was condemned to death, or a revolt came up, they'd detach the prisons from the main Kirigakure…and have the prisoners drown.

It was cruel, but efficient, and new Kirigakure was all for efficiency.

"And did you make any special someone?" Kushina asked, once more, her eyes trying to catch every visible frown or muscle twitch on her daughter's face.

"Yes, a thousand of man-whores," Katsumi snapped back, her eyes a cold blue as she looked at her mother's face turn a bright red, before suddenly sporting a tick mark.

"You're messing with me 'ttebane!"

"You're annoying me 'ttebayo!"

"Stop using 'ttebayo, 'ttebane!"

"I'll use 'ttebayo how many 'ttebayo times I 'ttebayo want to, 'ttebayo!"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Kushina exclaimed straight back, only for Katsumi to frown again, and then spit at her mother's feet.

"Just leave me alone! Or better yet, bring me back to Konoha!"

The Namikaze woman stood up, clenching her fists, and turning to leave.

"Soon you'll realize how I've saved your life…your brother only needed you for the Kyuubi, Katsumi-chan…he never loved you."

"Just like you never loved him!?" the red haired teenager shot back at her mother, before closing her eyes. She didn't want to even think about it. Her brother wouldn't use her like this… he wouldn't set a trap for them to be captured. She could hear her mother leaving, without saying another word. Katsumi smirked, knowing that she had, actually, hurt her mother.

As her eyes kept being closed, she began to think and to recall back the events…was Neji fine? Did he die? What about Sasuke? Were Orochimaru's words true? Were her mother's? Who could she actually trust? She hugged her own knees, sitting in the cage, with her eyes firmly shut. She wasn't going to cry, or whine about the empty stomach. She was going to stay there and wait. Her brother would come to save her, she was sure of it.

He wouldn't abandon her, she was sure of it… he wouldn't.

*Naruto*

Anko's eyes, those _lovely_ light brown circles, were showing him the fury that women were so famous for. Naruto Senju kind of deserved it, if for the sole reason of having used his, and by law of reproduction hers, daughters as bait and also as exchange material. He would question whether he actually needed those eyes fixed on him even as they both walked back towards Konoha, but he knew that he was already feeling Anko's thin patience coming away. He had obviously filled her in on what was going to happen, and was probably happening, with his students.

He _was_ the Hokage and he _had_ to do what was best for Konoha...but it was bullshit. The excuse Naruto kept repeating within his head, as he had explained the plan to the Kunoichi, was different from what he had blurted out as his defense, when the people involved had queried on the 'madness' of his actions.

The plan, in theory, was perfectly safe to use. His daughters would be protected by none other than Orochimaru, who would intervene taking over Hinata, if anything happened to any of them. This was all so that the plan could go in motion and, hopefully, solve Katsumi's long term _problem_. Naruto had done his best in reigning in the Yang chakra of the Kyuubi, but he wasn't a seal master as good as they depicted him, and most of his seals were deteriorating too fast.

Kushina, having been with the Akatsuki since at least two to three years, hadn't made it easy: she was, unluckily, a better seal master than him, and thus was extremely necessary in Katsumi's survival.

Furthermore, Naruto couldn't possibly be always present, to syphon out the excess of Yang, merge it with his Yin, and keep it stable, every single time it was needed. During the war it had happened once; he had felt it, Ku-chan had felt it, and that was why they had cut short the mass-area Genjutsu, created by leeching the chakra from all those who lived within Iwagakure.

So, on one side, he was kind of putting his daughters' lives to risk. On the other, he had all the contingencies plans on, and worse to worse…he'd end up using '_that'_.

It was a bleak and utterly horrendous reason to '_sell_' away one of his pupils, yet what choice did he have? He was _helping_ Katsumi, by letting her go with Kushina. In exchange he had received from the very red haired woman that despised him much needed info. It had been nothing more than a simple, and effective, _exchange_. All for the good of his family, all for the good of those he _loved_.

Still, Anko's gaze had been the only thing drilling into the back of his head; only that, nothing more. She hadn't talked once, as they had begun their walk back. It was time to end this…with a quick hand sign. A small bubble of air surrounded the two, keeping all sounds within the enclosed area.

"So…you know you can't tell them it was all planned," he mused out loud enough for her to hear.

"Oh yeah, I get to be the psycho bitch who escaped a holding cell because of a traitorous whore and you keep on playing the poor heartbroken man," Anko spat out, "You're worse than…I don't know, Danzo and Orochimaru combined? Maybe a threesome with the _Yondaime_ added to the mix."

Naruto winced at the accusation.

"Everything I do is for the better of Konoha, and those I hold dear, Anko," he replied, once more...that was a part of the truth, not all of it, but still…most of it.

"Oh? I'm no longer the 'Mitarashi' woman? So now it's Anko huh," the purple haired Kunoichi muttered. Sure, she had longed to be called by first name again…but she hadn't thought she'd rather have him keep using her surname, when that time would come.

"Come on, I admit it was a bit underhanded…" he began, only for Anko to shut him up with a snappish remark.

"A bit underhanded!? You used me, Karin, Yumi, Neji, Sasuke, Katsumi, Yakumo and Kami knows how many others! You don't even know if they're all alive right now! They could be dead or worse, and you…you're _walking_ back to Konoha! Walking! Just what happened to the boy I fell in love with? The kind one, the one who would have never lied to anyone, never kept a secret, never _used_ someone else?"

"He _grew_ up, got a good dose of life lessons, loved someone to the point of being crushed when it all came out as a _lie_, and became someone else entirely, Anko," the Hokage spat back, staring at her, this time without averting his gaze.

"You're starting to scare me, Naruto…" Anko whispered, averting her eyes, "_Orochimaru_ is considered someone you can _trust_? Do you know the things he did to me, to the other orphans!?" she yelled, looking back at him, her fists drawn upwards.

"Project Barracuda and Project Sage Soldier," the Godaime stated with a monotonous tone, before adding, "Anko, I know of them…I'm the Hokage, I looked at all the confidential data within them," Naruto replied, making a small nod and a dismissal move.

The purple haired Kunoichi looked with shock at the grey haired man in front of her…did he just _dismiss_ the entire issue with the right hand? He did that. Anko saw him doing precisely that: dismissing the _deaths_ of nine other orphans whose only fault was to believe in someone who shouldn't have been believed in…the worse, was that he just _kept_ on _talking_ while _walking_.

"And you think the Sandaime was any different? Who do you think helped Orochimaru on the path of immortality, handing over prisoners of the third shinobi war to him to test upon? How do you think the Nidaime brought peace!? By ruthlessly backstabbing his political enemies, by working in the shadows while being adored in the light…the first Hokage, Hashirama, was nothing different…we are _Kages_, Anko! We are _shadows_! We work in the darkness like it was our call: do you really think what I did, I did it lightheartedly? Like it was a walk in the park?" Naruto's face morphed into one of sorrow, as he shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again, and sighing, "Tell me, Anko, was there anything else I should have done?"

"I think you're not beating yourself up enough," the kunoichi replied slowly, "and if this becomes a habit…then I think you'll end up losing whatever shred there still is of love in you for our daughters…and I can't have that."

"What?" the Senju's head chuckled, "I should beat myself up more? Last time I tried moping, and feeling guilty about something cruel, Karin came to me in tears. She was crying because I was feeling _guilt_, Anko…let me finish," he snapped, seeing how the purple haired woman wanted to retort. If she actually didn't want to see his ways, then there was no choice…he'd have to _kill_ her there. He had told her already too much, and now…she'd either have to follow him, or die. It was cruel, despicable, but it was just like she had acted in his regards for most of his life.

"I thought long and hard, about what to do. They're both our precious daughters, Anko, and I don't want to see them cry, ever, if I can prevent it…but they're both going to keep being or becoming kunoichis. I know it, you know it, everyone in the village knows that!" the Hokage exclaimed, bringing more heat to his words as he kept on talking, "So if I have to use Orochimaru, Neji, Sasuke, Kami, Yami, the devil and the demons of hell themselves…then I'll do it, but I'll make _peace_ for our daughters! A peace where they won't have to sully their hands with the _blood_ of innocents! A peace where they won't have to make the choices I had to do…a peace where they can be genuinely happy. If I have to become the slaughterer of the elemental countries, if I have to kill and kill till there are more corpses than leafs on a tree, then I will do so…"

As Naruto's tone grew softer, so did Anko clench her fists, shaking her head slowly, before swiftly locking her gaze with her ex-husband once more.

"But you _used_ our daughters in the first place! What if Orochimaru isn't going to be true to his word!? What if something goes wrong, and they all die!?" as Anko yelled that, Naruto was glad he had a small bubble of space around him to prevent all noises and sounds from going outside.

"I always have contingencies…and if that has actually happened…" the Hokage's eyes became cloudy, for a moment, before whispering, "I'll just have to bring them all _back_."

Anko's hands, that had clenched in fists in front of her since the start of discussion fell limp to her sides. Her eyes searched for any sign that Naruto was lying. Anything, any single shred of lie…even if he had never lied before, she…she just hoped he was lying.

"Naruto…" that word croaked its way out of her mouth, "You…you mastered _that_ technique?"

"Prisoners of war are good at something, at least," he whispered back, and then…then Anko slapped him, hard, on the left cheek. Then she slapped him again, on the right one. Then she began to furiously throw punches at his chest, covered with his armor, not caring she was just hurting herself in the process.

"Give. Me. Naruto. Back!" she yelled, furious, "Where's Naruto!? What have you done with him!? You said you'd never use it, never master it! You said you'd never pay those prices! You…you stupid…idiotic…moron," she finished her rant in mere murmurs, as her forehead dropped against his chest, "idiot."

"This is the pot, calling the kettle black," the grey haired man gently whispered, caressing a lock of purple hair from the woman crying on his chest. His left hand was slowly moving to his Raijin…he'd give her a quick death. Something that she didn't deserve, if she still believed he was wrong, after everything he had just told her. He was right. He was perfectly and soundly right.

"…back," Anko muttered, the sound muffled by her tries in drying her tears with the neck fur of Naruto's armor. Just like that, Naruto's hand stopped from reaching the tool of Anko's execution.

"What did you say?" The Godaime Hokage whispered, not actually catching the entire sentence.

"I said…I want to come back," she exclaimed, giving him one punch on the right shoulder, "You just can't seem to stay on the right path, without someone breathing down your neck!"

"We divorced for a reason, Anko, and I did give you another chance…" he whispered, eying her with a mixture of doubt. Would this suffice? There was nothing more than the desire to prove oneself, to make someone follow the rules and stick to the line.

"Well, that was a trick chance! I want a fair chance!" The woman pouted, "And I'll take it with force, if that's what it has to come down to."

"There's no such thing as a 'trick' chance, Anko! Come on! You spent years keeping me leashed, and you expect…"

"Your feelings of love were genuine, right?" The Kunoichi retorted, "Or you wouldn't have been so hurt. Look, I was hurt too, and I was kept to a leash too. Both our leashes were held by Danzo, who is now dead and deceased. So now, please…give me a _real_ chance…" and with that, she began to make the puppy eyed face.

"Anko…" Naruto was uncomfortable. On one side…he knew the woman was right. He had forgiven Hiruzen, that time, on the same principle. On the other side, it hurt, it still did…and he had been on the process of nearly killing her. Still, wasn't that all his test? He had looked through Kurotsuchi's eyes, he had seen her say those words, cry and feel shame…and it was important that she kept her mouth shut. He tried one last jab, the last one before caving in, however.

"There's still Ayame's situation, you know I'm using her, I mean…that's…"

"That's not pretty, but I care less," she retorted quickly, with a small grin on her face, "I'm not sharing, but that doesn't mean you can't keep fooling around her."

"I'm not going to double time, Anko. Sure, it's just a cover, but that doesn't mean I'm going to come up front and tell her I've been using her. I planned on breaking up gently, you know…" he replied.

"There is no such thing as 'breaking up gently' Naruto," Anko whispered, her right index making small circular motions on his cheek, before tapping it gently and sliding it along the collarbone, "Trust me, if you acted like anything you did, during our marriage…she'll be hurt, no matter how much 'gentle' you are."

"You seem awfully certain I'll accept you again, Anko…" the Hokage deadpanned, only for the Kunoichi to roll her eyes, and reply…with a kiss.

Naruto didn't refuse it, letting his hands hold the kunoichi by the shoulders, neither pushing her away nor bringing her closer. He didn't know for how long it lasted, only that Anko's lips had the same taste of dango like they had all those years ago…and that closed his _deal_.

"See?" she whispered, breaking away from the kiss gently, "I can keep this on and on, Koi…I can keep following you on the streets, I can jump on you while you sleep, I can even kidnap you, if you insist on being so headstrong. Admit it: you want me just as much as I want you…"

"Anko…" Naruto's blue eyes looked into the light hazel eyes of the purple haired woman, who was biting her own lower lip in wait for a reply, "You hurt me far more than I could have ever thought possible…" he whispered, his hands falling down to his side, "I don't know if I would survive _another_ betrayal."

"I won't," Anko exclaimed, intertwining her own hands with his, "I…I will never, ever, betray you again. I promise! Even if we fight over the shower's use or the dinner, I promise I'll never leave you, or betray you…please…give me my second chance?"

"You said mere minutes ago I wasn't the Naruto you knew of…" the Godaime Hokage began, his voice slightly creaking, "So I will take my chance once more, hoping you're not the Anko of the past…but…" his hand gently passed through the locks of Anko's purple hair, "my heart is stone, and I doubt it will ever return to what it once was."

"Oh…if that's a challenge, then I'll take it on," the kunoichi replied, sporting a fake teasing tone, "Just you wait…Koibito, the sexy Anko-chan will get you back on the right track in a few days."

Naruto merely chuckled, before turning towards the direction of Konoha. They had a long way ahead, but at least this time Naruto was sure there was no Danzo in the middle, or secret Genjutsus or powerful sharingan bloodlines…maybe it was just a bit of the Stockholm syndrome, but nobody is ever perfect. He could live with letting Yumi's mother live…and Anko would never know.

No, she would never know how close she came to being beheaded by the Raijin, because Naruto's secret purpose was kept silent, in the safest place of all: his mind.

*Shikamaru*

The land of Hot Springs was a despicable and mostly detestable place. To Shikamaru, it was the place of lazy, fat, overly slow and idiotic individuals who spent their hard earned money on stupidities like brothels or hot springs. Once, a long time ago, he would have probably fallen asleep on the hill he was currently standing upon, while gazing at the clouds. Now, his eyes darted around, in wait for the team that, together with him, would infiltrate into Kumogakure and watch the various battles unfold. He was currently wearing a dark monochromatic black Anbu armor, with black trousers and black shinobi sandals. He didn't seem to even have a kunai pouch or a sword on him, yet he wore a pair of fingerless gloves.

The report on the recent situation between Kumogakure and Kirigakure had been strangely precise and to the point, when it was delivered to him a couple of days before…it was like the Hokage had known about it beforehand, and had sent Shikamaru on a casual ambassador duty to the land of hot springs on purpose, to later reroute him in Kumogakure's direction.

Somehow, Kirigakure had decided to close all the loose ends with the 'corsairs' affairs, and finish it at the root. Shikamaru knew this had been planned by the Hokage from the very start, from the time he had the land of the moon's regent close deals with Kiri. The tension would simply spark and the fires would ignite. All that the Nara was there to do was find the right spot and observe the battles. His mission had three objectives: the battle for the docks of Kumogakure, the battle for the mid-point towards Kumogakure and the battle for the flanks of the army. It was three battles that would decide the following move of war.

It required a good dose of stealth, tricks and morality bending, because while it was true that there was a non-aggression pact with Kumogakure and Kirigakure, nobody was meant to know that his group was there.

The Nara had no idea who the Hokage had sent him as a team, and neither did he know how many people composed it, but if there was one thing he knew, it was that whoever was sent would be perfectly fit for the purpose.

A small rustling sound was heard, and with that, Shikamaru groaned. Seconds later, Kiba Inuzuka emerged from the undergrowth, sporting a wicked grin on his face that was covered with tribal black and green markings. He was wearing a dark green jacket, beneath which Shikamaru could see a fishnet shirt. He also wore a pair of long dark brown trousers, and dark brown shoes.

"_Kage_," Kiba whispered with a small nod of the head, as right next to him Akamaru emerged from nothingness, like a ghastly presence.

"You're _Wolf_, right? That was a water illusion?" Shikamaru muttered back, raising a puzzled eyebrow.

"Yeah, can't have _Ghost_ here go around being seen…we're doing a black ops, right?"

Shikamaru was surprised by the changes in the Inuzuka. He had thought, at first, that Kiba had been chosen because he was the closest, but considering the water affinity…maybe there would be more to it.

"You know the Kirigakure no Jutsu, right?" Shikamaru mulled, as he received a quick nod from the other man. He should have asked about tracking down Hinata, but he knew better. He knew perfectly well that the Inuzuka had been anywhere, but tracking down the escaped Hyuga. Sure, he had been sometimes in the proximities of the missing-nin, but never with the purpose of tracking her down.

"I know I shouldn't ask…but…" the Nara merely nodded at the Inuzuka's question, before pulling out a black colored mask with no visible symbols on it.

"Just like I like it," Kiba snickered, pulling out his own, "rules of engagement?"

"We're still waiting the others and the package," Shikamaru pointed out, "I'd rather explain it to everyone at the same time."

"Got it chief," the Ninken user merely sat down, beginning to pet Akamaru in wait. When they were kids, Shikamaru definitively recalled Kiba being boisterous, loud and active…this one seemed more at ease, calm and calculative. It was the passage from a fierce dog to a silent wolf.

"Incoming," Kiba whispered, tensing for a moment before easing up, "It's our third member," he added, chuckling, "and he's being followed by a fourth one…that one…it's…damn it sensei, why him?" Kiba's low growling sound was stopped when the bushes near them rattled again. Technically, ninjas wouldn't make sounds, but in this case, it was decorum: if someone heard it, then that someone knew not to fling a kunai in the throat of the individual that would most certainly emerge from the bushes. At least, not immediately, and furthermore the rattling of the bushes was a Morse code to explain that they were, indeed, allies.

Shino Aburame emerged from the bush, swiftly followed by a pale teen with dark black hair, who was wearing a strange seal on his forehead: something similar to the caged bird seal, only in black.

"_Mantis_ and _Artist_, reporting in," Shino explained quietly, donning his own black mask, soon followed…by Sai.

"We do not exist," Kage murmured, "We are not here. We are not going to kill anyone. We are not going to fight anyone. We are betraying Konoha. We are betraying the Hokage. We are acting without his supervision, without that of the council, without any scroll that tells us what to do. We have no allies, or friends. We are here for a single purpose: collect information…and the _Shadow_ always lie."

"We are to track down ex-members of a traitorous organization, and mow them down. The _Mantis_ waits to strike." Shino retorted swiftly, before Wolf spoke next.

"We are to find the trail, and plow the enemy lines. The _Wolf_ hunts and strikes."

"We are here to be of use: the _Artist_ draws and delivers." Was all that Sai said, his voice monotonous, his emotions dulled and nothing running through his mind except a pulsating pain and the knowledge that he was there…because he had to act his part, whatever it meant. He held a small brown package under his right arm, keeping the other hand in front of it, to protect whatever was inside.

"Three hours march. Five minutes rest. Wolf takes point. Mantis: no Kikkaichus. Expect knowing enemies. Artist: package formation."

The next moment, Akamaru disappeared in nothingness, only a light shimmer could betray that he was still there, while the others literally dashed faster than sight, down the hill and towards the border.

Shino kept his thoughts silent: the only Kikkaichus around him were those within his body, and those on the package, to subdue him when needed. Everyone was briefed of different parts of the mission, and _his_ was the most complicated. He had to take the package to destination, and leave him there.

Crossing the border wasn't difficult. There were some holes in the patrol routes of Kumogakure that had been painstakingly exploited, even though it was extremely difficult, considering the rising tension. Shikamaru was mulling over the thought of how it couldn't be a coincidence, that they were marching into enemy territory at the same moment that the Kiri fleet was surpassing the land of lightning's water borders, and effectively breaking the treaty with them.

Who would have been able to spy on them in that way? Maybe the land of the moon, but how could they have relayed the information so fast? It had seemed so…planned, since months before. Someone had to have pulled some strings somewhere. The Nara had half a hunch that it was all part of a _bigger_ picture, but he couldn't come to terms with what he had actually been asked to do.

It didn't make sense.

Sure, he had only one piece of information, but he could piece together the rest by the use of the code-phrases. Wolf was there because he had been charged with destroying important supply lines along the Kumogakure route. Meaning that, most probably, the Hokage wanted Kumo to lose. However, the traitorous organization that Mantis had to 'mow down' was that of Root, of those that survived and that, strangely, had gone in equal parts both to Kirigakure and Kumogakure.

Still…how would they know that they would be on the battlefield at all!? Since those that remained had to have at least sixteen sharingan users, all with only a single sharingan eye, but…nobody would actually call them to battle immediately. Not without precautions or countermeasures.

To that, the 'package' and Artist had to be added. Shikamaru knew he was the ex-teammate of Karin Senju and Yakumo Kurama, but since the latest mission slip gave the Kurama girl as a traitor for Kiri, and that Sai had literally disappeared until…right there and then, something was off.

He had the easiest mission of all, to simply observe the battles…yet he had the gut wrenching feeling that he wouldn't have been called on this mission only for that. The Hokage wanted him to observe. What, however, was something he had no idea on. The seal on the boy's head seemed familiar to the caged bird one, yet different, with a sort of mixture with slavery seals and mind control ones. The 'package', and Artist, were there to be used…the boy was probably to serve as bait, normally, but in this case…

Shikamaru inwardly sighed. He just wanted to scream 'troublesome' to his heart's content, but couldn't. Chouji had been avenged with Iwagakure's defeat, and yet…it felt _hollow_. Revenge always felt hollow, Shikamaru had known that, but he had still hoped that, deep down, it wasn't going to refer to him too. Maybe he thought himself different, maybe he would actually feel relieved and satisfied with the death of Iwagakure's shinobis and kunoichis, with their village razed to the ground and with the few stragglers remaining bundled up elsewhere. He should have felt overjoyed at the slaughter of innocents in their shinobi village…

Then, why was he feeling hollow and empty?

Oh, he knew all too well why: Chouji wasn't alive. He would never be. He would never breathe again. He would never smile again. He would never offer his food around, or make a kind hearted comment. Chouji had died young…and for that, Shikamaru was also envious.

"_Those who die young are wanted by Kami, and for that, they are blessed," the Hokage muttered. His fingers had been tracing the memorial stone, but for once, Shikamaru had found the need to interrupt._

"_That's bullshit, sir."_

"_Oh? You sure about it?" Naruto had replied, an awry smile on his face. _

"_Chouji wasn't blessed: he would have wanted to live more."_

"_I'm sure…yet you must understand, Shikamaru, that the dead are the ones who have finished," the Godaime Hokage had retorted, standing back up, and shaking his head._

"_Finished what?" the Nara's eyes had been fixed on the memorial stone and maybe that had been the reason he hadn't seen the Hokage tapping his right hand on his shoulder._

"_Shika, academy graduates don't see being a ninja as seeing death, blood and violence. That's something for the Genins and Chuunins. However…the more one lives through being a shinobi, the more one sees…truly, there is no limit to human wickedness. As a shinobi, you'll both see and at the same time do things you will regret. Chouji died before becoming a chuunin. The worse he saw was probably a collapsing building. Trust me, Shikamaru…those who die young should be envied, not wept upon."_

"_That's pessimism, Hokage-sama," Shikamaru had retorted, "And latent suicidal tendencies."_

_Naruto had merely chuckled, before handing over a mask, that mask that was symbol of Anbu, to the Nara._

"_Make me wrong then, Kage."_

Obviously…he _hadn't_ been able to. The Hokage had been right. The first time he had received a mission on poisoning some water wells, he had mentally queried whether it was actually Anbu material. Said water wells had been within the walls of one of the land of wind cities, and the reason had been to wipe it out and pressure individuals in the government to accept the land of fire's _protection_.

Another mission had been in Takigakure, another had been in Otogakure, one more had been in Kusagakure, and as more and more missions had piled up, he had come to terms with the fact that, indeed, to human wickedness there was no limit.

He is beloved by Kami, the one who dies young.

"Two, incoming, civilian to the left," Shikamaru heard the low whisper in his radio ear, coming from Kiba.

Shikamaru ordered the halt, raising his right hand to then signal the pursuing target.

They were already in Kumogakure, any information, at this point, was good enough.

The two were but a couple involving themselves in heavy petting, away from their respective families, thus Shikamaru merely rolled his eyes and gave the order to keep moving.

After a couple of days, nearing the port city that was tipped off as the primary point for corsair activity, and thus the point of entry of Kirigakure, there were small groups roaming the countryside, strangely holding torches in hands, like there was some sort of festivity going on.

"Wolf, what do you hear?" Shikamaru whispered, sitting in the small underground hole realized by Shino's earth affinity.

"Seems a festivity for the Sandaime Raikage's death, they placed monitors around the village, to broadcast a message from the Raikage live tomorrow night." The message came in from the radio, as Kiba had actually entered the city during the night, to explore.

"Tomorrow night is the allotted time for Kiri's attack," Mantis buzzed quietly, looking through his information scroll, "problematic."

"We could observe from a distance, or reroute one of the monitor's cables elsewhere," Kage muttered to himself, moving into a thinking position.

"Problematic. We might risk tests on the equipment finding us out," Shino retorted.

"Hum, guys? There's something you might want to hear," Kiba hissed through his own microphone, before increasing the receiving audio volume.

"A monstrous demon hailing from Sea country has claimed the lives of proud Kumogakure shinobis. This news is being transmitted live, and as such I, A, Raikage of Kumogakure, fully advise the population of the various dock towns to not go out until the crisis is resolved…"

"Sea country is north of the land of lightning…why should it bother the south area?" at the question from Shino, Shikamaru merely closed his eyes as his face distorted into a frown.

"They're picking an excuse to keep the people in the villages, so they can claim ignorance when Kiri attacks…meaning they know Kiri is going to attack…meaning…"

"Spies and shadows, what a game," for the first time, Artist decided to speak his own share, "Still…we should do the mission."

"Is there anything that…" Kiba's mutter was suddenly stopped, followed by a loud set of crashes, noises, and a loud amount of swears that forced both Shikamaru and Shino to turn off the radios.

"Compromised," Shino pointed out, "Wolf requires assistance."

"We don't know that: might be a distraction. We move in to assist." Shikamaru's reply was short and to the point, and the next moment the three emerged from the ground, silently making their way towards the dock town, where Kiba had entered posing himself as a farmer from the surrounding areas, in the city only to watch the show.

Static ran through their radios, as the three shinobis came to a halt nearing the city. It was…tremendous.

"The info was off by one day…Kiri is attacking now," Shino muttered, staring at the charred port village that was literally being burned to the ground by fiery bolts of ballistae, coming from the Kiri battle ships. Volleys of fire arrows, catapults throwing flammable tar, hundreds upon hundreds of small compact wooden ships coming towards the docks like ants on a sweet hunt came into their view. The worse was that Kiba was somewhere in the middle of it.

"Wolf should be fine. He can take care of himself." Shikamaru muttered, "Lack of Communications might be a problem. Jammers in a ship?"

"Permission to extend Kikkaichus?"

"Granted."

Shino kept quiet for a moment, as a light buzzing was heard through the air. Two minutes later, Kiba actually shunshin'd in front of the group, Akamaru in tow. The fangs of the giant dog were bloody, while Kiba had a broken kunai in one hand that too covered in dried blood.

"We have a problem," the Inuzuka whispered, harshly.

"Report," Shikamaru merely muttered back.

"The pub I was in fell down due to an attack, I managed to get out in time with Akamaru barging in to bring me away, but had a couple of close calls with some of the Kumo shinobis and…this kunai was broken by one of those guys _hands_," with the word stressed, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Iron Kekkei Genkai?"

"No Kage, nothing of the sort. It was something else, we tore through two of them, and those two merely recomposed themselves! It was like watching a zombie movie, you know? Dark tendrils shooting out and rebuilding the limbs…"

"So…Kiri has an incredibly advanced technology and Kumogakure has zombie soldiers?" Shikamaru pointed out, closing his eyes in thought, "This is troublesome."

"Torunēdo Raitoningu!" the yell echoed through the air, coming straight from one of Kiri battleships, and hitting with unparalleled ferocity the docks, tearing apart concrete, wood and houses, destroying walls and basically wiping out a large chunk of the dock's defenses.

"My Kikkaichus have stopped reporting: they cannot get close enough to their admiral ship…the jammer is probably there," Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. If, by account of 'the bigger ship is always the admiral', he had to take Shino's claim as true…then it just meant that the jammer had a really long range of action.

"Definitively high-level technology," the Nara closed his eyes for a moment, as it was clear everyone was waiting for his orders.

"Unforeseen consequences…it is clear the battle may as well go on both sides as there are too many variables at present. Since we are here to investigate, however, I suggest we get to it."

Still, the shadow user couldn't help but suppress an inward cringing feeling that something, deep within all of these events…was _wrong_.

*Yamato*

It had been fast: one moment he was helping out Tobirama reinforce a Mokuton structure, the next, said structure had crumbled against the sheer strength of a titanic explosion's shockwave. Only the fact that his hands had been already in position for a shield had actually worked in saving both himself and the Hokage's son from certain death. As it was, the only thing that they could do was to wait within the wooden dome that the mokuton anbu had created for rescue.

If there were any survivors undoubtedly they'd come to save the 'hope' against Konoha. Yamato flinched, looking to the whining grey haired boy. He had been slightly to his right, and he hadn't actually managed to fully deaden the blow in time, meaning his right shoulder was now bloody and filled with shards of broken metal and glass, plus wooden splinters. There was no light, and that too didn't help the young son of the Hokage, who feared the darkness.

Quietly, Yamato peaked through a small hole that the wood created by parting itself under the orders of the Anbu. The village lay in ruins and the water level was rising, to the point of having nearly reached the very same hole that Yamato had created.

"We have to move Tobirama-kun," Yamato whispered, trying to be comforting, as the grey haired boy merely whined, trying but failing to get on his feet.

"Kaa-san...I want Kaa-san," Tobirama's muffled groans were interrupted by a sharp shriek, as Yamato had no choice but actually lift the boy himself, and fling him on his shoulder.

"We're moving Tobirama: we're going home," the Anbu knew that he should technically wait for orders from the Hokage, but on the other hand, there was _nothing_ to spy on anymore. Amegakure had been razed to the ground by something that had attacked without any respite for at least ten minutes. Had he not kept feeding chakra to the Mokuton dome, probably there would no longer be a Yamato or a Tobirama.

The boy whimpered once more, but then kept silently sobbing as the Anbu began to trudge on the debris while creating wooden stairs and bridges to get out of the ruins of the village.

He had doubts anyone, at all, had survived the attack.

The moment he stepped outside the outer ring of the village and managed to land onto ground that was not touched by the explosion, however, he realized his doubts had been all but founded. A small group of shinobis, the ones charged with patrol, had survived.

Surprisingly, also Kurotsuchi and Kabuto had escaped the devastating attack. Yamato kind of wondered what would actually happen, would the body of the Iwagakure kunoichi be destroyed: would the Kyuubi be set free? Would it simply return to the Hokage?

"Thank Kami you survived," Kabuto exclaimed, pushing his glasses upwards, "we wouldn't be able to do anything, without at least one of you alive."

"We wouldn't die without revenge...are there any Root survivors around?" Yamato queried, looking around as two men stepped forward, bearing the usual silent and stoic expression of emotionless shinobi.

"We have to plan a march through the land of fire to reach Kumogakure's Root troops."

"Hai Taichou," the two replied, "last contact was two weeks ago, established headquarters in north land of lightning."

"We should move to Iwa!" a voice snarled from the patrol shinobis, "We should claim back our country, with Kurotsuchi-hime at the head!"

"Yeah!" the exclamations came from various other shinobis among the survivors, but Kurotsuchi raised her own hand before slamming it down on the ground, creating a shockwave and silencing everyone else.

"Do any of you know where Akatsuchi is right now!?"

"He was sent to parlay with Kirigakure, and by default, Akatsuki, but considering this is probably the organization's answer...I think the discussions are off," Kabuto replied smoothly.

"We can't march on Iwagakure without him, at least! We have to regroup in Kumo, ask the Raikage for help, and depending on the circumstances...backstab him and claim his country for us with Kiri's help!"

Silence descended in the clearing, as Yamato merely left his brain on autopilot. Was civil war, and chaos, the plan of the Hokage? Had he actually come to the conclusion that Kumogakure and Kirigakure would have been menaces on the long run?

He was trying to weaken the other countries without directly intervening. Still, why would any normal or sane person actually bargain with a country that had its ally destroyed, and could now strike back at the weakened enemy? It was puzzling.

"Kurotsuchi-hime...but it was Akatsuki who..." as a shinobi tried to say something, Kurotsuchi snapped back.

"Precisely! Don't forget the will of stone! We might be beaten, but we must never forget! We will have our revenge! All that we need is time and a place to regroup! We will use Kiri for our purposes, and once that is done, we will have our revenge! Let them feel pardoned and safe! When they'll come to us with open arms, to hug friends, we will split their hearts open with our kunais! For Iwagakure!"

"For Iwagakure!"  
"For Iwagakure!"

Yamato, quietly, looked at the wounded form of Tobirama. He wouldn't survive a forced march towards Kumogakure. It was enough he wasn't in shock already. The Kyuubi had to do something about it. She should have been able to…

"By the way... the boy is going to slow us down wounded like that: dispose of him, Yamato." The Anbu froze.

No, Kurotsuchi hadn't just said that. No, the _Kyuubi_ hadn't just asked him that.

"But…he's a valuable…" it was Kabuto who actually tried to speak, only for Kurotsuchi to stare back at the medic-nin with murder in her eyes.

"He's a liability, and a big sign that the Hokage is on his tracks. We'll kill him, leave him here, and Kirigakure will take the blame."

Yamato closed his eyes for a second, blinking. This wasn't what was supposed to happen! They should have followed their original plan of heading towards Kumogakure, not of killing Tobirama there! The Root body would end up being placed for nothing! They'd end up not being able to blame Root for the problems in fighting back Kirigakure. They'd…this was rocking the entire scale of the operations that lay ahead!

"Hai...I'll be quick," Yamato muttered, before shaking his head. Tobirama's wide eyes, as the kunai came down on the young boy, was certainly going to be something that would haunt him forever; that… and the certain hunch that the Kyuubi had just been _toying_ with him.

The Kunai darted straight ahead against Kurotsuchi, changing trajectory from Tobirama's neck vein, forcing Kabuto to push himself in the middle and take the shot straight in the stomach. Seconds later wooden pillars erupted from the ground, binding the Iwagakure shinobis near them, while the 'Kyuubi' began going through hand signs.

Still, it was too late. The distraction was enough to let the two Mokuton users escape through a quick set of consecutive shunshins done by the Anbu.

"Leave them be!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed, "They won't go far anyway, and we'll be already halfway towards Kumogakure before they can stop us."

Kabuto coughed up blood, before removing the kunai, as his cells regenerated the damage he had suffered. The medic-nin wasn't going to complain. This, after all, served his _masters_ purpose very well.

Yamato's dash didn't stop for at least ten good hours, ever thankful for soldier pills, to keep him going while holding a feverish Tobirama who had ended up unconscious. Just what was the Kyuubi thinking, forcing him to remove his cover like that!? Just what was the fox expecting to obtain from that? Tobirama was going to die if this kept up, and with them possibly following them, there was no way he'd make it in time.

There was just…a flash of grey hair.

"Need a hand?" Oh, so there actually _was_ someone who could help.

*Konoha*

Neji's form lay on the hospital bed, seemingly unconscious. Naruto's eyes loomed over him, as both his fists clenched tightly. The boy was living thanks to Sasuke's learning of Izanagi, but was nevertheless sleeping because of the wounds. Without the use of that Jutsu, the adopted Senju would have died most certainly. It had been one of the contingencies in place, and with the death and the carrying of Mikoto Uchiha's body back…there would be two more sharingans eyes ready to be used.

His thoughts cringed to a halt. There it was again, the word, the term. 'Used'. He had really fallen so low, to use his own shinobis, rather than ask them? He was sure, had he not acted like he didn't trust them, that they would all have accepted the mission. However, by doing so, he had once more proved his hunch correct, and the Yakumo girl had indeed been a spy.

Sai had been Root's spy for his daughter, so Yakumo had naturally become a suspicious element…for the Hokage's side. Considering she needed a seal to keep her inner demons in check, it was obvious that if the seal would begin to break, she'd go to someone who could actually help her. Uzumaki Kushina had been the connection. The fact the girl had died just meant how much Orochimaru actually treated spies.

Strangely, the Snake Sannin himself, for all his underhanded trickeries…hated spies with a passion. It was obvious, since, after all, one need to know one's own enemy to defeat them.

"Konoha has to come first," he muttered, as a stupid chant to himself. He knew there would have been risks. He just had hoped Orochimaru would have come out earlier, instead of waiting for the situation to devolve into a near mess. Obviously, he knew why. It was so clear that his former sensei had merely enacted another bait, to lure out another enemy. Yet…he just hoped he wouldn't have used his student for it.

Turning to the side, he met with the consternated gaze of Sasuke, who held a bandage over his closed and unusable eye. The raven haired boy was deathly pale, and should have probably stayed in bed some more, but still, he was right there, looking at his 'bitter' rival and long-lasting friend.

"Sensei…you shouldn't be moving so soon," the Uchiha spoke quietly, eying with care and worry the Senju's head. To his mind, Naruto had barely returned to active duty, after the heart attack. More precisely, he had just then sneaked out from his hospital's room.

"I could say the same to you, Sasuke," Naruto replied, grimly looking at the young Uchiha, who merely shook his head.

"Sensei, please, tell me the truth: where's Itachi…and where's Kaa-san?" Sasuke's only eye closed for a moment, as the question left his lips.

Naruto merely sighed, before shaking his head, and beckoning the Uchiha heir closer.

"People should be judged by what they do, Sasuke, and not by what they are expected to do," he replied, before ruffling the boy's raven hair, "your mother worked for Akatsuki, your brother…he escaped with another Akatsuki member," the Hokage whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Oh…so that's why nobody came see me…" the young Uchiha spoke dully, before adding, "usually, Itachi would have thrown one of his sighing fits by now…and there's no babbling from my mother…and…" the dull eyes of Sasuke gave away his inner turmoil, that much, Naruto knew without even needing confirmation. A moment later, and the sharingan wielder was wrapped in a gentle hug.

"I…I have a room prepared in the Senju compound, Sasuke…" the teenager merely stayed still for a moment, before quietly whispering.

"Hai…thank you, sensei…"

Silently, they separated a moment later, and Naruto tried an awry smile.

"Well, I have to go make sure Karin doesn't try and chew her arm off, to escape the cuffs," a quick nod from the young Uchiha, and Naruto was off. He'd give the boy the time to cry alone, or near Neji. He was pretty sure Neji was going to wake up sometime soon, and then the two would start teasing each other, and everything would be fine. The two would be fine after having survived a mission that he himself had set up to act in a certain way. He was responsible for everything that had happened. He was responsible for Neji's injuries and he was responsible for Sasuke's loss of an eye. Would he accept a transplant with one of his mother's?

He was kind of wondering if they actually were swinging the other way…but the sight of a pink mop of hair walking along the hallway made him change said thought.

Sakura Haruno was seemingly furious, probably at the lack of her _boyfriend_ that should have stayed in his room, where she had thought he'd stay long enough for her to reach. She would have been put up a naughty nurse act, to cheer him up! Instead he had decided to move! Didn't he know the risks!? When the patrols found the group a small distance away from Konoha's main gates, she had been among the first medic-nins to get there to stabilize him. She knew the Uchiha, that stupid boyfriend of hers, had the risk of a relapse because of a concussion, and suffered from severe chakra exhaustion…

She looked at the grey haired man in front of her, and stopped for a second.

"Sensei?" once more, Naruto had to mentally recall the fact that he too had passed through a 'heart attack'. He should actually be resting _and_ be in a hospital gown. That was why he gave Sakura a small smile, before nodding, and sidestepping to avoid her trying to grab his arm.

"You should be _resting_! I swear, if Karin weren't cuffed to the bed…"

"Now Sakura, I'm as fine as I will ever be," he replied, raising his hands in a sort of surrender motion, "I'm going to see my eldest daughter, and I can guarantee you that nothing will stop me along the way, understood?" as the last words came out a bit forced, to relay the seriousness of the statement, Sakura sighed.

"Tsunade-san is going to have my head, I just know it! You should have just stayed in your room…fine, but please Sensei, if you feel woozy or can't say a word right…call a nurse, it might just be another stroke, okay?" Naruto merely chuckled, before nodding.

"Hai, Nurse-chan, I'll be on my best behavior…by the way, I think Sasuke has gone to the Uchiha's memorial in the cemetery, maybe you can catch up?" A wink later and Sakura was gone.

"Ha…Young love, so romantic…" he murmured, as his steps took him to his eldest daughter's hospital room. Uneasily, his hand moved to the door's handle, before pushing it downwards, opening it. Carefully and silently, he stepped inside, looking at the cuffed to the bed Karin, who had tears in her red eyes. This was going to be the most difficult part…he wouldn't lie: not to his precious daughter.

She had been hand cuffed to the hospital bed, to avoid her going on a rampage to search for her father. Someone had obviously told her that her father had a heart attack, and when she had tried to sense him, and had failed to, she had been dead set on starting a search and rescue squad. Luckily Tsunade had been close by, and had cuffed the girl to a hospital bed, ordering her to rest and recoup from the kidnapping shock.

"Otou-san…" she whispered, between sobs, "You're fine!"

"Nothing can stop me, you know?" he replied, with a small smile, moving closer and gently giving a light kiss on the forehead of his daughter, before swiftly removing the cuffs on his daughter's wrists.

"Let me have a look at these…you shouldn't have tried…did you actually try and chew off your hand!?" He muttered as his right hand began to glow green, beginning to repair the self-caused damage to Karin's wrists.

"They didn't want to mount a search party! You passed through a stroke, and nobody believed me when I told them you were out and about! I…I just…you're feeling guilty?" Karin's tone changed from worried to happy, strangely.

"Well…I shouldn't have…"

"You shouldn't have escaped from the hospital room, I know daddy, but…were you looking for me?" she whispered, hope in her voice. Obviously she hadn't thought that her father might have been so worried for her that, once he had regained his bearings, he had immediately gone to search for his precious, lovely, _sexy_ daughter! Why didn't she think that sooner?

"Karin…" Naruto whispered, looking at her with sadness, "Just…read my aura."

It took a moment, for Karin to actually comply. She didn't understand why her father wouldn't simply tell her…and then she found out.

There was _guilt_, a really heavy guilt, gushing like a crevice through her father's aura. There were holes made of pure dread, covered by thick twirls of black. There were mere glimmers of hope in a corner, but so fiercely tucked away by his own volition, that it seemed that whatever hopes he might have, on something, was clearly by himself renounced. There was a fierce crimson red in a corner, a sign of furious rage, a cold _calculating_ purple that seemed to encompass everything, like a sickening miasma. There was a small area of pale pink that usually was there even when he spoke with Ayame. Affection, it was. There was sadness, but…the Ocean was no longer the same. Sure, it appeared the same, but concentrating well enough, diving under the first layer, stood something abysmally different. It was like a thin sheet of normalcy, beneath which stood chaos itself.

"Otou-san…what did you do?" Karin's voice whispered the question, and Naruto…he answered.

He spoke in a low voice, his eyes looking down the entire time, as he kept on speaking, without even trying to explain his reasons more than what was necessary. His hands had begun grasping at the iron guard of the hospital bed, as he finished his tale.

"Oh," Karin whispered, her red eyes closing for a moment, as she processed the fact that her father had actually used her as a bait, to bring out the possible spies in Konoha. She wasn't actually angry for that.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She whispered.

"Karin…I didn't want…"

"To what? _Worry_ me? So instead I had to play the fool till now, right? Why didn't you tell me…don't you trust me, Otou-san?" And with that question, Karin looked into Naruto's aura…and the answer it gave back made her cringe...because she couldn't read it. There was just so much chaos in there…it was a fight within him, a fight that seemed perfectly at a standstill.

"You know I trust you, Karin…but I couldn't know what was going to happen and…"

"You know…I thought you'd come and save me," the red haired girl whispered, "I thought that it would be fine to take it all in, all their words, and…they even touched my hair but I thought, you'd come, you know?" she began to sob, before shaking her head, "But…I _forgive_ you," she stated, loud enough to be heard, even though her hands were trembling, "I forgive you…but I want you to promise me that, next time, you will _ask_ for my help, instead of simply using me as bait…alright?"

Naruto gulped, before nodding, exhaling out the heavy heartfelt sigh stuck in his throat and just as he did that, Karin lounged to hug him tightly. Quietly, the Godaime Hokage returned the gesture, silently patting the red haired girl on the back, as he whispered a couple of 'sorry' to her ears.

"Otou-san…could you…well, help me escape from here?" Karin whispered, a moment later, "We can go see the stall girl, if you want…wait, why is your aura showing fear? Are you having…a fight with her? No, an affair? A rekindled love? Did you leave her? What's…you've got to be kidding me!" the girl departed the hug, staring hard at her father's aura, that was going through a good load of emotional changes, "HER AGAIN!?"

Flinching, Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"She asked for another…"

"Chance?! And you…you _gave_ it to her!? You…" the sucker punch hit him in the stomach, at least, in the general area of the stomach, as Naruto's armor fully absorbed the strength of the blow.

"You're just going to get hurt again," she whispered, moving to the side of the bed and wobbling on her feet, "And I'm not going to let her do that again."

"Karin? You won't be doing anything rash, right?" as Naruto asked that, to be sure, the red haired girl gazed at her father with a spark of fury in her red eyes, before retorting.

"I know I can't tell the others what you did, because it would be bad, but…I'm not going to let that bitch hurt you again! I'm going to be her worse nightmare, that's what I'm going to be!"

"Karin-chan!" the Hokage crossed both of his arms in front of his chest, averting his look from his sixteen years old daughter, in the process of changing her clothes. She didn't even warn him she was going to change!

Internally, Karin was giggling and chuckling to herself. She'd show that woman that, if she wanted a piece of _her_ father, she'd have to fight tooth and nail for it…of that, she was sure!

*Shikamaru*

Shikamaru was having one of the worst days of his life. It wasn't the fact that they were surrounded on a small hill by zombie-Kumo shinobis, or that they were being bombarded also by long range Kirigakure artillery. No, it was that something was ticking off all of his danger senses.

At first he had thought it was strange, but the more they moved right next to the front of war, the more they avoided the Kirigakure's scouts and the Kumogakure's meat shields, the more the Nara boy felt paranoid. It was like he was being watched, but couldn't pinpoint how.

Right there and then, another strike came from Kirigakure's artillery, hitting dangerously near their position.

"Kage, I say we should leave," Kiba commented sarcastically, as the improvised trench once more fell under a light rain of dirt.

"Wolf, we could leave, but all plans have Ghost going on a suicide charge to give us the opening we need," Shikamaru drawled out. He had been in a thinking position for long, and yet he couldn't help but find the need to snap the Inuzuka's neck if he still kept on insisting on getting out of there any time soon.

"They seem to be following a pattern," Shino muttered, "Kirigakure shinobis send a small group, and then the artillery comes and strikes. Last attack? It came precisely on the corpse of a fallen Kirigakure shinobi."

Sai, instead, was silently drawing on the package a pair of small legs.

"The package must be delivered. That is the mission," as Artist was actually mumbling these words repeatedly and monotonously, the seal on his forehead began to glow lightly.

"I think there's a mind control setting in," Shikamaru pointed out, as yet another blast hit them close, "and that one was closer…is Ghost taking them out far from here, Wolf!?"

"He's bound to get tired eventually, and he can't keep the Genjutsu on forever!" Kiba's snarl was accompanied by a low whimpering sound, coming from his right, as Akamaru materialized right next to them, panting heavily.

"Great," Shino felt the need, the actual need, to comment with sarcasm, "We're going to die."

That was the moment the package's drawn legs actually began to move, and the next moment, the box was leaving the group behind.

Silence fell on the battlefield, as Sai stood up from the trench, a white piece of fabric in his hand.

"Delivering the package must take priority," he whispered, coming out with his hands raised, as the Kumogakure zombie-shinobis actually halted, and so too did the artillery.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. He could accept Kumogakure shinobis stopping their attack…but the artillery? Wasn't it tied down to the Kirigakure's position? Were all of their shinobis dead?

"Artist is…making the delivery," Shino whispered, and with that, the Nara opened his eyes in realization…so that was it!

"We're making our exit. The delivery is our escape route," Shikamaru's words rung true, as mere seconds later, the three shinobis, plus the ninken dog, took position, readying for a dash.

Sai walked quietly, his hands raised and a white flag in his right clenched fist. He was delivering the package. He was surrendering. He had his Root mask on. He was acting in the middle of a battlefield between two enemy countries, and it was fine. He was going to complete his mission. Danzo-sama's face appeared to him for a moment, in a flash of light, but it began to distort, to resemble something else entirely. This was Danzo-sama's mission. This was the Godaime Hokage's mission. This was his mission. His delivery of the package, he had to deliver the package.

One of the Kumogakure shinobi actually dashed through his hiding spot to tackle and capture the enemy shinobi, that seemed unaffiliated and thus an unknown. The next moment, his hands barely touched the shoulder of Sai…and then Sai detonated.

The package kept on moving, before starting to wheeze and crack, exploding upwards and releasing what seemed like a set of bright fireworks, but in truth were highly powerful flash bangs.

"Follow me," Shino whispered. His Kikkaichus didn't need light to see, and those flashes had passed straight through his own sunglasses…and his closed eyelids. Shikamaru quietly attached his Kagemane to the others, as Akamaru had to merely sniff and follow as the group moved as one single shinobi.

When the lights finished, of the unknown shinobis none remained alive…but the pieces of charred flesh of the suicide one were still there, as were seals of clear Root making, pieces of equipment from both Kumogakure and Kirigakure and fragmented papers of orders from both kages…all was there ripe to be taken.

The package had been delivered…and Root would be no more soon enough.

Yet, Shikamaru had no choice but think, while keeping his movements and those of his team in synch with Shino, at what had transpired.

Two completely atypical means of fighting war, an unknown tracking system, a strange and complex way of delivering a 'package', and the strange disappearance of delay in delivering information…something was cooking up, something explosive. Something horrendous…the problem was…he had no idea what it was. He needed more data, he needed more facts…but right there and then, they had to leave. They had to march back to Konoha, and deliver the information…but then again, he had a feeling that the Hokage would actually already know of them.

It was the only possible explanation for the team choice…was it?

When the night crept over the border of the land of Hot Springs, Shikamaru's eyes finally started seeing colors again. Kiba had still troubles with large blotches of blurry shapes, while Shino was mostly recovered: sunglasses actually had lessened the flashes impact. Akamaru was still keeping his eyes closed, but would probably be as good as new by the next day.

"Mission partially completed," Shino pointed out.

"We did harass their supply lines," Kiba retorted.

"Yes…but we didn't manage to keep ourselves completely hidden," Shikamaru muttered, "Just how did they manage to find us?"

"Kikkaichus revealed nothing around us, or on us. I exclude tracking seals and pheromone uses."

"Yeah, Ghost sniffed nothing strange." Kiba's addition only deepened Shikamaru's frown.

"We didn't see, hear or feel anything strange. Yet they knew where we were and pushed us repeatedly into traps that just so casually brought us in the middle of the conflict? There's more to coincidence than that…it was planned."

"Information on potential strengths might be used as a dissuasion move by enemy countries. They might have wanted us to leave to deliver the news," Shino's words were buzzed out, as his Kikkaichus were currently surrounding them and acting as guards while the group healed its eyes.

"If that was the case, then why take us in that deadlock? It was masterfully placed," the Nara's words hanged in the air for a moment, before closing his eyes and rubbing them once more.

"You know, maybe they'd let one of us go in the end, create an opening and see where the survivor went," Kiba had barely spoken that, that Shikamaru found himself sighing.

"We can't go straight back to home base, if there's even a bit of suspicion…we have to cut through the fire country to reach Amegakure…some Root operatives operate there, and there should be a possible contact too."

"But the info is code black, at least," Kiba replied, only for the Nara to shake his head.

"I think that's the intention of the Leader. Have us go through Ame, retrieve another package, and head towards Konoha. It makes sense…he doesn't need the info…he already knows it."

"Then why send us?" Shino queried, perplexed.

"Delivery of something more than mere facts," Shikamaru's reply came with the shadow user sighing, before muttering, "So troublesome…he wants _them_ to know he _knows_."

"Who is 'them'?" Kiba's question, however, remained unanswered.

After all, Shikamaru himself had no clue at all.

*Killer Bee*

"I sting like a bee and dance like a dancer,

Give me romance or give me a panzer!"

"That's crap, even for your low standards! And what's a panzer to begin with!?" the snappish remark came from a red haired and dark skinned woman, Atsui, who was currently overseeing the Hachibi Jinchuuriki's patrol around Kumogakure.

"I'm troubled by the man, that _dark_ folk,

He looks bad, and smells of rot."

"He has proven himself time and time again, B, and I thought you'd be happy: with those 'soldiers' of his, there's no need for you to be the guardian of Kumogakure any longer. You're free to go on patrols, and even on vacation!"

"I don't like it, and that's that,

I'm worried, that man wants my bro's hat!"

"Stop being paranoid, B, we have to reach the checkpoint in time!" Killer B kept quiet, as the mountain range gave way to a more undulated plane and from there to the start of the trenches. There were no trees in Kumogakure, only mountains and caves. The few sparse trees were those near the sea, and mostly near the land of Hot springs. They were on a simple mission: track down who had been harassing the supply lines to the central battleground, and make sure he would stop.

Patrol duty was boring, except when the enemy was found. In that circumstance it either was an easy job, if you had the upper hand, or a hellish difficulty, if you didn't. With the Hachibi Jinchuriki, what was there to fear?

A loud crash, a dull thud, and the Jinchuuriki flung literally across the ground, crashing against it repeatedly by the force of impact. Atsui froze on the spot for a mere second, before actually regaining her bearings, and deciding to lay low. There was nothing around them for miles: just what had hit Killer Bee with such strength to send him flying!? It had to be a Genjutsu…

"Kai," the soft whispered word managed nothing, as there truly didn't seem to be anything around them.

"Damn that stung, and bro I'm pissed!" Killer Bee actually exclaimed, standing back up and removing with a grunt what looked like a sort of black metal rod from his innards. It was painful, but he was used to pain, and the Hachibi would patch him up nevertheless.

Another dull thud, but this time, Killer Bee moved to the side fast, avoiding another rod that came with impossible speed at him.

"That's whacko and I know it!" he yelled, before starting a zig-zag run towards Atsui's position. He should get out of there with his teammate, but still, whatever those rods were…it wasn't important.

Still, he did feel dizzy, as the world around him began to spin, and twirl, and his sight lost clarity. Wasn't the Hachibi patching him up? Why was he feeling like that? The hole in his stomach wasn't healing. It was bleeding. His stomach was broken. His seal was broken. The Hachibi was trashing and roaring trying to contain itself within his body, because it didn't want to kill his host.

Yet…he could feel it. The cold creeping death coming up from his back. The feeling of dread that the shinigami's hands have. It was just a rod. What could a mere, simple rod do? How could it have managed to merely bypass everything and anything, and take him down so easily? He was _dying_. He was dying without going out with a bang, or fighting a long war against a tough enemy. No…he was simply going down.

A single shot. A single kill. Another casualty.

**B stay conscious! Come on B! We can pull this through! I just need you to keep being…**

"_Gyuki…go…whatever this is…it's after…you."_

Atsui's eyes closed firmly, as a massive amount of chakra unleashed itself from the fallen body of Killer Bee. The Hachibi Jinchuuriki had been Kumo's guardian…just what feat, what weapon could kill such a powerful shinobi so quickly, silently, and with little trouble?

She had to run, she knew that.

The Raikage had to be warned…something horrible was going on. Yet another rod passed straight through her, precisely aimed at her heart…and then there was nothing but the cold embrace of death.

*Hinata*

She felt cold. Her entire frame shivered, as she realized she was laying naked on a cold steel surface. Two golden eyes were looking at her, with amusement clearly visible in them. Orochimaru was there, displaying a diabolical smirk, with those same eyes she had seen for a long time in three years.

"H…How?" Hinata croaked out, her throat completely parched.

"I will bring you another Uchiha," Orochimaru sing-sung, "I will hunt that man down and kill him…pitiful child." The last two words were spat out, as the snake sannin's glare became vicious.

"Do you know why you are here, in one of Konoha's most safe cells…and I am not?"

"W…what?" It couldn't be…why? It wasn't possible! Orochimaru should have been trapped within her, the Genjutsu should have weakened his mind, and…

"You were never in control, child," the pale man replied, letting his right hand's index caress the side of the Hyuga's cheek, "And you were nothing more than a puppet, in the hands of a puppet master."

Hinata's eyes showed shock, doubt, and a sentiment the girl hadn't felt in years: fear. She felt lost. Orochimaru was an evil she had deemed necessary for her growth, and the Hokage had always been the man who had betrayed her.

"You knew nothing of the real world, and yet you set out with a clear objective, right? I want to make the Hokage mine. I _need_ to claim him. I need to _have_ him. You were the least noble of the three students…and thus my perfect student."

"No…I…"

"You had a crush that became an obsession," Orochimaru insisted, "you painted the image of a saint on a devil's face, and you kept looking at the corners instead of the big picture. You thought breasts would get him? You thought a few months would work? You didn't realize what he had wanted you to learn, did you?"

"Wh…"

"What am I talking about? You stupid girl…this was all a test," as the snake sannin spoke, Hinata's eyes bulged, "If you had _trusted_ the Hokage, you would have taken your father's words as a lie, in doing that, once alive, you would have tried to escape…but you didn't. You chose not to. You chose to believe the lie…because it would be the easiest thing to do!" The voice increased in tone, as Orochimaru kept on talking.

"It was easier to hate him then to try and take his love for his wife away from him, right? It was easier to believe in your father's spiteful words, than to believe in your own thoughts! You chose the easy way, a path were you would gain things by destroying what others cherished…and in doing so, you condemned yourself to a life of regrets." The sannin's voice got quieter, as the man closed his eyes for a moment.

"You chose vengeance, you chose hatred and the only one you can blame is yourself! You made the choice! You are at fault! You could have become strong…stronger than what you already are…he had hopes in you, you know? He had planned on you training with me, for three years, under the only assumption that you would…fight my orders. But you chose to follow me willingly. The villages you attacked? Filled with troublesome individuals that needed cleansing. You never harmed Konoha…you made the village's interests every, single, time."

Hinata's eyes closed as tears stung through her closed eyelids. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't simply believe the sannin's words, he was…

"He's Orochimaru, of course he's evil. He took babies and experimented on them…kind of makes you wonder where the Anbu patrols were those nights. Or why I actually experimented in a lab for years without even attracting attention on the waste removal. One would think that abandoned buildings would get destroyed, in a village that has just as much allocated space as possible. Or maybe one would think that a sannin who takes on a Genin team would find it hard to still earn millions in mere days…mostly, however, you shouldn't have thought of me as a spy for the Hokage…because I'm that good." He chuckled, before shaking his head.

"You had a chance, Hyuga, to become something…_incredible_. Yet you burned your chance…a pity, but it happens. Due to the death of the remaining main house of the Hyuga, you are quite actually the sole survivor of said family. You were kept away from Konoha to keep you safe from the purge…yet you didn't even think further than your nose…isn't that right?"

"What…What is going to happen…to me?"

"No more flaunting your body? No more remarks, yells, exclamations of superiority? My, where did all your arrogance go?" Orochimaru mocked her, before turning to leave, "You still haven't understood? You had your chance…but you blew it, and now…now you will pay for your crimes against Konoha and the Hokage…sickeningly ironic, isn't it? The snake walks away free, and the murderer…gets the death sentence."

Hinata…didn't scream. She didn't yell. She didn't cry or move. She just stood there, quietly, letting her eyes close and her memories go back to pleasant moments. Yet the tears were always there, menacing to come out…but she wouldn't cry. She had lost the right to feel emotions, and right there and then…she simply lost her will to live.

She had failed Naruto, who had tested her.

She had failed Anko, who had done everything to bring her out of her shell, and yet she would have betrayed her trust any moment, to steal Naruto away from her.

She had failed Katsumi and Kiba, her teammates, and she had failed Konoha. She had failed Neji, she had failed…everyone…

She was nobody's master: she was just a stupid arrogant girl…if only she could go back and change everything…if only she had another chance at redemption…

The door opened again, and this time, a bandana wearing man entered the fray.

"The name's Ibiki Morino…I'm here to break you and deliver all the info you have of Uchiha Madara to the Hokage…" as a gag was placed over Hinata's mouth, before she could even protest, or reply that she was going to talk, Ibiki merely smiled, "Obviously…I'll need to torture you a bit before…so you can compare me being nice and me being serious."

As the smile became an evil smirk, Hinata's tears…finally came out.

Orochimaru, standing in the Hokage's office, looked at the scene happening through the crystal ball, the very same ball that the Sandaime had used most of the time to spy upon the general population.

"Really cruel punishment," the snake sannin mused, as Naruto merely scoffed, turning the crystal ball off.

"We need to rat them all out, and there's more than one…I think I know how he smuggles them out, but I need confirmation, and a Hyuga is a valuable commodity, especially in a war filled Kumogakure."

"And when you find out? What are you going to do about her?"

"I don't know…seal away her chakra and keep her on probation," the Hokage sighed, before starting to fidget with his right hand, at the ring finger, "I'm no longer used to this."

"Hmm…concerning that, is your mother still single?" Naruto froze for a moment, his blue eyes looking straight ahead at Orochimaru, who eyed back with a light chuckle.

"I suppose she still is," the sannin added, "I'd best wait a while before showing myself in public again, don't want to incite riots all over the place."

"I'm already having the news circulate: more dirt on the sandaime and the Yondaime, less paragons they'll make with me as Godaime," Naruto shrugged, before digging out a couple of folders, "I do need to know something, however…"

"And what would that be, Naruto?"

"You ever thought about taking on another apprentice? This one…let's just say he's doing a far better job in keeping up with my expectations…"

*Somewhere*

"The blood is flowing in perfectly."

"The container is, as always, annoying."

"We need patience: revenge is a dish best served cold."

"They're heading towards Sunagakure."

"Ah…I see, cutting to get to Ame…what for, I might ask?"

"No idea."

"Me neither."

"Then that makes three of us, a pity it lays destroyed doesn't it?"

"Like I care…Isaribi-chan is doing a wonderful job, isn't she?"

"Amachi-san, I find your insistence on professing your creations successes annoying."

"Like you can talk: 'Ranke-chan just annihilated the principal port city of Kumo, it's a blazing success!'"

"Gentlemen, please…what would our lord say?"

"Shinno-san, I take it you have completed the procedures?"

"The first batch will be ready soon. The…immortality technique I developed might need some refining, but should prove useful as cannon fodder."

"The technology we provided and the battleships should more than produce the desired effects…"

"So you will take the attack from the south, to Suna."

"Indeed I will, though I might ask, who will take Iwa?"

"I will go: misery and darkness request my presence, after all."

"I will harass the land of fire and then have some tastes of revenge bombing the capital…"

"As long as the blood flows…"

"As long as it flows, we will have everything we desire."

As the last sentence was said at the same time, by all those who occupied the room, silence fell once more. The figures cloaked in darkness left the meeting one by one, all going towards their intended direction...the elemental countries would never be the same…ever again.

**Author's notes**

**GAH! **

**This chapter came by later than usual because of…**

**No, I know that when one author starts with the 'university/kittens/candies/new game coming out' it seems like an excuse, but I do have a good defense!**

**Firstly, I got flu. With Flu…I actually **_**wrote**_** the chapter. Only my mind decided it would be nice to change the tense and swap the position of verbs and nouns. (Hurray for the fever!) Then I had to finish 'enlisting' to University, forcing me to waste two days in god-forsaken cities were internet refused to bend to my will. Thirdly, a conjunction of chores, 'work', and let's not forget family issues ranging from anoressic cousins hospitalized to having a visit for a cyst removal, and obviously the usual Saturday afternoon+night of Dungeons and Dragons!**

**Basically…yeah, 'sorry for the delay'.**

**There might be some verbs with wrong tenses. I rechecked it twice, but some might still be there.**

**If someone is still unconvinced on Orochimaru, there is one last detail I'd like to point out, because it is something important that, however, will emerge later on.**

**Itachi's fight scene on the roof with the Yondaime and Orochimaru.**

**He used Kotoamatsukami twice, while once was all he actually needed to break the Nidaime's spell.**

**I'm leaving the deduction brownie points to you, my dear readers.**

**And yes, Naruto's descent into darkness will reach its apex, (as many of you are secretly rooting for) at the confrontation with Nagato…which might just go differently from cannon, for a long shot.**

**I also invite the readers to look back at the chapter that holds 'that someone's defeat' and to read carefully the lines following the 'character' demise. (You understood it's the Y-X-X-I guy I'm talking about, right? If you haven't, no trouble! Just go back to the beginning and re-read all of it!)**

**One more warning: **

**There is still one, single, spy, in Konoha (except Ibiki and his prisoner's smuggle ring). **

**And 'it' appeared for only 'one' line of dialogue.**

***chuckles evilly***

***Laughs maniacally***

***runs away with glee***

**Oh, one last warning (really the last)**

**Don't go yelling NaruXAnko pairing yet.**

**I think it's safe to assume I'll make the final decision on chapter twenty-six, (Because it kind of makes sense, to wait that many chapter, let the characters develop, and then make the deal) It might be her, or it might be Karin, (I too don't know. I'll write and see what the characters decide in the end).**

**Oh: Cookies to who guesses who the 'guys' at the last paragraph are.**


	26. SH: Meeting

Chapter Twenty-sixth

The small platters of the rain drops were keeping him awake. His eyes were restless, looking at the ceiling of his room, where the shallow breathing of another living body interrupted, every now and then, the monotonous downpour's rhythm. The morning had yet to fully bloom, and he stood there, in the bed, with a steady and slow breath. He didn't want to wake up or startle the other occupant of the mattress. The purple hair was cascading downwards, gently tickling his bare chest. He could feel the small gusts of air that were produced from Anko's nose on his skin, as the woman lay with her face nuzzled against the spot that was perpendicular to his heart.

There was little to nothing that he could do to move without waking her up and he actually didn't want to. It was a dull morning. Probably he'd go downstairs, have a light breakfast, then train for a bit and finally head off to the Hokage's tower to do some paperwork. At least, the normal routine would be something like that.

Yet he knew that it wasn't going to be like that at all. Any moment, one of his Anbus would report the missing of Hinata Hyuga from the cells, another would spring up the search parties, while a third would head straight towards Orochimaru's apartment, and query the snake sannin on possible directions the girl could have taken.

Still, for the moment, he was fine being in bed. It was warm, at least, but not much else. Anko was something that, to Naruto's eyes, was a sort of mixture between a furniture item, a happy puppy, a fierce shield and probably a future martyr for his cause. She just wanted to _please_. Was this how Orochimaru felt when she was his student? He had a lot of things to do, yet he also felt the need to keep up a façade of normality. He wouldn't actually kill Anko now: she was loyal without fault, without question, without doubt. She had proven herself, and just like Itachi, he knew she would never betray him…again.

Such persons were rare indeed to come by, and he wouldn't toss them in the pits of hell, if he could avoid it.

The door slowly creaked open, revealing a figure clad in an utterly obscene and see-through pink satin nightgown, with black lingerie and a bright white smile on her face. Slowly, she began to creep to the other side of the bed. Naruto said nothing, remaining quietly in a mock sleep, conscious that Anko too had probably already woken up, since a Tokubetsu Jounin was more than apt in hearing the light movements of a mere chuunin.

Moments later, he could feel Karin's arm wrap itself around him, passing by his stomach. Just at the same time, Anko's own free arm did the same, but on the upper chest, while her breasts compacted against one of Naruto's sides. Karin did the same, and in the quiet and dull morning, two red eyes stared into two light hazel ones, electricity sparking from one side to the other.

The Senju's head knew perfectly well that the two women were mouth talking to one another, but opening his eyes would clearly mark him as awake. Anko would probably sense his heartbeat increasing, even if he just so casually half-opened his eyelids, while Karin would probably find out by reading his aura, if he thought faster than a sleeping sloth.

He could feel Anko tensing, and then Karin doing the same moments later. The purple haired kunoichi was now moving her head closer and closer to Naruto's own, and as quietly as possible, going as far as stopping her breathing, before giving him a light kiss on the lips.

That was the moment when he felt Karin start to do the same, slowly moving her own face closer, and then stopping midway. Naruto had the tingling sensation that Anko was actually watching her, daring her to go forward and smirking. Maybe the kunoichi suspected she would die of embarrassment, rather than actually go all the way through with it.

The Senju's head actually heard Karin gulp down in nervousness, before moving closer and closer once more. Mere centimeters separated her lips from his…and that was when Anko decided to pinch Naruto on the side. The Godaime Hokage would have actually rolled his eyes, if, instead, he hadn't decided to simply open them and stare straight ahead at the two red orbs of his daughter.

Said daughter actually looked back at him, and if possible, her face became an even more fierce red than her hair and eyes combined.

"O…Otou-san," Karin stuttered, before quickly letting her head fall down on his chest, "I'm sorry I woke you up! I…I just…I had a bad dream," she blurted.

"Aw…Karin-chan, don't worry about it! I'll help you out: I'm your _mother_ after all!" Anko's playful banter came at the same time the door of the bedroom opened again, to reveal a half sleeping Yumi, who simply jumped straight ahead in the bed, between her mother and her father. Luckily, his young six years old daughter was wearing a cute and fluffy bunny-like pajama.

"It's raining outside," the little girl whined, before creating her own alcove made of the bed sheets and of both of Anko's arms, plus the addition of her father's left arm as a cushion. She closed her eyes moments later, nudging with her cheek on her father's side, before making a small cute yawn and falling asleep once more.

Karin was mentally sighing. Well, there went the plan of seducing her father with mature, sensual and incredibly sexy moves…never mind the fact that she was still a bright ripe crimson color. Yumi's light snore kept going on a bit more forced than usual, before Naruto decided to stop the embarrassing silence in the room with a light chuckle.

"What's so funny, Koi?" Anko queried, as Karin merely watched the exchange of words. It seemed so like the past, but yet the truth was completely different.

Her father's aura wasn't the integral blue of an ocean, and her 'mother's' wasn't in a different situation. Both had tatters, meaning they both had scars running deeply through their souls. Some closed with time, others with some work and help. Some never healed at all. Anko had hope, a small golden pool of said emotion, coupled with deep pink tinges, a small crystal blue of satisfaction, and a general light green aura, like grass.

Yet she also had a creeping scar of fear, intertwining with the dark golden of the lies. She was lying to herself, and yet it was more than set in stone…it was within her very own core. Karin actually felt pity watching Anko's aura. In that moment, looking at her mother asking the question with a warm smile, and waiting for her father's answer, she felt _pity_ for the woman. Even if her father were to stick a sword through the Kunoichi's guts…she still would believe Naruto to love her.

"Nothing…just enjoying the moment," the grey haired man replied with a strangely tired voice, as he shook his head, before using his 'cushion' arm's hand to lightly brush Yumi's hair.

"We could take a day off Koi, have a family day? It's raining, there's not much to do, and…" Anko's words trailed off, as Naruto merely closed his eyes for a moment, before replying with a heartfelt sigh.

"Can't: the duty to the village must come first and foremost," Karin closed her eyes with a slightly smug look, happy in her knowledge that her father wasn't actually taking his words seriously. He would have gladly stayed there with them: he just needed a bit of convincing, but she wouldn't. She could feel that her father was indeed torn between going or not, but it was more than duty: something important was going to happen soon, as a mixture of anxiety and stress were tightly knotted one to another in his aura, forming a braid that seemed to connect to a light golden hope-cloud over the ravished ocean.

"Neh, Otou-san…" Karin's eyes blinked as they began to show the start of the puppy eyes, "Can we eat out tonight?"

"I suppose…is there a reason?" Naruto's question was met with a frown from Karin.

"I never actually celebrated my birthday Otou-san!" she hissed, keeping her voice low as Yumi had begun to stir.

"Oh right…I'm sorry I forgot…really," had it been the normal apologetic tone, the red haired girl would have been satisfied, as so would have the purple haired Anko. The tone however was a mixture of a broken voice and pure sadness that seemed to be coming off in waves from the man's aura. Obviously he'd beat himself up for what he had done, and now that her father was grieving, because of her words, Karin just wanted to bash her head against a wall and keep doing it until she passed out.

"It doesn't matter!" she quickly exclaimed, "It's fine if you can't tonight, tomorrow, after tomorrow, in a week or two, really, it's fine! No need to be sorry, it's fine, I understand!" the quick spewed out words elicited a groan from Yumi, who finally woke up completely.

"Oneesan…let me sleep!"

"There's academy today, Yumi-chan," Anko pointed out, gently pinching her youngest daughter's cheek, "you aren't skipping."

"But there's history today…" the girl groaned, "It's boring!"

"History is important, Imouto!" Karin retorted, just so casually rolling on top of Naruto, to better watch her youngest sister's actions and pinch the six years old cheek too: they were soft! The fact that she could press her body against that of her father at the same time was of secondary importance.

Naruto groaned mentally: his daughter needed desperately a boyfriend. Maybe he could bargain with Shikamaru to find someone good enough for her? He knew the Nara would quickly find the best way and the best possible candidate for his daughter's hand…specifically, someone who could last more than three minute from him going on a murderous jealous rampage over whoever dared to touch his cute little daughter.

It was hypocrisy to its finest point. Yet it was something every father actually had encoded in their genetic sequences, when it came to their young daughters…the fact that their daughters kept being children even after they had passed their fifties meant nothing.

A light knocking sound came from outside the door, as a voice spoke quietly, being that of Junko, the housekeeper.

"Naruto-sama, there are Anbus waiting for you downstairs," the ex-Hyuga woman spoke in a low whisper; Karin could sense her being embarrassed and a bit downtrodden, for having interrupted a family moment. Naruto merely sighed, before moving to stand up, pushing gently Karin in his place, and then beginning to dress up.

"I'll be there in a moment," the voice was stern and cold once more, as the business mode of Naruto took precedence, leaving behind a cold and unforgiving aura. Moments later, the Godaime Hokage left the room, to head downstairs.

Karin trembled slightly, instinctively hugging Yumi who was closer to her, for warmth. The six years old didn't actually have anything against said motion: after all it was raining outside, and if she could get enough 'cover' she might actually manage to convince her mother to let her sleep.

She didn't know why her mother hadn't been in the house for years, nobody told her. All she knew was that she had work reasons and missions, and no amount of fussing would work…yet, since two days, her mother was back. She had even taken a break from work, and had spent said time half bawling with emotional tears over photo albums, and the other half spoiling rotten her and, to a minor degree, Karin.

Not that she minded, obviously, but even she found it a bit strange. She remembered a strong armed Kaa-san who would smile, tease and chuckle, not one who would emotionally cry and bow her head. Still, she had her mother back, and that was enough.

"We need to talk," Karin whispered, looking at Anko with a serious gaze.

"Maybe now's not the time…after Yumi-chan goes to school?" the purple haired kunoichi hesitantly asked, sporting a small awry smile. This simply made Yumi more suspicious: her mother never smiled like that…was she an impostor?

"No. She should listen too," the red haired girl replied, biting her lower lip before looking down at her younger sister, "she's old enough."

Anko raised an eyebrow. The kunoichi didn't know what the girl wanted to talk about, but she knew she could easily shut her daughter's windpipe, if she tried anything outright cruel.

"Otou-san…has been hurt long enough," Karin began, quietly, "He's going through a really bad period, right now…I know it, I can…feel it," she added, "he'll need all the love and help we can give him, but…"

This seemed a normal sentence, even for Karin, but still the Tokubetsu Jounin kept her gaze fixed on Karin: she just knew that 'but' would add something she wouldn't like, at all.

"It might be too late for _you_ to help him."

"Karin, I already told you I wouldn't…" Anko was furious, and hissing every word out of her mouth. Yumi was listening to the conversation, not understanding much of it, but mostly getting the general idea that she had to hug her father more.

"No, it's not that," the red haired girl added, hastily, "what I meant is he might never trust you again, and he's jumpy…Yumi needs to know it too: if any of us lie to him again…I think we'd lose him. No matter the lie, if big or small, even if it's something as innocent as not having done the laundry…he's that tense. So…when and if you realize he'll never lov…"

"Shut your mouth," Anko's eyes were promising Karin a slow and painful death, making the red haired girl grit her teeth.

"I'm just warning you, Kaa-san," Karin murmured, "I…I don't want you to get hurt."

"Reverse psychology, Karin? Really?" Anko's snappish remark came in a low hiss, as the kunoichi merely stood up, "Up and about Yumi, you have school! And don't you have the hospital shift, Karin!?"

The Jounin stormed off the room, not before having grabbed her clothes and having headed towards the bathroom to change.

"Oneesan…you shouldn't make Kaa-san angry!" Yumi exclaimed with a frown, "Now I've got school!"

The red haired girl closed her eyes for a moment, her teeth furiously gritting, as she finally stood up too.

"Fine! I tried to warn her, I won't do it again!"

*Katsumi*

The red haired girl was deathly pale, as she kept her eyes closed shut, in the small etched with seals cage. She had refused to eat or drink anything, knowing all too well the drugs that could be put to render her helpless. She felt kind of like a beast, trapped and with no way out. She shivered, but not because of the cold. No, the door was opening once more, and someone was walking inside. She recognized the faint smell of ramen, knowing it was probably her mother, coming with yet another takeout for her…another one she wouldn't eat.

"Katsumi-san," the voice startled her. It wasn't her mother; no…it was something worse. She looked up from her sitting position, with her arms around her knees, and stared in shock at the man in front of her.

Wearing the typical red cloud pattern of the Akatsuki, Itachi Uchiha was currently holding the ramen in one hand. The clothes weren't the only thing that was making Katsumi scared. No, it was the fact that he didn't at all seem happy to see her. Sure, she knew of Itachi's action in killing her father, but that had been a clan affair, of a long time ago and…she had, if not forgiven him, at least _understood_ him. The man had lost his entire clan to her father's actions, and that was more than enough justification.

"What…What are you doing here!?" she exclaimed, "Are you here to rescue me? How did you get in here? Where's Oniisan?"

Itachi merely shook his head, letting the takeout box drop gently on the ground, and then pushing it through the bars of the cage. Said bars were actually neutral when something entered the cage, but reacted violently when something that was living tried to leave; meaning that Itachi used the tip of his foot to let the box through, and then stood in wait for Katsumi to take it.

"You…You're not going to free me?" Katsumi's question fell on deaf ears, as the Uchiha turned around, and left.

Maybe there was a secret message in the food? The red haired girl carefully opened the lid. Sure, it wasn't Ichiraku ramen, but she hadn't eaten in days…was it drugged? They didn't give her chopsticks, was she meant to use her hands to feed? Slowly, she sniffed the broth as her mouth watered. Would it be that bad, if she were to eat it?

What was the worst that could happen? She didn't know. She was hungry, famished, dirty, cold and shivering, and there was a warm cup of ramen in front of her, in her hands, warming her up. Itachi had brought it, so it was…to be trusted?

She began to whimper, as she placed her right hand inside, looking around the contents of the shrimp ramen for something, a message, a small bottle, a cap, a lock pick, anything…but there was nothing.

She flung the ramen out of the cage, letting it crash against the other side of the wall. Her hand was so warm… and as she began to tremble, in a corner of the cage, she just wanted it to stop. Why were they torturing her like that? What did they want with her?

"Just let me die," she muttered, "please…Oniisan…come and save me."

Outside the hallway, Kushina cringed. She wanted to go inside, but knew she would only worsen the situation. That man was a monster in human's skin, and yet her daughter wanted _him_ to save her…when she, her mother, had already saved her from him!

She just had to explain it. She just had to tell her daughter that she had been exchanged for information. Oh yes, she just had to walk right in, in the middle of an Akatsuki and New Kirigakure base, and tell her daughter just how she had been exchanged for the knowledge of the strengths and weakness of the organization. That man had managed to pin her down on things like that. She hadn't been able to say anything to Katsumi, because Zetsu had appeared right away, and hadn't left their sides once.

Yakumo had died too. The poor child had a desperate need for the seal one to be fixed…and Kushina just knew who had tampered with it to begin with. It was difficult to repair a seal, but to creak it? To break it? It wasn't all that difficult… The red haired woman was sure that Naruto, of all people, had literally forced her hand with getting Yakumo, because if she didn't, then the girl wouldn't have survived at all. Revealing Yakumo as a spy had meant just that…she had lost another way to know what was going on in Konoha…she had only one last, feeble strand of hope, and even that, was based more on her husband's actions than hers.

She knew this was but the result of all their evil actions in the arc of the years they had lived. She knew she was not going to die of old age. Still, she wanted to at least save her daughter. As she finally moved from behind that prison door, heading 'outside', to where the main village was, she couldn't help but repress a shiver. It was cold beneath the ocean. Sure, there were seals to keep humidity away. Indeed, there were also seals to keep the air fresh and change it, and there were trees and insects and small animals…but there was nothing but the cold metal walls of the dome surrounding the village around them. The 'sun' was but an enormous light bulb, and the real one was too far upwards to reach them with his rays.

The streets were mostly deserted, only the occasional civilian walking through them, and mostly females. The wives of the Kiri shinobis and sometimes their children nervously waved at her. She was after all wearing the red clouds of the Akatsuki, meaning that to them she was as important as the swordsman of the mist. A minute of walking later and she had arrived to her destination.

The house was squared, and looked more like a barrack than like any sort of respectable housing complex, still, it was home for her. A cold home that she shared with some of the other women of the Akatsuki, one where there was no Katsumi waving at her, but it didn't matter. Eventually she'd get through Katsumi, and with Itachi around it would be even easier. She was sure that Naruto was actually still rampaging, knowing all too well how he had been tricked and used by the Uchiha heir.

A pity for Mikoto's death, but after all it just was very much like a monster, to kill even a housewife in his anger.

She fiddled with her keys for a moment, before opening the door and entering. Leaving her shoes on, since the hallway was always slippery, no matter what one did to clean or dry it. She reached for Haku's room after a moment of pondering.

The girl, because it was a girl, was the principal responsible for the everyday mess of the floor, and many times the plumbing busted because of her…bloodline. The death of Zabuza had actually broken the girl, but that had worsened considerably by the time the 'Amegakure' ambassador, Akatsuchi, had arrived to hand over the demon of the mist's sword as a peace offering.

Needless to say that doubt had become proof, and the fact that the man's name was so similar to their 'Akatsuki' had outright made it even worse. Haku had literally closed herself in her room, and had gone as far as generating permafrost, instead of mere ice. On one side, it was clear that the girl had improved considerably, on the other it just meant that she had outright reached a new level of psychosis.

"Haku-chan," Kushina tried from the hallway, "Could you please come out and eat?"

"I can't," the girl giggled from the other side, "Zabuza-sama needs his sword cleaned."

"Haku-chan, I'm sure you can clean it later, there's…"  
"No! I'm Zabuza-sama's tool! I can't! I need to have his equipment ready! When he comes back he'll need it!" the Kunoichi's voice reached a new peak, as more and more waves of cold seeped through the door, making Kushina wince.

"Alright! It's alright Haku-chan! He'll be here soon, yeah! 'ttebane!" The cold aura lowered itself, as the Namikaze sighed deeply, letting a fog cloud escape her mouth.

There was simply no way to get her out without risking permanent damage, and frankly, had Haku not been a Yuki, she would have probably died from the cold exposure…if she hadn't already and Kushina was the one truly going mad.

The woman stepped away from the room, taking only a couple more of steps before the door a couple of meters further down opened, to reveal the slightly grumbling form of Yugito.

"What's the big deal?" she groaned, scratching the back of her head, "I was trying to sleep."

The Nibi Jinchuuriki's room had a good amount of aromas escaping the room, some strong, some weak, some seemed to be peppermint and a mixture of orange.

"Working on a new perfume, Yugito-san?"

"Hum…Spicy Habanero? Maybe I could add that," not realizing the nervous tick mark on Kushina's forehead, Yugito stumbled back in, closing the door behind her. At least the woman was doing something she loved and cherished, having decided to pull out from the shinobi work completely. She still trained to keep fit, but apart from that…and there were a pair of male shoes in the hallway.

"As always," Kushina rolled her eyes: sometimes Yugito did bring home a man or…two. Something about making a deal with Matatabi that kept both satisfied and happy. The problem was that there shouldn't be males allowed in the house. Not that it stopped anyone, of course, but the Nibi Jinchuuriki was the only one who…actually made the hook, the line and the sinker. Kushina had no interests, Haku was better to be forgotten, and Konan…the Uzumaki winced remembering how much paper cuts actually hurt, and still worked as good enough teaching material on 'questions not to ask Konan'.

It took a great deal of effort to reach the second floor, even more to ignore the dull pain at the back of her head, the symptoms of an incoming migraine. She carefully opened the door of her own room, and entered. She was tired and wanted to sleep, no matter that she should be up and going three hours later. She crashed against the small comfortable bed they had assigned her, and closed her eyes.

"_Oh, how I knew I was right," the grim chuckle distracted her long enough for a kunai to be placed right next to her neck. Kushina didn't move an inch, still holding the brush and the ink in her hands, Yakumo tensing and standing still._

"_Did you set this up?" Kushina's question was met with a mere hiss of reply._

"_No, but I've got a proposal for you, Namikaze-san…You are after all a missing-nin, your daughter is still in Konoha and Yakumo-chan here has provided more than enough…of a help in pinning you down right here…a hand washes the other, understand?"_

"_No, I don't," the red haired reply came at the same time she threw the ink back at the grey haired man, swiftly expelling from one of her shoulder seal a thick cloud of smoke to conceal her disappearance from the area. At least, normally it would have worked like that._

_A hand made of blue fur and thick claws pinned her on the ground, as Naruto's eyes flickered of a pale blue flame._

"_No running away." Three words, and already Kushina could feel her own chakra being drained away, "I'm being incredibly lenient, but I won't be forever."_

_Yakumo was suddenly jerked from the ground, and a kunai brought to her neck, "Will you listen, or must I menace?"_

"_She's innocent! She just wanted her seal remade because…" Kushina's cry was met with a louder laughter, and this one…was even more chilling than the previous. The claw disappeared, as the Senju head merely grinned, showing his teeth before replying._

"_Oh, I know…because it was starting to weaken, wasn't it? I didn't know if she was keeping tabs on Katsumi for you or for Akatsuki, but I knew she was acting as a spy. I set this up, Namikaze," for once, Kushina didn't actually wince at being called that. She would have actually threatened to kill Naruto, had he tried to use 'Kaa-san'._

"_Why? What do you want?"_

"_I want only one thing from you, Namikaze…the Truth. You will hand over information and in exchange I will let you finish Yakumo-chan's problem with her seal. However she will remain with me, as hostage, until we will make another exchange. If you give me truthful information…you will get both Yakumo and Katsumi…if you lie…well, then they'll both die."_

_With that, Naruto's fangs, because those were fangs and clearly not the teeth of a human, pierced through Yakumo's neck, leaving behind nine blue nines in a circle pattern that, however, began to lower themselves._

"_Make your choice, Namikaze…the timer is ticking…"_

"_Katsumi is your sister, Naruto! You can't be…"_

"_Tick Tock, Tick Tock…where is Akatsuki located?" _

"_Naruto, have you gone mad!? Please, she's innocent, you can't just…"_

"_Tick, Tock, Namikaze-san, I have many questions and little time…best start answering…"_

_And that moment…in that moment she had realized that the thing in front of her, holding Yakumo hostage, bargaining with the lives of his shinobi, one of which was his own sister…was a Hokage. A shadow who gambled with the lives of the men and women under his command, to obtain something, to strengthen the village, to protect the village…and that day, she had answered. Because even if it was tearing her apart inwardly…she was a mother, and she'd protect her only daughter from the monster that was wearing her brother's skin._

She opened her eyes, groaning as a soft knock at the door brought her up and about. It had seemed just a moment. Carefully, she reached for the door, and opened it to stare ahead. There stood Konan, eying her with a raised eyebrow.

Kushina groaned, before muttering.

"I'm late, am I?"

"No. I know of your chronic tardiness, that's why I came to get you with abundant time," the red haired woman nodded, before stretching for a second and finally following the blue haired Akatsuki member towards their destination: the Mizukage's office.

Mei Terumi was actually reviewing a thick stack of papers, when the two entered. Nagato stood in a corner of the room, or at least, one of his paths was there. The rinnegan looked without emotions to the two women entering, and for a second, Kushina felt a bit of guilt. She had sold out a lot for her daughter, and yet she hadn't managed to earn nothing.

"We have a problem," the four words came out of Mei's mouth with ease, as the beautiful woman's face became a frown, "Someone is toying with our supply lines. We managed to get reinforcements from Haido, and yet someone is effectively crippling our boats. We risk being forced to use land routes, and that would mean passing through the land of fire, of snow and of hot springs."

Kushina kept quiet. This at least wasn't in the amount of information she had delivered to Naruto. Whoever was doing this was a Kumogakure spy, clearly.

"There's another problem," Mei added, "I received a disturbing report of some of…'new' Amegakure shinobis having trespassed into the land of fire, and heading towards both Kumogakure and Kirigakure. They're probable Root survivors…"

"We should have eliminated them all years ago," Konan remarked, only for Nagato to tense.

"Konan, quiet."

"We couldn't pass on highly trained shinobis with sharingan," Mei retorted, "And having them on our side was better…furthermore, they were left in old Kirigakure, and have no idea of New Kirigakure's location."

"They're going to be our downfall," Konan's reply came in a low murmur this time, as the Mizukage merely slammed her fists on the desk.

"No. Our downfall is going to be Konoha. I'm sure it's that bastard's work!" As soon as Mei said that, Kushina winced slightly, before whispering.

"We need something to turn the tides…something he can't expect to happen."

"We can't open another front of war," Mei stood up, starting to walk towards the map of the elemental countries, "And our only ace is the position of the Akatsuki survivors of Ame…Sasori, Kisame and Gaara. Yet we can't use them. There's nothing we can do that would benefit us, and their methods of attack are too well known…"

"Normally, we would have tried turning Otogakure to our side," Nagato muttered, "But with Orochimaru, of all people, working for the Hokage…that's out of the window."

"He's choking us like this," Mei spoke again, "Kumo isn't falling, but he isn't making any move. He even lowered the troops from the border…it's just like he's washing his hands clean."

"We've got the three tails kept under check in old Kirigakure, but that's the least of our troubles…" Konan muttered, "If the news is true…then someone took down the Hachibi. That someone is not us, but Kumogakure won't believe it."

Nagato suddenly tensed, stopping his breathing for a moment, before sharply exhaling.

"Nagato?" the question was actually asked with worry from Kushina, who looked at her cousin moving towards the map, pointing at Sunagakure.

"It's gone."

"What?" Mei's question died upon leaving her lips, "You…you can't be serious…"

"The Deva path is there right now," Nagato whispered harshly, "And it's gone. Bombed to destruction, someone destroyed it using high yield explosives…"

"Just like…Deidara would?" Konan's eyes bulged.

"Someone wants Konoha to participate in the war, it seems," Mei muttered, biting her hand, "But with this…an alliance between them and Kumogakure is not so far-fetched."

"Worse," the rinnegan user received a harsh set of glares from the three females in the room.

"What could be worse than this!?"

"I got the specific information of what happened to the Hachibi with the Human Path…" the Uzumaki's words lowered themselves to a low grumbling tone, "they used an enhanced version of my chakra rods, laced with a powerful and unknown toxin and strengthened with a strange metallic alloy unknown…furthermore, they left the Jinchuuriki's body there…crucified with claims that 'Kirigakure' would win the day."

The Mizukage gritted her teeth, slamming her fist repeatedly against the desk.

"We thought we could win this, but we're getting the short end of the stick! We got halted by something…just what are those 'Zombie soldiers'? Kakuzu knows nothing of it?"

Nagato shook his head and that just served to make Mei even angrier.

"We know nothing! We got no reports! We're in the blind, getting choked…and I'm sure that man laughs at our predicament! If only…there's no choice then…we have to move to actually _destroy_ Kumogakure."

Konan raised an eyebrow, turning to Nagato who closed his eyes for a moment.

"Even if we did that," the man retorted, "I think we'd need all of our members…and I'm not fine with mindless destruction."

"Let's shelve our plan until we get everyone back to base then," Mei replied, "How much longer will it take for everyone to reach New Kiri?"

"If they keep the current speed, Gaara, Kisame and Sasori could come back in less than three weeks. Kakuzu and Hidan could be here in less than one, and Fu could actually reach New Kiri in less than two days…" the leader of Akatsuki was eying his ring, as he said those words, before turning to stare at the Mizukage.

"But Gaara's group would have to pass straight through the more densely guarded border areas, and if they get caught…"

"Jinchuurikis can sense one another over a certain distance," Kushina retorted, "if they stir clear of Konoha, and take a 'scenic' route they should be fine."

"That's the problem," Nagato whispered, his fingers moving from a specific point in the land of fire, "They're here…just south of Grass country at the present."

"Shit." Kushina's comment was more than warranted.

To the south stood Konoha, to the east was Otogakure, and going through the borderline was plain suicide.

"How did they avoid Konoha's patrols going up?" Mei's question received a simple reply from Konan.

"Plain kami be damned luck."

"No," Nagato shook his head, "They kept low, and the Iwagakure side wasn't heavily patrolled. Konoha no longer fears anything from that area, but the 'protected' countries are a different matter."

"Racketed areas would be a better term," Mei's face turned thoughtful, before carefully tracing a hand towards Sunagakure…

"If we split the front…Send some ships to circumvent much of the land of wind…and have them go all the way up to Iwagakure…"

"It will take time," Konan pointed out, "And in three months, we might need those troops elsewhere, closer to us. Furthermore, we can't be sure whatever destroyed Sunagakure isn't still lingering around."

"It is clear that we will face both Konoha and Kumo in the near future," Mei replied, "At this point…all we can hope for is either a clear peace or hope for a higher death toll on the enemy's side."

Nobody thought, even for a second, that the Raikage would actually accept their word on not being responsible for their Hachibi Jinchuuriki's demise. Everyone in the room knew that they were brothers, and if that wasn't enough, nobody would believe an enemy.

"We should try and call for peace," Nagato whispered, suddenly coming to a realization, "And have…the land of iron broker it."

"A Kage summit?" Mei raised an eyebrow, before suddenly coming to the same realization of the Akatsuki's leader.

"You're a smart one…oh yes you are…" as the woman grinned, Kushina began sporting a tick mark on her forehead.

"Would someone explain!?" as the red haired woman exclaimed that, Konan mused over the map, before nodding.

"I see…"

"Hey, is anyone going to answer me 'ttebane!?"

"Kushina," Nagato spoke quietly, "during a peace meeting, using the land of iron and a Kage summit, there will be a brief period of hostility cessation…we can use that."

"How?"

"Are you really…never mind," the Akatsuki leader quickly added before getting smashed against the wall by one of his cousin's fists, "Well, it's because we can have our wayward members come through during the cease fire period, having them take on the role of our bodyguards for the Kage summit…then we can have them move out of Konoha's territory without a hitch, since we would be protected by the land of Iron's rules on diplomatic immunity."

"In the meantime," Mei added, "Our second warfront will get time to reach their destination…and our first front will lick its wounds."

"Then, as soon as the kage summit will be close to end, after being dragged on for as long as possible," Konan continued, "We can launch the attack without the Hokage being in Konoha…"

"There is a lot of 'what if' involved though," Mei took the word once more, "If whatever destroyed Sunagakure is still lingering…then we're going to lose them, probably…but we would acquire knowledge on the situation."

"And if that's not enough…the Raikage might just as well think in the same direction as us and try something," Nagato added, "I'll keep watch over New Kirigakure, and call back the paths."

"That would be appreciated, Nagato-kun," as Mei fluttered her eyelids, Konan felt a light stab in her guts…something telling her that maybe bashing the Mizukage's head against the wall would make her feel better.

Nagato merely raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, as Kushina, instead, took the word.

"Aren't we spreading ourselves too thin though? There's not only the Hokage of strong in Konoha…"

"The second front should probably have some reinforcements…Kakuzu and Hidan can move with them, right?" Mei's question received an affirmative nod from Nagato.

"Then we can work it that way…I doubt the Zombie duo can be defeated that easily, and maybe Fu could go together with them: that should guarantee a victory."

"No," Kushina whispered, shaking her head, "victory is never guaranteed…not with the Hokage. Never take him for granted…never."

The fact that he had a secret ace in the hole that she wasn't telling them, was a different matter altogether…

*Neji*

The shift would reach his room in five minutes, having passed by once, so it was time to initiate the plan. Carefully avoiding the dreaded enemies of freedom, the Senju made his way out of the room. He couldn't take the window because it was obviously rigged to warn the guards. Silently, he crawled on the ceiling of the corridor, holding a henge to appear as nothing more than a low flying bug.

He was half way towards freedom, when the nervous stomping of feet made him stop and freeze on the spot.

"Neji-Niisan!" Karin snapped at the white eyed teen looking at him with her red eyes, "Come down this instant, and go back to your room!"

The adopted Senju stilled his breathing. How did she always manage to catch him!? Did she have a secret Byakugan of sorts? Karin had started calling him Oniisan after she had made chuunin, something about her father claiming it was 'good' for family to be tightly knitted. Naruto always managed to get the red haired girl to do something, and, much to the ex-Hyuga displeasure, stick to it for life. Meaning he was 'Oniisan'…and that made him _feel_ like an old man.

Grumbling, the teen dropped on the floor, crossing his arms and reappearing.

"I'm fine, Karin-chan," the Hyuga's reply was cut short, as the red haired girl simply grabbed him and started pulling him back towards his room.

"I can't believe it! It has to be some sort of twisted rule of mental health between teachers and students! Of all the stupid things you all do together! Always trying to run from a hospital! Why!? The rooms are pretty! The food is good! The nurses are sexy!" a couple of nurses, even slightly overweight, giggled at that, "And yet you all act like big scared babies!"

"I need to train and become stronger," Neji replied, as he let himself be carried back to his room and placed in bed.

"Bullshit, you're pretty strong as you are. You just want to open your stitches again, right!?"

"The Senju tried to escape again?" Sasuke's voice came from another side of the corridor, where the raven haired boy stood with an eye patch over his unusable eye. He was wearing his clothes, and seemed to have been discharged.

"You got discharged? See Neji-Niisan, you just had to stay put and…" and then Karin frowned, and gritted her teeth, "Oh, really mature Sasuke, truly the pinnacle of evil masterminds…"

Sasuke paled, before taking a step backwards.

"Oh no you don't run away! You faker! Get back here right now!" and so Karin chased after the escaping Uchiha, pulling behind her Neji, who however caught that moment to slip out of her grasp and leave a Kage Bunshin in his place. Inwardly, he was grimacing, thinking about what fate would befall the Uchiha, but he was already out of the hospital by then.

"Senju! Move it!" Sasuke hissed at him from behind the hospital's walls.

"Uchiha…you're a genius." Neji started to run following the raven haired teenager, "That… or you're still under pain meds?"

"Both!" Sasuke chuckled as the two made their way as far away from the hospital as possible.

The two reached for the Uchiha's apartment, since going straight towards the Senju's one would be nearly suicidal. Mostly because that would be the first spot Karin was going to be looking for them.

Actually, the red haired teenager knew where they were, and decided to let the chuunin guards of the hospital track the two down. A bit of a hopeless case since Neji was easily Jounin material as well as Sasuke, but they wouldn't resist capture. If they did, she'd move on her own. Till then she was contempt in keeping her eyes closed and giggling to herself, watching her father go through his usual office motions.

She was sitting in her office, after having dispersed the Kage bunshins of the two idiots, when something piqued her interest: a messenger reached for Konoha's gates, and she picked his aura up. He was a stern thing, a cold steel, an un-tattered soul. A _samurai_ in Konoha?

Samurai messengers were honor bound never to speak of their destinations, of their location, and of many other things they might see or hear. That made them valuable, but it also made them the most sought after from everyone else. Cracking one open was near impossible, as they'd rather commit Seppuku than let words emerge from their mouths yet each held great secrets...and for shinobis, secrets were everything.

Curiosity peaked; Karin kept her inner eye concentrated on the samurai's aura that moved straight towards the Hokage's tower. The man was holding a flag with the iron lands' symbol, and seemed to suddenly bring concern and worry into his aura. It was normal, considering some shinobis were outright glaring at him, after a brief moment of understanding.

That could have been an official declaration of war from another country. It could have been an official request to move and act as intermediate to cease the hostilities between Kumo and Kiri…it could have been _anything_.

The Iron Lands were the point that connected the Daimyos bureaucratic and civilian nature to the hidden and silent shinobi one. The Daimyo of fire knew where the village hidden in the leaves was, but the other Daimyos had to pass through the land of iron. This meant that the messenger was probably carrying a message, one sent by another nation's Daimyo. Due to the hostilities to the east, it was clear it had to relate to that.

Worse, it could possibly mean that the slight glimmer of peace that lasted mere months was now already going to disappear in an instant. Karin chewed on her thumb's nail before deciding to head out. She wanted to know what was going on, and reaching for her father was the best solution.

She wasn't the only one on the road though, as many of the Konoha eleven stood side by side out of the Hokage's tower, where the messenger had gone in.

"Uchiha, you think…?"

"I hope not Senju."

Karin would have wanted to hit both males at the same time, but refrained from doing so. Instead she just so carefully walked right in the middle of them, and smiled sweetly.

"So…skipping huh?"

"Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Sasuke blurted out without thinking, earning himself a punch straight to the face. He could have dodged it, but that would have just made matters worse.

"I could say the same thing to both of you!"

"Quiet down, I'm trying to listen in," Ino muttered, next to them. She seemed to have a concentrated look on her face, and was frowning.

"You are not using a Yamanaka mind jutsu are you?" Sakura who was next to the blond haired kunoichi queried.

"Sort of. Half I'm here, half I'm in the mind of the Anbu in a corner of the Hokage's room."

"And he didn't notice?" Sakura deadpanned.

"The Anbu's my dad." Ino retorted.

"Isn't there a…non disclosing thing?" Sasuke's question received a sigh of reply from the blond teenager.

"Duh! Obviously if there's something I'm not meant to listen, my dad will close the connection!"

"So, what are they saying?" Someone asked in the crowd. It was kind of interesting seeing just how many shinobis had begun to 'casually' walk near the tower, or how many Anbu patrols had decided to 'stop' for a moment and watch the premises. That was because if a Hawk call came by, they'd be prone to answering, but mostly they were simply curious and trying to get something out of light peeking. Usually the Hyugas were in high demands for their Doujutsu, and sometimes a Yamanaka was there too. So it was perfectly normal that a crowd generated around Ino, since everything seemed perfectly legal and authorized.

"Okay…they finished the boring presentation crap," the blond girl stated, as Karin merely huffed and closed her own eyes. She was going to watch the whole thing, and lip read.

*Hokage's office*

"The…the land of water wishes for us to act as intermediary for a peaceful proposition between Kirigakure and Kumogakure?" The question hung in the air for a moment, before the messenger replied with a curt nod.

"Not Kirigakure, but the land of water, right?"

"Yes, Hokage-san."

"So it's the Daimyo of the land of water, right?"

"Yes, Hokage-san."

"There is meant to be a hostility cessation, right?"

"Yes, Hokage-san."

"And 'we', Konohagakure no Sato's Hokage, Naruto Senju, are going to be the middle man between Kirigakure and Kumogakure?"

"Yes, Hokage-san."

"So, basically…" Naruto closed his eyes taking a deep breath, "I'll have to guarantee the passage of Kumo and Kiri shinobis and Kages on land of fire soil, warn the entirety of my shinobis and patrols to cease fire except on missing nins and brigands…and head towards the land of Iron myself in two months' time?"

"It is all correct, Hokage-san."  
"I…" His hand drummed on the desk, setting his gaze on the pictures on the wooden surface. He bit his lips for a moment, before narrowing his eyes and replying.

"I wish to bring my family to the land of iron for the duration of this so called 'peace meeting'."

The samurai messenger raised an eyebrow, before replying.

"You may bring two shinobi guards, but you may bring your civilian family members, if you so wish."

"That will do just fine." The Godaime Hokage nodded, before looking straight through the messenger.

"I want a list of names concerning the shinobis that will pass through the land of fire."

"That is acceptable."

"I also want you to relay a message to Mifune-san," Naruto murmured, before standing up, "I will personally avenge any and all backhanded trickery that will befall any Konoha shinobi during the 'cease fire' period. Thus, if he finds himself lacking on reports for some villages, cities, or even nations…he has been adequately _warned_ in advance."

The cold air of the room made the Samurai, the one from the land of Iron, the one where 'cold' was summer and 'freezing' was common…shiver.

"I will relay the message, Hokage-san."

"You may leave."

"I will make haste to deliver the message to Mifune-sama." A salute later, and the door closed.

"Everyone barring Wolf, leave the premises of the room!" as Naruto snapped that, a fluttering of leaves latter left behind only the anbu with the Wolf mask, a familiar silver hair coming out upwards, defying gravity.

Naruto tapped on the desk in rhythm, activating a couple of familiar seals.

The next moment, a loud set of groans and sighs came from outside, where the crowd had gathered. Many dispersed, glad it wasn't about a war declaration, but some remained behind.

One in particular wasn't fazed about the seals' activation, because they couldn't bar her sight on the events.

"I'm leaving you to plan up a suitable safe route towards the land of Iron, the three wolves' mountain to be specific." The Hokage spoke quietly, closing his eyes once more, a sort of distressed expression marring his features. He wasn't more than twenty-two, and yet he had terribly eye bags, and looked quite older. The grey hair didn't help him in looking younger, and for a brief moment, Kakashi saw a flash of something deep within the man's twitching of muscles. It was something the copy-cat ninja had caught on quickly.

It was guilt.

The nerve wracking one type of guilt, the one that comes from having to make life or death decisions and coming to terms with the 'death' part of it, the one that left him staring at a funeral memorial with Obito's name on it.

That type of guilt that settled deep and never left, and that kept on worsening the more time passed. He knew that all too well.

"Understood," the wolf-masked Anbu replied, before waiting for dismissal.

"Dismissed," Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes. Now, he just had to wait. Spinning on the chair, looking out of the window at the streets below, he sighed. He was just…_tired_. Heck, being Hokage was a powerful position, a respected one. Without all those bullshit clan laws around that he had taken care in removing, he was the law. He actually ruled the lives and deaths of those below him, of those beneath them, of…

"I'm not going to make it," he whispered to himself, "I'm just…there's so much…why can't they stop? Why do they keep going on and on and on? Why can't they just…"

He turned quickly around, biting onto his right hand to repress the urge to scream to the world.

Two minutes later, and a soft knock came from the other side of his office's door. Naruto stood up, probably it was a rookie chuunin being given the 'tough' job of remembering to the Hokage that he still had to call the Anbu guards back in.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?" The hesitant voice of his daughter came to his ear, forcing him to compose himself. Probably she had been eavesdropping too…he'd ask.

"Oh Karin-chan, yes of course you can come in."

Naruto was on his feet, in front of his desk by the time the red haired girl had entered and closed the door behind her. She was hesitantly looking around the office, biting her lower lip.

"So, is there something you wanted to tell me?"

"Otou-san… Neji-Niisan and Sasuke keep trying to escape the hospital! Can't you talk to them!?" as the conversation was diverted, the Hokage merely chuckled.

"If they can escape then they can pretty much be discharged: they're grown up men now, I'm sure they know their limits."

Karin pouted, but said nothing. She did linger closer though, trying to find a way to broach the subject she actually wanted to ask her father.

"Otou-san…I…I wanted to know…" she took a deep breath, before finally finishing her sentence, "What's going to happen to Hinata?"

Albeit they had been 'rivals' in the past, Hinata had still been a fellow Kunoichi of the leaf, and her fate made the red head curious. Especially because to many, the reappearance of Hinata in Konoha hadn't been told…actually, she was the only one who knew more than the others. The simple fact that her father confided in her was what brought it forth…and she wouldn't betray her father ever.

"I'm putting her through one last test," Naruto replied, making an awry smile, "For the good of Konoha…she'll either get a life in probation period or death on the battlefield."

Karin sucked in air hard, before waiting for a while. Her father was joking, wasn't he? He wasn't actually thinking of going that way…no, he wasn't…he couldn't.

"Is that really for the best?" Karin queried, moving closer to Naruto, who raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, she was your student, right? Don't you…have that saying on abandoning comrades?"

"That's Kakashi," Naruto whispered, "And if one must look underneath the underneath, then answer me: who is my comrade? The people who share my symbol? The people who share my village? Those who share my ideals? Those who share my blood? Those who share my surname? Those who share my hair color, my eye color, my skin color? My comrades are those I choose to be such." The voice was cold, as it relayed the message. Yet Karin clenched her fists, before whispering back.

"You don't really believe this, do you?"

"Karin, if you're…"

"No, I'm not going to let the issue drop!" The girl hissed, "I'm your daughter! You said so, you made it so, and I love you far more than a father, but I'm fine with it! I'm fine with never getting anything more than paternal love from you, because at least it's still _love_! Yet…I'm not dropping this! You are closing yourself to the outside! You see shadows and spies everywhere! Kami be damned Otou-san! Hinata was your student!" Karin screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Naruto, her breath ragged as she kept on ranting.

"Sure, she had personality issues, but you should have helped her overcome them! You should have given her another chance! She was _your_ student! She looked up to you! She wanted your words of encouragement, of trust, she wanted you to look at her, really look at her for what she was! Yet you didn't. The moment she betrayed you, the moment she let down on your expectations, the moment she showed a side of her that was human…you _left_ her. You dropped her. The moment she no longer was the perfect kunoichi, the perfect tool made at your image and resemblance…you left her! You _used_ her!"

"That was…"

"That was part of a _test_!? Come on! You had planned on selling her to Hiashi to free Neji! The moment she became worthless, you pawned her off! You weren't even sure Orochimaru would come back! I _knew_ it!" Karin's voice came out from her gritted teeth, as she stared deeply with her red eyes at the pale blue of Naruto's, who was lost in his thoughts, his mouth open to retort, and yet no sound coming out from there.

"Tell me, _father_…are you going to use me too? You want me with you at the land of iron meeting, you want me to tell you what they will be lying about and you don't want me close to protect me, no…you already only think on a use or be used term…"

"That's…that's not true Karin," Naruto croaked out, moving closer to the red haired kunoichi, who stiffened. She was mentally cringing too, she hadn't wanted to yell at her father, but more than that, she hadn't thought he'd get that emotional. Her father wasn't a weak Genin or things like that, he was a Hokage, he was the most powerful shinobi in the village, the most cunning, devious, incredibly talented and beautiful too…the most kind hearted once upon a time too…but he was also _human_.

He was only human, and the amount of stress from the finished war, from everything piling up on his shoulders, from betrayals, backstabbing attempts, life threats and most importantly threats on his own family had taken its toll. Yet she had refused to see it. She had to be there, in front of him, looking at his ocean breaking completely into small whirlpools of pure icy darkness to finally come to terms that Naruto Senju, SSS-rank threat, evacuate on sight, master of the water and wind release, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, known in all of the elemental countries as the Nidaime no Sairai, the Ghost lance, the Frozen Wave, the Murasaki Hokage, the Blood stained Hokage, the slaughterer of Iwagakure was nothing more than that…_human_.

For a child there is something far worse than being hit, or punched, or generally suffering: it's seeing his beloved parents _crumble_. It's a sort of sharp pain that hits the child in the chest, it makes them wish to scream and cry because it's a feeling of…of _powerlessness_. It's the feeling that somewhere, they did something wrong that they could have avoided. Worst, is when the idol and the parent are the same person…yet it pales, when the idolized parent and most loved person crumbles because of one's own actions.

Karin didn't know what to do. One moment she was angry at her father, the next she was reeling in the shock as she grabbed the man into a hug. She had wanted to fix him, not break him into millions of pieces, and now she had a bigger problem on her hands.

The Hokage wasn't meant to _break_. He was meant to keep a stern attitude, a calm and collected line of thought and definitively not end up having to be reassured by his sixteen years old daughter that he was indeed the best father possible. Maybe there were some issues behind everything, but she just couldn't let someone else see this side of her father. If they saw him as weak, they might try something, and in his state…the state that she had brought forward…it might just worsen.

She needed help. She needed someone to help her help him. Someone whom she could trust with such a delicate issue…it was then that it hit her.

She needed that _whore_, of all people, to help. She wouldn't do it for her, and she wouldn't be able to work for him, but if she acted like the middle link…it could work.

She was ever thankful that no Anbu had yet returned to the office, and that the privacy seals were still going. Otherwise this would have circulated around Konoha by the next day.

It took her a good two minutes, embraced in Naruto's arms, before the red haired girl decided to take a step backwards.

"Otou-san…" this was the most important step: if she failed here, then her father was truly lost, and the fault would be only hers, "Do you trust me?"

Naruto seemed to be fighting his inner demons, trying to come up with something. His aura was spinning wildly, colors trashing around and the darkness creeping ever closer to the rest…finally, a small amount of resolve won the tie, and broke through.

It was a small puddle of blue, but it was there for her.

"I do." He whispered, nodding.

"You…you need help, Otou-san," Karin murmured back, looking at him with tears in her eyes. She was using every trick in her vocabulary, from the puppy eyes to the clasped hands and the bitten lip, "I want to help you."

"Help me? Well…it was just a moment of stress before, nerves…nothing much."

"No lies with me." Karin replied, snapping at Naruto who winced.

"I…I actually lied?"

The kunoichi merely gave her father an awry smile, before nodding slowly. Any shinobi worth his salt knew how to lie and how to misdirect, but Naruto…he had never used such a thing.

His thoughts were in disarray, he couldn't have failed his own family, could he? He couldn't have been…he had. He had used, and used, and used, and used again. He hadn't asked, he hadn't ordered. He had used his men, he had used his students. He had broken the ties that were weak and had leashed those that could still be useful.

He had refuted the possibility of being in the wrong, and had become the very same thing he had loathed for the vast majority of his life. He had become just like Danzo. He had become just like Minato. He had become just like the very same people he had sworn never to become.

He had plunged himself in the darkness, and the darkness had claimed him and made him his.

The darkness had swallowed him, and now…now he was going to have to fight his way out.

"S…So, I'll have to call Inoichi back, seems I might need counseling," as he chuckled that, Karin shot him a worried look, shaking her bright red hair.

"Otou-san, you don't really trust Inoichi-san, do you?"

No, he didn't. He was a risk. Reading people's mind made someone risky to have near. His mind had already been toyed for well enough time. He wouldn't…nobody would.

"So? Counseling doesn't need…" he bit his tongue hard. Counseling needed trust between patient and counselor to start, but if that was the requisite…there simply was no counselor for him then. He wasn't going to trust anyone with his so thought weakness.

He was the Hokage for Kami's sake: he was not one who went to a psychiatric!

"I can work on it!" Karin literally exclaimed, "I can help you! Really! We could have walks around the village and I could help you around! I…You need a better secretary, right? Or maybe another one…or we could speak at home, or in your office. It wouldn't be strange that you'd meet with your daughter in your office after all, right!?"

Except in steamy trashy second rate novel written by the deceased Jiraiya, obviously, and in those, Karin was pretty sure there were some points she definitively wanted to try.

"Karin, you're sixteen," Naruto pointed out, "And there are most certainly things you don't want to know about me. An adult would…"

"I was an adult the moment I got the forehead protector, Otou-san!" Karin retorted, "And I'm a fully trained medic-nin! Psychology is just a part of it, really…won't you trust me to help you?" She knew this was a low blow, especially with her father's conditions…but it was the only solution she had. The fact that it actually worked, judging by her father's aura, was a big plus.

"I…fine, but it's a thing that should be kept under wraps, and by that, I mean also from your mother." There was a moment in which Karin let go of her mask of concern to show a bit of anger at the mention of 'mother'. The fact that Anko hadn't believed her words hurt her more than she could have thought of, but now she had a chance to one-up her. She'd burn down all the bridges with 'mother' if she had to, but she'd get the final prize: Naruto.

*Tobirama*

"So, escaping from Iwagakure shinobis, who actually renamed themselves Amegakure shinobis, who actually attacked Ame, that was the center of Akatsuki, who was then destroyed by Akatsuki, while at the same time the Kyuubi is a spy playing the part of Kurotsuchi, the Iwagakure's Tsuchikage's granddaughter…and she made you drop your act? Well…No, I don't get half of it." Tobirama Senju was quite serious, as his hands went through a basic type of healing jutsu.

"My brother was the smart one with healing jutsus: No hand signs and bam! Broken bones healed in a split second. Somebody remind me, is Boar after Tiger or is Rat after Boar?" Yamato's face was ashen, as the deceased Nidaime chuckled, before patching up the same named kid.

"How's he?" The Mokuton user finally queried, receiving a curt reply with a small grin as a reply.

"He'll be fine." The Nidaime muttered something under his breath about 'cauliflowers' and 'Hashirama's vegetable passion', before adding, "Still, you're a long way from Konoha."

"And…so are you? We thought you were…travelling around the world?"

"Oh, I did that. Thrice, went over the mountains, past the oceans, and then came back. I had to really, since _they_ got interested."

Yamato's expression showed perplexity: what was the Nidaime talking about?

"You know how fun it is to walk under the sea?" Tobirama queried, "Without the pressure damaging you that is, had I been alive I would have probably be reduced to paste, but immortal body wins! Yeah…so! Anyway, I got a good idea of what was going on, and I managed to get straight back from the south."

"The South?" Yamato's eyebrow stood up for a second, before the Nidaime replied with a quick nod.

"The South. Wonderful place, filled with devastation, dead people, destruction, more devastation, a pinch of ashes and a good dose of blood." There was sarcasm dripping through the tone, before the grey haired man shook his head.

"So, I heard some interesting things about my 'Sairai', would you tell me more?" The problem was the way the question was phrased. It was not something normal: it was the cold frozen anger that many history book described as 'the calm before the Nidaime storm'. It was the same type of anger some whispered the Nidaime used during the ambush with the Kinkaku force, that literally obliterated them both. Yet Yamato knew what the previous Hokage wanted to know and technically, he was cleared to know.

"He has submitted Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kusagakure, and the other smaller countries around Konoha: he's making Konoha grand and the land of fire prosperous."

Tobirama sighed, ruffling the hair of the sleeping kid that shared his name, before whispering back.

"I'm sure everything is as dark as the light that is cast in the eyes of those that seek the truth, right?"

"That's…"

"The oldest Anbu passcode to date? Hey, I created the Anbu system boy: I know all of the darkness hidden in plain sight. What's the _real_ situation?" Tobirama sat down, his legs crossed and the younger version of him on his lap, a soft expression on his face as he gently played with the boy's grey locks.

Yamato took a deep breath, before murmuring back.

"Kumo and Kiri are at each other's throats, for some reason there are reports of advanced technologies and zombie shinobis. The news was spread through the villages like wildfire…sort of a fear campaign. Yet they're fighting each other to a standstill."

"And there's the risk they decide to bind themselves together against the 'overwhelming Konohagakure threat'," the Nidaime finished the Anbu's thoughts, before chuckling grimly, "The Kinkaku force thought the same thing…you know, in truth they were financed by Iwagakure, who wanted them to prevent peace between Konoha and Kumo, to weaken us."

"It was suspected, but never proven," Yamato answered back with a knowing nod, only for Tobirama to shrug.

"During the battle the shinobis felt the need to taunt me. They thought I would try and get the news back to Konoha, so they could go after my team. Unluckily for them, I didn't take the bait: killed a couple with the Raijin, the brothers went 'Kyuubi', and I had to force them down with a water dome while igniting the thunder sword. Needless to say, it was a pyrrhic victory...but I'd do it again."

"The fight devastated a good chunk of land. They call it 'the Nidaime's last stand'."

"Really? Good…something to be remembered for, take that Hashirama!" Tobirama chuckled, looking at the sky, "One last act, and then I'll be gone. The past mistakes _must_ be fixed, after all."

Yamato didn't want to inquire on what Tobirama wanted to fix, but the Nidaime seemed intent on answering that question nevertheless.

"Uchiha Madara…I'm still here because he still is." The red eyes of the second Hokage flickered briefly with unquenchable determination, before returning softer, at the light groaning of the kid in his lap, who fluttered his eyes open for a moment.

"Otou-san?"

"Nah, I'm sort of your Jiji," ancestor, to be more precise. Some great-great grandfather probably.

"Oh…"

"Well, he's fine and stable now." Tobirama muttered, handing the kid's body over to Yamato, who was still winging himself around the idea that Uchiha Madara was actually, well, alive and well.

Still, he grabbed a hold of Tobirama junior: he had to get back to Konoha, to warn of the recent developments. Would he make it in time? He had to re-route himself to a safer direction, and yet manage to get there in time.

He could do it. He would do it.

The Hokage's son was within his arms…just like his own was within his.

*Shikamaru*

The Nara cursed once more. Cursing had become a frequent event in the past few weeks. It wasn't because they had to take frequent stops to rest and reroute, no. It was because they had been doing their best to avoid a potentially invisible tracker who still seemed to be on their toes. It was just a gut instinct, and yet Shikamaru had no idea where the tracer on their persons was.

If anything, the artillery platform wasn't on land, and it didn't move as fast as them. They usually had an hour of rest, before they were forced to start moving once more, to avoid artillery shots coming at them from only Kami knew where.

They were leaving behind a burned and charred ground, filled with artillery shells and craters, and yet they couldn't hide. They could just run, then rest and then run again. The first thought had been thus to the sky, but the Nara was sure there was nothing up above. How could there be? There were only clouds for as long as the sky went!

Not that he could give much thought about it: he didn't have eyes behind his back.

"The land of the sky was brought down during the second shinobi war," Shino buzzed, somehow lacking breath and yet talking nevertheless.

"How is…that relevant!?" Kiba exclaimed, jumping to the side to avoid the splinters of a recently impacted ball.

"I think…we need some time to think." Shikamaru mused, as the words that Shino actually wanted to say sounded more like: 'what was there during the second shinobi war that is on us even now?'

It couldn't be the radio sets, could…wait a moment.

The radio sets were invented during the second shinobi war.

They were invented for short communication distances. They were invented by shinobis, yet none claimed the merit on the academy books, nor on the library books.

"For having an IQ of over two-hundred…I'm damn stupid!" Shikamaru berated himself, "It's the radios!" He yelled out loud, "They're tracking their frequencies! Remove them!"

Three radio sets removed later, and the three were doing their best running away once more, this time keeping each other near in order to be able to hear orders on ducking, dodging, rolling, avoiding or sidestepping a potential incoming threat.

Yet, finally, after two more hours of running…no more shots came their way, and the three slowed their pace.

"We…we kind of…anf…made it," Kiba stuttered between heavy gasps for air, while Shikamaru was merely thanking Kami that he had trained far more seriously after Choji's death than before…he would have rather had Choji back though. Shino instead was without his jacket. He was sure he wouldn't freak out the other two members of the group, and he needed to get less weight on him. He was kind of wondering if falling down on the ground face first would be frowned upon by the other black ops.

"We don't know," Shikamaru hissed, sitting down and starting to massage his legs, "But we need to rest some more. Who's up for first watch?"

"Ghost can take it," Kiba suggested, pointing at Akamaru, which albeit panting hard was after all a four legged dog: he was trained to run for long distances.

This still didn't mean Akamaru would take it without whining for a while though. During that time, Shino had simply fallen into blessed oblivion of senses, leaving Kiba to actually spend first watch together with Akamaru.

"Neh boy…" Kiba whispered, "You think sensei's going to get Hinata back?"

Akamaru's eyes fell down, as he slowly shook his head.

"Yeah…I thought so too. You know, sensei kind of changed with the years. You know snake lady?" The dog actually growled a bit at that, recalling some 'training' done while Naruto was busy elsewhere, on a particular horrendous day worthy only of being forgotten.

"Well, she was also his teammate. He kind of kept on changing and changing and growing colder and colder with time. We got lucky to have him still in the 'lukewarm' zone. Dunno how he's now though: it's been a couple of years since I last stepped back in Konoha, and mission assignments can't help one know…" Kiba's low murmur was met with a muttered 'troublesome' from Shikamaru, who had been eavesdropping on the 'rant' from the Inuzuka…knowing fully well how that rookie mistake didn't belong to him. There was something that Shikamaru was meant to find out. The question was why? Why was he being tested? It was just like…

Oh no.

It couldn't be.

That would be…insane. It would mean…no, it was impossible. Yet it also seemed so true.

The Hokage was testing him, him out of all people…for the position of Rokudaime.

That thought in mind, the Nara simply couldn't fall asleep any longer, standing back up to a seated position, and glaring daggers at the Inuzuka.

"I'm going to refuse it."

Kiba merely grinned widely, before shrugging.

"Speak to sensei about it."

*Somewhere in the land of wind*

It was strange, all things considered, how easy it was to claim a life.

A pressing of a button, the metallic clinking of mechanisms, the wheezing of pumps, and then life ended.

The Gelel vein flowed freely with power, and it powered up nicely the weapons that would soon bring peace to this warring states. They had come to bring peace, after all. They were the good guys, the one who would bring an era of prosperity. It was only right that the enemies were to be destroyed. These 'shinobi' were but monsters wearing human skin, that much he had been told.

They were acting surprisingly well as prisoners. The few he had captured were meek, easy to subdue, like it had been their call.

There was no prideful individual among them. There was none strong enough to oppose them.

Yet, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was inherently wrong with such a level of meekness. Had they no pride? Did they not care about their country, or their selves?

Temujin sneered at the sight of a crying child. Normally, he wouldn't be this cruel, but such a lack of patriotism made him angry, even more, it made him furious: how could they not try and defend their homes!? Sure, many of them had surrendered the moment the city had been vaporized by the Gelel cannons, yet they should have tried something. Anything to prove they were actually angry at them…instead they hadn't.

Like cattle carried to the butcher's shop: they didn't rebel, they didn't scream, they didn't yell.

Haido had told him to keep an eye on the prisoner, to see if anything was amiss among them, and yet nothing appeared out of order, if not, precisely, their unnatural quietness.

A child began to cry in a corner, and that, maybe, was the first sign that the people were actually alive. The kid was quickly shushed, yet Temujin couldn't help but move closer to the cell, where a woman was looking, with cold dead eyes, at the bundle between her arms.

"Why aren't you putting up a fight?" Temujin had to ask, albeit he was sure he wouldn't get an answer straight out of the woman.

"Huh?"

"Why aren't you fighting?"

"Eh?"

"I'm asking you why you haven't been fighting!"

"What?"

The boy was outright furious, what did these people have as a brain, a goldfish!? Maybe a hamster rolling on the cage's wheel, considering how nobody actually answered him. At least a taunt would have proven that they were still alive, wouldn't it? It was like they had been drugged!

Drugged? Temujin turned quickly around, heading straight upstairs, to look for Kamira.

The woman was actually reading a book, being the overseer of this operation, and frowned when the boy moved closer to her.

"Kamira-san! I think they've been drugged!"

"Who?"

"The prisoners! I mean, they must have been drugged!"

"Well, we didn't." Kamira retorted, as she returned to her book.

"I know we didn't! Shouldn't we look out for how they did it!? It's an entire village, and…"

"Boring!" Kamira exclaimed, "I'm reading right now, go whine to someone else, okay?"

"But this is important!"

"No, it isn't," the reply sharply closed the conversation, as the blond boy grumbled slightly, before turning to leave.

"Fluoride," Kamira stated, as Temujin was about to leave, making the boy stop on his tracks, "High doses can turn the most active men in brain dead mush."

"Then…"

"Then nothing! Go back to your duties and stop bothering me!"

Without another word, Temujin left the 'library' within the walking castle's walls. Haido's castle was moving at a slow but steady pace towards the north. Soon, it would reach deep within the land of wind's capital, and there it would depose the Daimyo, to put the warlord as the sole leader of the land. From there, the land of fire would be next.

That was if Shinno hadn't already completed his assignment.

*Hinata*

She felt numb all over her body. She had been drugged, beaten up and then called for dead after only Kami knew how many days. Then she had been delivered to the hospital's morgue, where a medic-nin had all but claimed her dead and thrown her in the obituary.

If death was like that, then she didn't want to know what sort of hell awaited her afterwards. All that she felt was cold, her skin was pale and freezing, and there was nothing, within it, that gave her warmth. She wasn't going to be saved. She had known this for years, but the mere fact of knowing it now…the fact of knowing that Tayuya, of all people, was now the new body of Orochimaru. The girl had been a nuisance, and yet…now she missed the girl.

She missed the cuss words of the red head, she missed hearing her rant and at the same time pitifully whine in the night, afraid of her leaving her side. Now there was nothing but the dark of the morgue's cell she was in.

Yet she could hear the muffled steps moving closer and closer to her. She could hear the cell she was in opening, the black sack being torn apart, her stiff body being taken out, like a ragdoll. She was lifted on the shoulders of an Anbu, a female one. She was brought inside a coffin, of all things, and carried outside from the back. At least, she suspected it was the back. Dead people were brought out from there, right? The trip was uneventful, except for the simple fact that she distinctly felt she was getting buried.

She could feel the earth being dug near her, and she could feel the coffin being brought down.

Was she going to be buried alive? She couldn't die like that! It was…it was horrible.

Was this her last punishment? It…it just seemed too cruel, yet what did she know of her sensei? Was this how he actually rewarded betrayal? Was this how he paid back those who showed themselves lacking?

Yet as the ground was brought above her, covering her after being brought down in the hole, she couldn't help but stiffen at the sound coming from outside.

"So, this is the last one for the night?" The voice was male, and it was familiar.

"Yeah, we should grab a drink later on though."

"Definitively, still you never told me why you're covering up for Kito."

"We take turns for this stuff, Kashi-kun," the female voice retorted, with a light giggle in her voice.

"Yeah, that's why I'm pretty sure Kito told me it was his, and you took it from him."

"Well, he had a tired look on him, and I was sure you'd be late to our date, right?"

"Neh, Rin…there's not really a seventy years old man in that coffin, is there?"

"Kashi…you really want me to dig out the coffin, open it, and prove to you it's an old man in there? Really! Is this your idea of romantic?"

"No Rin…it's my idea that there's a Doton dug gallery beneath the cemetery, that Orochimaru used during his period of Missing-nin to gather the genetical data for his Edo Tensei Jutsu. A gallery that Orochimaru told Itachi, who in turn told Kushina…and she in turn told you, didn't she?"

"That's…that's preposterous! Kashi!"

"Or maybe it's the other way around. Maybe sensei knew from the beginning of Orochimaru's experiments, because he sanctioned them, maybe he actually helped him in placing the laboratory, digging the galleries, hushing everything…and maybe Orochimaru needed an assistant, or a couple of them…isn't that right?"

"Kashi…you're starting to scare me."

"Rin…you are hereby sentenced for high treason in regards with Konohagakure, and in conjuring with enemies of the village and of the Hokage. Under the authority granted to me by the Godaime Hokage, Naruto Senju, I hereby place you under arrest."

There was a moment of silence, before the female voice spoke again, this time without hesitation in her voice.

"What gave me away?"

"During the battle against Orochimaru, Kushina said something that she wasn't meant to know…something that only you could have known."

"W…what?"

"The heredity, the fact that it was stolen, or better yet taken: it needed a medic nin, and I suggested you for a 'delicate' procedure of which I too knew nothing. You were the only one who could have known. You said too much."

"I knew the red hot habanero was a blabbermouth! Kami be damned Kashi! Please, you have to understand!"

"What is there to understand, Rin? You have gone against Konoha and the Hokage, you have betrayed the trust of your fellow shinobi, and mine too… was us a lie too?"

"NO! Kakashi-kun, please, you can't seriously still be on his side! You know what he is!"

"What? He's my student, he's my Hokage, he's my comrade, just like you were my teammate, my love, my light…"

"He's a demon Kakashi! He planned the fall of Minato-sensei!"

"Minato-sensei died because of Itachi, and he already paid his own deal."

"That 'clan business' stuff was a weak excuse!"

"Perhaps, but it solved a lot of problems: it stabilized the Hokage's hold on the village, lowered the clan's powers, and removed security risks all over Konoha."

"Was Minato a security risk, Kakashi?"

"Danzo was, Rin…"

"Minato-sensei wasn't Danzo!"

"Were they any different? Sensei was controlled beyond hope of salvation."

"That doesn't make sense! You're not going to catch me by surprise by spouting such nonsense, Kakashi."

"I don't need to, Rin…I don't need to lie."

"You know what, Kakashi?" The voice was cold as it spoke, "Obito is still alive."

"W…What!?"

"Too late." Loud set of explosions echoed all around her, Hinata could feel the ground tremble and shake, but by the time it was over…she heard nothing but silence.

"I told you there was no running away, Rin." The cold tone of Kakashi Hatake echoed through the air, and Hinata suddenly felt the very deep need to activate her Byakugan, to see what was going on outside…if only she could actually mold chakra!

"Another rat leaves the nest," the voice, the male voice so familiar to her came next. It was the Hokage's. It was Naruto's. The voice of her former teacher came straight through the wooden surface of her coffin, as she could feel the wood box being lifted and brought outside. She was dropped on the earth, and the lid flung open. There, she stared at a strangely silent and clearly grief-stricken Hatake Kakashi, watching over the bent figure of Naruto Senju, who was using some sort of medical jutsu on Hinata's body.

"Now, Hinata-chan," the Godaime spoke quietly, "You have a choice."

The Hyuga could still not talk, or move or do anything but blink, so she waited, waited for some sort of explanation of what was going on, of why it was going on too.

"You can come with us, tonight, and go back to being a Genin on probation for a variable amount of time, maybe a couple of years…you did nothing wrong with Orochimaru, albeit you did fail my test and tried to kill Neji as well as my other precious pupils…" the voice was incredibly cold, making the Hyuga inwardly shiver.

"Or…you can act as our spy, by keeping up the front of having escaped us, stay in the coffin, wait for the Kumogakure shinobis to come and get you, having paid 'Mask' for a life healthy Hyuga willing to turn table, and in exchange I will make sure you receive, at the end of your prolonged mission, full pardon, instauration to Jounin rank, the truth of the Hyuga's matter…and my _forgiveness_."

Hinata didn't care about rank or full pardon. She did care about the truth on her family's matter, and deep down, she also cared about the man's forgiveness. She had failed him once already…was this also a test? If it was…what was she to do?

"So…blink once for no, and blink twice for yes."

In that instant, Hinata blinked once. Then, after a second, a second in which she fought deeply within herself for reasons why not to and reasons why to do it, she blinked…once more.

"Good…your codename is Hime for the duration of the mission. Do not worry about contacting…" Naruto bared his fangs, his eyes glittering of a, in that moment, pretty blue flame. The next moment, she could feel her neck being bitten, before a strange sensation of warmth washed over her.

"Be a nice girl, okay Hime-chan?"

She actually blinked twice, before the lid closed once more, and she was lowered again in the ground, the earth dug falling back on her.

And there she stayed, in silence, with silence…until another type of digging came from down below.

Above ground, Naruto turned to stare at Kakashi, whispering quietly.

"Warn Anbu, they have to flush the tunnels afterwards."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"And…Kakashi?" The silver haired Jounin looked with his only eye at the fallen form of his once teammate, once lover, once trusted and precious person, and couldn't help but wish he could cry. Wish he could yell to the heavens about this injustice. Wish he could ask why, wish he could come to terms with the fact that, had he not suggested her then maybe Naruto would have never found out.

"Stop living in the past, Obito's dead. Whatever Rin said…it was only to distract you."

*Temari*

So she was stuck with the imbecile.

No, better yet, imbeciles: Akatsuchi and Tobi. The duo of dementia and idiocy, and yet incredibly annoying and powerful at the same time…just how could they both act like kids, and at the same time manage to avoid her most powerful futon jutsus? It had to be something to do with sheer stupidity.

At least at the end of the day Akatsuchi was no longer going to be a problem. She was, after all, overseeing the group of shinobi handing over chakra to the statue of the outer path. Tobi was standing right next to her, humming quietly.

"Neh Temari-chan?" The masked Akatsuki member sing-sung, "Are you free for a date later on?"

"There's war coming and you're thinking about dates?" Temari shot him a hard glare, before letting her mind drift to the situation at hand. The statue of the outer path could easily be moved, and the high amount of chakra it released made it an easy light house for Kumogakure's sensors. Yet in doing that it also helped in hiding off the extremely low emissions of New Kirigakure.

"Tobi just wants to see pretty Temari-chan smile!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere." The Sunagakure missing-kunoichi would have preferred to simply smash her fan on the side of the man's head, but she knew it wouldn't have worked.

Tobi had some sort of technique that made him become incorporeal, meaning there was no way to actually hit him.

It took him a second to jump to the side of Akatsuchi's limp body, who fell on the ground the moment the technique was done, bringing down panting from exhaustion the shinobis that had helped in the extraction.

"So we got the Sanbi! Good, one less weapon of mass destruction around!" Tobi chuckled, before turning to Temari.

"You see, if it's done correctly, the target is then still alive afterwards!" True to his words, Akatsuchi stood up a second later, looking around wary and confused, before a Kunai struck him in the neck, courtesy of Tobi himself. The fat boy fell on the ground dead, in a puddle of his own blood, as Temari frowned but said nothing.

"I see…except exhaustion, there's nothing else, right?"

"Yes! And while it leaves the Jinchuuriki chakra exhausted for a while, it still lets them keep a blander version of their bijuus powers!"

"So we could put an end to wars by having all the Bijuus collected into the statue, and then destroy it?"

"Exactly!" Tobi clapped his hands, "You're really smart Temari-san!"

The Kunoichi sighed, looking at the village of Kirigakure, who was mostly now laying in ruins, covered in moss and a thicker than normal mist.

The Mizukage tower was the place holding the hidden statue, and its surrounding were inhabited by the view remaining Kiri shinobis who were either untrustworthy or possible spies, plus a good chunk of civilians. Truly, by keeping the enemies distracted and focused on reaching them there, they were keeping them off the bigger prize: New Kiri.

A loud moan echoed through the air, making the windows tremble and creak, forcing Tobi to still for a moment.

"Did your stomach do that, Temari-san?"

"NO!" The blond pig tailed girl screeched, before eying murderously the masked ninja. She hadn't done that!

Another strong moan, some sort of whale cry soon rattled and started to break the weakest ones.

"Are you sure Temari-san? Maybe you have some flatu…"

"Finish the word and I'm going to kill you slowly!" The girl menaced gritting her teeth, before turning her attention around.

The ten shinobis used had low chakra, and were out of the equation. The walls were strong and sturdy, and yet some appeared to have cracks they didn't possess minutes before.

Whatever this was, it didn't seem like a mere human being.

Another sharp shriek, the dull sound of explosions, and soon Temari found herself using her fan to protect herself from the scattering debris, as a figure emerged straight through a hole in the wall.

The man's feature were covered by deep black skin, and stood deformed with monstrous like appendages. His hair was orange, and he held the most murderous glint ever possible. Next to him stood a pale teen with light grey hair, holding some sort of bone sword in a hand.

The symbol on their forehead protector was clear.

Otogakure had joined the fray.

"There's a peace summit going on!" Temari screeched as the voice died in her mouth, her fan managing just in the nick of time to be moved in front of an upcoming fist from the deformed man.

"Juugo, remember: we leave no survivors."

"Hai, Kimimaro-san."

*Yomi*

Iwagakure was dead. Even with a tattered body that just so vaguely managed to resemble his past 'barely' fitting container, Moryo was most displeased to find out that there was nothing to corrupt of turn to his side there. It was dead. Everything was dead. The air, the earth, the plants and the ruins of the village itself… they were all dead. There was nothing there for him to corrupt or to conquer…this wasn't good.

"Was this a promise…a warning…a threat?" 'Yomi' mumbled to himself, as he took a step forward, and then another. He walked on the ruins of Iwagakure, his feet broke to dust the skeletons that lay on the ground, reducing them to white splinters. There wasn't a sound: nature itself had left the area. The ground was slowly cracking open, lowering itself and leaving some sort of hole behind. Where the Yin chakra had reached, the Yang had been sucked out. Probably, by the end of the process, there would be a giant hole in the place of Iwa.

He could feel the screams of the deceased still there and yet his stomach was churning, his guts were twisting, and he couldn't help but frown.

"Good…Good…He'll be there…yes…good…Well done…_Shion_."

*Kakuzu*

"Somebody get me an aspirin." The Takigakure missing Nin whined, as Fu frowned at the sight of her father suffering, before sprinting out in the middle of the forest.

Hidan stood quiet, trying to come down with writing something on the ground with a stick, but was growing more and more frustrated.

Gaara was silent in a corner, looking at Kisame and Sasori, who were in turn playing 'go shark' a variant of the 'go fish' game used only by the Kirigakure shinobis.

Still better than the variant 'Go sand'…and what about Kusa's 'Go Grass' one? That just seemed like a bad innuendo.

They had met up with 'relative' ease, considering Fu could scout ahead and avoid most of the patrols, both Kakuzu and Hidan had united with the others, and were now exchanging information on everything that had happened since their last meeting.

That was also the reason Hidan was trying to understand something out of it…and failing.

"I don't get it! Fuck Jashin-sama! Fuck!"

"And here he rants again." Kakuzu growled, rolling his eyes before shaking his head.

"Come on, it can't be that hard!" Kisame exclaimed, "We just have to make I act like the loving hubby of the Mizukage."

"Yeah, and he got it easy," Sasori muttered, "I'm playing his son's part. You understand?"

"Sucks to be you." Kisame grinned.

"I wouldn't be laughing that much…Kisa-chan," Hidan grinned at the shark man, "Think where you'll have to sleep if the meeting takes more than one day?"

Kisame growled a bit more, before shaking his head. He looked over to Gaara, who was overthinking.

"Gaara will come with you to the south," Sasori commented, "He'll be helpful and Fu can carry him."

"Yeah, something about him weighting less than us," Kakuzu remarked dryly.

"Are you saying I'm fat for the fuck of Jashin!?" Hidan's snarl was interrupted by Fu returning with some sort of herbal mixture.

"Here Otou-san! For the head-ache!" as she chirped that, Hidan bit his tongue before replying.

"Well done Fu-chan! Mind going to get some more for me too? Pretty please?"

The girl nodded, dashing off once more.

It was an unspoken, yet extremely clear rule: the first one to corrupt Kakuzu's 'daughter' would get death, plain and simple. No need to say anything more, no need to add threats or something like that. You messed with his daughter, you got death.

He'd take the time, even if time was money.

"So…tomorrow's going to be a fucked up day," Hidan hissed, closing his eyes.

"Really fucked up," Kisame added with a nod.

"Kind of wonder…what is going to happen next?" Gaara's question brought the clearing to silence, before the reply came from Kakuzu himself.

"Well…let me tell you this…" he began, slowly, "I don't know. The future is not ours to command, to move, to understand…what I know, is that doing nothing means failing always. We might die tomorrow. We might die in the assault. We might die at any time and any moment…but if we die while acting…at least it won't be a meaningless death."

"Kami…he's got such a big heart." Hidan's teasing remark made Kakuzu sprout a set of tick marks, before he flung a fist straight against the Jashin's cultist nose.

"Stop it, or you're going to give me another headache!" The last exclamation, and then the normal playful banter came once more.

It didn't even seem possible, and yet…there they were, S-rank missing Nin, Jinchuuriki, immortal monsters…all together, happy even.

Even if blood was all they would bring on the battlefield the next day, the next week, the next month...and the rest of their lives.

**Author's notes**

**The pairing has been decided.**

**I'm not going to go with a pairing.**

**Naruto would never love again Anko like before, and he would never be able to bring himself to actually 'touch' Karin.**

**The scene you saw? There's no love between him and Anko, I hope it was made clear he's doing this for his daughters, and not for anything else.**

**Heredity is still going to be explained though.**

**(But you can lucky guess)**

**Oh, by the way: I am a sucker for good endings. Yeah, I know it's my weak point, but I always strive for a good ending.**

**This doesn't mean there aren't going to be character deaths. **

**So be warned, next chapters…heads will roll!**


	27. SH: Backstabbing

**Multiple characters death. Enjoy at your own risk.**

Chapter Twenty-Seventh

The broth stirred slowly under the expert movement of Ayame's wielded ladle. The noodles came out at just the right moment, to show the perfect mixture of aromas and without a hint of sogginess. All in all, the bowl of ramen was pure poetry. It released a rich perfume of sea, with the correct amount of spices to enhance the flavor, but not to cover it up. The fact that it was eaten in less than five minutes by a veritable pig of a boy meant nothing. It was just like the most beautiful of verses: wonderful, albeit for just a line or two.

Just like her relationship, now finished, with the Hokage. Naruto Senju had used her to deliver information to Hakkaku, and by doing so she had actually betrayed the organization's trust of not taking sides among the other elemental countries. The fact that also Hakkaku had been thrown out meant nothing: the man at least hadn't had his heart toyed with by someone.

Even worse, when that someone seemed to be one of the kindest persons in the world…only to reveal that it had all been a lie. Maybe she should have snatched him straight ahead, instead of taking her time. Maybe, Ayame considered, there should have been more than kisses and little chats. Still she was glad she hadn't gone all the way. At least she could console herself that, in her being prudish, she was still optimal marriage material.

She scanned her customers, noticing how each and every one of them seemed busy in a way or another.

Konohamaru was eating ramen quickly, while trying his best to avoid staring at his sensei and at his teammates. He didn't know why, but he felt the impending need to get the hell out of Konoha. Something had snapped inside of him mere seconds before, and that something had, everything considered, given him a new perspective.

He had to run the hell away from Konoha, reach Amegakure, meet with Sasori no Danna and reveal the new patrol routes. Having been on more than one himself, as a Genin during C-ranks close to the village, he knew where they were and where they were not.

Moegi was looking at him with a perplexed look, the girl trying to come to terms with the strange 'hurry' that was griping the grandson of the Sandaime. Ebisu was silent, and seemed more engrossed in a strangely red covered book than on what was going on around them. Udon was eating his own ramen silently and at least with manners.

Ayame sighed, watching the Genin team and their Jounin-sensei. She wasn't getting any younger, and albeit she was still a clearly beautiful and wonderful woman, she needed to get married soon enough. Maybe to a civilian, even though shinobis, especially Jounins, had a higher pay, they also risked their lives and might not return. She didn't need that any longer. With Naruto, she was sure he'd return no matter what, now? Now she wasn't even sure she had ever truly known the man at all.

While Ayame was currently debating on her possible love life, a purple haired kunoichi was warily making her way through the crowd, holding Yumi's hand with her own.

"Why do you keep on skipping school, Yumi-chan?" Anko's voice was near exasperation. Soon they would have to move towards the land of Iron, and that would be enough to make Yumi lose a lot of valuable school hours. Yet here the girl was, trying to skip…again.

"Kaa-san! I don't want to! School is boring! I want to train and become strong like you!"

Anko sported a small smile, but still retorted.

"Then you have to go to school, there's no shortcut to strength!"

"But it's boring! And Otou-san went to school only for a year!"

"Your father was a genius," _and an infiltration prodigy coupled with a natural cheating streak and unnatural luck._

"I'm too!" Yumi snapped back.

"You're a cute little darling, and you're smart…but genius? Nah, that's only your father in the family," the kunoichi retorted, with a sigh she pulled Yumi closer to her and brought her once more next to her side, "Stop slowing down: it's not going to work with me."

Yumi kept quiet for a while, before slowly trying to swap with a hay filled mannequin, only for Anko to tighten her grip.

"Yumi…" The woman growled lightly, "I'm a tokubetsu Jounin. You aren't going to slip away. You have to go to school."

"But Kaa-san…you usually skipped with me! Why can't we do it again!?"

"Because…" and the hazel eyed woman sighed, before getting down on one knee to reach eye-level with her daughter, "your father is really busy, and has a lot of things to do. He can't worry about you and the village at the same time. You should help him out by staying at a safe place: school. I know it's boring, but don't you have any friends…" and with that, the darkening expression on Yumi's face hit the jackpot.

Anko stilled her breath for a moment, before whispering, even though it seemed more like a ferocious hiss than a simply low murmured tone.

"You don't?"

"They…No, I don't. I don't need friends!" Yumi snapped back, "I have Neji-Oniisan, Sasuke-Oniisan, Kiba-Oniisan, there's Karin-Oneesan and…"

"They're all older than you…any friends your age?" The raven haired girl shook her head, before whispering back.

"No…they avoid me or make fun of me…only because I'm not your real daughter."

Anko's eyes bulged, before placing both her hands on her girl's shoulders, staring straight on at her.

"Who told you that?" She growled, threatening.

"They said…well…that because my hair's different and my eyes are different that I can't be your daughter! I told them it wasn't true, but they called me a liar instead because their parents said so!"

"Their parents?" Anko queried, slowly letting the two words come out of her mouth, as she began to think if mindless murder in a school would make Naruto hate her…or if he'd join the fray after hearing her reasons.

"Yeah," Yumi nodded vigorously, "Sometimes they even go as far as ask the chuunin-senseis if it's possible…while I'm in class…"

"Well," Anko muttered after a moment, "Listen to me, and listen well, okay?"

The purple haired Kunoichi grabbed Yumi by the waist, and holding her on her left shoulder she brought the girl out of the streets and among the rooftops, before starting a dash to the Hokage's tower.

"Now we're going to go and ask your father about this, and his reply will solve all your doubts, alright?"

"Kaa-san! Let me down!" the six years old screeched, visibly afraid of the swift movement of her mother. She knew she shouldn't have said anything! Now they were just going to confirm it, and she didn't want that! She didn't want to have to leave!

"Please Kaa-san, please!" Yumi was babbling incoherently by then, tears and snot coming down her face as Anko plopped herself just outside the Hokage's office's window.

"Yumi-chan…calm down, would you?" The Kunoichi sighed, grabbing a napkin to clean the tears and forcing her daughter to swipe the snot away, "Everything's going to be fine. You're my daughter and you're Naruto's too. No crying, okay?"

"But…But what if Otou-san…"

"The day your father claims you're not his daughter is the day hell freezes over," Anko rolled her eyes, "You know he loves you and Karin so much he can't bear it to see you crying."

Not like her, obviously. She wouldn't get such a preferential treatment any longer. It was enough he actually didn't roll over in his sleep to slit her throat with a kunai. He had come dangerously close the first night, not being used to sleeping with someone else…with her. She had come back, yet it was like she wasn't even there to begin with. Naruto got up early whenever he could, he left whenever he could. He never was around the house much, or the compound.

He either was working or strolling around town speaking to the people. He was loved by the people: the very same people that used to despise him got in return kind smiles and chuckle or two. All that she got were dreadfully silent eyes and mere monosyllabic words.

As if on cue, the cold dreadful eyes of Naruto bore into her own the moment his window opened, probably the Hokage's keen hearing was more than enough to listen on to his daughter's sniffles.

"What's going on?" He queried, gesturing for the two to come inside. He was giving the last finishing touches to the orders for the stand-by shinobis, setting up the contingencies plans for anything up to a meteor strike, and preparing the list of things to pack. He was, until his father senses had begun to tickle and he had heard the tell-tale sign of his youngest daughter sniffles.

The fact that Anko was near consoling Yumi was maybe the sole thing that didn't make the Godaime Hokage outright lash at the purple haired kunoichi. For the moment, at least…but that could change depending on the answer to his question.

"The kids at the academy told Yumi-chan that we're not her parents," Anko pointed out, as she entered the office with Yumi between her arms. Needless to say, Naruto was already on his feet, trying to think if he could be given leeway for murder. It had worked with Iwagakure after all…

Nevertheless, he got down on one knee, looking at his daughter. Blood related or not didn't matter, after all: she was his daughter.

"Yumi-chan?" Naruto displayed a small smile, as he looked straight ahead at the dark brown of Yumi's eyes with his own bright blue, "Why do you believe what the other kids say?"

"They…they said I can't have raven hair when neither of you does!" The six, going for seven, year old girl exclaimed, "And I've got dark eyes! Apple-chan has red hair like an Uzumaki at least!"

"Yumi…" Naruto's gaze was soft, as he gently gave a poke on her forehead, "that doesn't matter at all."

"Ehi!" The girl frowned, before rubbing the spot where her father had poked her, "It does!"

"Well…my real parents abandoned me, and I ended with one as a missing-nin and another killed by my best friend now turned traitor," the Godaime Hokage spoke quietly, "real parents? They're overrated!" He added with a light smile.

"But…but you're not saying I'm…"

"Yumi-chan," Naruto murmured, "You know the only rule in the house?"

"Never lie?" She whispered with her eyes down and fighting back her tears: her father hadn't said she was her real daughter, meaning she wasn't. Was she going to…

"You're my daughter," the Hokage muttered, his face breaking into a smiling and grinning one, "even if there's no blood relating us, you're still my daughter."

"As much as you're mine," Anko took that moment to enter the conversation, placing both of her hands on Yumi's shoulders, "and you can tell those brats that if they want to disagree then they can stuff their…"

"Anko!" Naruto snapped half-seriously, before putting both his hands to cover Yumi's ears, "No swearing in front of the kids!"

"That's not a rule of the household!" The kunoichi retorted back with a grin. Karin was wrong, obviously: her Koibito was slowly coming to terms with loving her again. She was sure of it, and it showed by the playful banter they were having. The fact that there was no emotion in Naruto's eyes, like he was merely reversing a script went unnoticed by the purple haired woman…no, it was more likely that she simply was refuting to even see it.

"Anyway, you have school today, right?" Naruto's question brought Yumi to sniffle a bit more, but this time she wasn't actually crying or sad, just making a scene.

"But I don't want to! Can't I stay here today?! Pleaseeee!"

As she looked with slightly watery eyes at her father, Naruto found himself biting his lower lip, before groaning and relenting. Damn him and the puppy-eye jutsu he invented.

"Fine," the man caved in, heading back to his desk and pulling out from the first drawer a stack of papers and colored crayons, "Here you go. Stay in a corner and don't make too much noise, alright?"

"Aw…can I stay too?" Anko teased, trying a makeshift cute pout in the man's direction, only for the Godaime to subtly clench his own right fist: a gesture that went unnoticed, like many others.

"Karin wanted to talk with you. She's at the hospital at present." The grey haired man returned to his stack of paperwork, starting silently to scribble, without even giving one last glance at Anko, who, deflated, mumbled a goodbye and left the room.

Yumi frowned for a second, before turning her gaze to her father who seemed keen on his work. She had been told to keep quiet, after all…no, a minute, she had been told not to make too much noise: she could thus make some.

"Neh, Otou-san…"

"Yes Yumi-chan?"

"You didn't give the goodbye kiss to Kaa-san."

"Oh…well, you see…there's a lot of things I have to do you know."

"Being Hokage sucks," the girl declared, before returning to her crayon colorings.

"You know…you're actually right," Naruto chuckled, before returning to his paperwork. He had to trace a route that went in contingency with that of Kakashi. If things went south, he wanted Anko to at least have a secondary mean of bringing Yumi and Karin to safety. Never mind that Karin was a Chuunin, just like the guys that would escort him towards the land of Iron…Karin was his daughter: he wouldn't play with her life.

That being said, he didn't actually have just any chuunin guards. He had the very best. Sasuke Uchiha, Neji Senju, Sakura Haruno, Tenten…she didn't have a last name, and, much to Shikaku's insistence that only four Chuunins were a bit low of an escort, also Rock Lee and Ino Yamanaka had been added: practically the best of the new generation of shinobi from Konoha.

The underlying question was why people thought it would be necessary. He was the Hokage, and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. No-one would be so foolish as to stand on his path…right?

*Shikamaru*

Troublesome didn't even begin to describe what situation they were in.

The kunai flung in the air intercepting an explosive tag, pinning it to a tree nearby and making it detonate outside of the battlefield.

A fight among trees was usually Konoha's favorite battle: however Iwagakure's Doton jutsus usually uprooted the plants and forced the skirmishes on a more leveled terrain.

In this situation, Shikamaru was cussing vehemently in his head, as Shino's Kikkaichus were trying to get a hold of the Iwagakure shinobi that had snuck underground in wait. Kiba had been growling threats to attract attention, while Akamaru stood hidden in wait to pounce.

Without whatever Kami had decided to throw their way in the form of artillery, Shikamaru had thought, if for a brief second, that troubles were over. Instead, obviously, fate had decided, much to his chagrin, obviously, to give him more hell. They were tired. They were dirty, covered in mud and moss and leaves.

Yet there they were, intercepting a contingent of Iwagakure shinobis…no, Amegakure shinobis, in the middle of the land of Fire. Obviously they couldn't just avoid them. No, they couldn't even happen to pass on their trail and fake not having seen them.

No, obviously, Kiba had to point out that there was a scent, Shino had to agree, and precisely because they were all Black Anbus, they were trained to do hellish things in hellish conditions while walking on hell.

Shikamaru wanted to yell to the skies the word 'Troublesome', but he didn't. He couldn't. This was what he had wanted. He had wanted to act: he had wanted to do something, to become someone that would never be as weak as the he of the past. Someone who could fight alongside his comrades, and not stay in the background in a stupid thinking pose! He could think perfectly well while fighting, flinging kunais, or doing rather hellish things.

Hell. This was hell.

There wasn't much to think about, as Kage's shadow leapt through the undergrowth, like a snake slithering to jump on the unsuspecting prey. A Kunoichi from Iwa with dark raven hair erupted rock spikes from the ground, flinging them straight ahead at Kiba's location, before the Inuzuka spun to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow.

Obviously, they had to realize the ambush, and obviously, they had to counter it.

"Mantis! At two!" Kiba yelled.

It was then that Shino deftly moved to the side atop his branch, avoiding what seemed like a flurry of shurikens that in truth were henged explosive kunais. His Kikkaichus wouldn't have managed to feel the difference in time, and for that Wolf had issued the warning. It was pleasant to work with colleagues he could trust. In the academy, Kiba had been something akin to a friend, but also something more, a protégé of sorts too. Yet he had never managed to convince the boy to come up with the truth of what happened in his house.

The fierce training was just repeated beatings, and yet Kiba had suffered through it all in silence. At least, until Naruto had come through, and had solved the situation by beating into submission the beater…and then winning an all-out drunken brawl with three ninkens, two Inuzuka's clan's guards and still managing to get back on his feet by the end of the fight. To earn respect, that was something far more difficult than to simply command. Naruto had his respect, and the Godaime Hokage had the respect of his clan.

The words spoken to him during that day, in the classroom, still echoed true to him. The way he had always treated other Aburames with equity and without even a small sliver of disgust had made him respected. The Inuzuka and the Aburame would follow him to the depths of hell and beyond, with their clans' heads, and with their clans' heirs.

So that was why he had warned Shikamaru of the group. Nobody would walk upon the land of fire's soil, the soil under the protection of Konohagakure, of the Hokage, of Naruto Senju, like it belonged to them, and leave alive. No-one from the blasted land of Iwagakure, specifically, would be welcomed, as long as he had a say on the matter.

His Kikkaichus buzzed a quick warning, and he swiftly substituted himself with a clone of them, to avoid the incoming chakra scalpel hand that descended swiftly on his back.

Shino briefly sighed. He shouldn't be distracting himself with thoughts that held no place on the battlefield.

"Kabuto Yakushi!" Kiba yelled, "Traitor!" The next moment, the Inuzuka was already charging at Kabuto, spinning in the Tsuga attack so renowned by his clan.

The Tsuga wasn't the strongest technique, but it was the more precise. Once, Kiba would have acted brashly, maybe once he would have gone all-out from the beginning. However he had spent time learning, time calming down, time in which he had been trained by different and various people, not just the Hokage, when he managed to slip away from Konoha to meet with him. He had been told to learn from anything, and anyone, that could help. He had split bread with missing-Nins and stabbed them in the back later on. He had stolen scrolls from the Daimyos treasury and had overheard and watched other shinobis fight.

He had crawled, and he had bit the dust a lot during his training…yet he hadn't slacked off. He would have never forgiven himself, if his sensei, his Hokage, his Aniki wouldn't have looked at him with pride. The mere fact that he could go back, eventually, to a home, meant precisely that: Sensei had been responsible for his 'peace'. Now training was just that, training, no longer was it gruesome beating. Hana had been sorry, in the end, and his mother had said so too…for all her pride, she knew when to admit defeat.

The claws and fangs hit dead on the traitor, who was sent backwards, impacting against the ground that however turned soft, deadening the harm. The Iwagakure raven haired kunoichi had barely done so, that Shikamaru's shadow leaped, forcing her to jump away, and engage with the Nara.

At the same time, a swarm of bees launched itself downward from the skies, only for Shino's Kikkaichus to return the courtesy and as swarm fought swarm, the dead falling on the ground, the Aburame faced the 'creator' of said swarm.

"Kamizuru Jibachi," Shino commented in a monotonous tone, "Last remaining survivor of the Kamizuru clan."

"You Konoha bastards killed my family! I'm here for revenge!" Jibachi yelled, "Hachi Bakudan no Jutsu!"

"Mushi Kame no Jutsu," Shino's whispering of the jutsu was accompanied by his Kikkaichus starting to spin wildly around him, forming a dome so similar to the Hyugas' Kaiten technique, while Jibachi's bees exploded upon contact with the dome, their tails holding explosive tags attached. The shockwave sent the insects' bodies on the ground, some still burning from the explosion's flames. The Kikkaichus, however, seemed to have suffered less casualties.

"Selective breeding, quality over quantity," Shino drawled slowly, as Jibachi stiffened when the kunai pierced through his chest, the Aburame appearing from beneath the ground.

It was only a moment though, because the Kamizuru turned into a honey clone, wrapping itself around the man with the Mantis mask and keeping him still.

From there, an Iwagakure shinobi emerged from the ground, plunging a rock lance straight through the man's body, hitting him in the lower stomach. Instead of blood though, Kikkaichus began to stem out wrapping around the Iwa shinobi and draining him to his death in little time. Shino, from his hidden position, waited quietly for the Kamizuru clan's survivor to make a move. Anything, at all,

Meanwhile, Kiba was growling at Kabuto because the man had stood up once again, the hole in his stomach closing up in less than a minute, until it seemed it had never been there, if not for the tattered vest. The silver haired teen's grin was mockingly plastered on his face, and that sent the Inuzuka on a rage.

The grin made Kiba furious. Why didn't he just die? He had brought so much destruction to Konoha, so much pain to its citizen, so much death…yet he was alive, and he was smiling. It was like he didn't care. Like he was playing some sort of sick and twisted game where he wasn't even sure what the goal was. The man in front of him was mad.

That much, he was sure of. Why he would be, or what reason he could have was something that Kiba didn't want to even know. He would terminate him. He would terminate a monster in human skin. He would do so not only because it was his duty…but because it was also his pleasure.

"You bastard! You ain't getting out of here alive!"

"With my In'yu Shōmetsu, I don't think you can kill me, brat…" Kabuto smiled sweetly, "After all I served under Orochimaru of the sannin…I picked up a lot…"

The silver haired teen was smiling, but deep down, very deep down, he was frowning. Sure. He had served under Orochimaru, but would it be enough? He hadn't been trained by him: just…helped by him into making some life changing decisions. Then, when his master had been 'betrayed' by Konoha, he had realized that, for all of his being a Sannin, Orochimaru was something else too: he was a coward.

Kabuto had no idea of what he really was, of what his real name, real identity, real parents were…but he knew one thing: he would live on to discover it. He wasn't going to fall just because some sort of brat fought him like that. He had so much to discover, so much to experiment upon, so much to reveal…he wouldn't die there.

He wouldn't die like that, in the land of Fire, because of a measly ambush sprung by incompetent fools that played being Anbu.

"And I was trained by the Godaime Hokage, so? We are not our teachers! We carve our own path! Garōga!"

Akamaru appeared with blinding speed to the side of Kiba, as both charged once more with a truly frightening typhoon of claws and fangs, this time tearing apart the trees and the very same ground on which Kabuto was on. In a moment, the silver haired teen dropped a set of poisonous bombs, moving out of the toxic cloud. The Garoga was far more powerful, but also far less precise. He should have made sure to keep him still, before starting the attack.

Obviously, what could he expect from a teenager playing Anbu?

"As an Inuzuka I'm sure you're worthless without your precious nose!" Kabuto's taunt, however, fell on deaf ears. Kiba and Akamaru emerged like a blue bullet from the fog, water surrounding them in a small dome. The water then exploded, dispersing the poisonous gas and sending it around, while some of the water bullets aimed in the general area of Kabuto forced the silver haired man to duck and dodge. Still, in doing said motions, Kiba was quick enough to pinpoint the spot the man would land next, and by the time Kabuto realized it, he was already trapped by two strong set of jaws on his shoulders, that crunched down on him hard, before tearing his arms away.

Armless, Kabuto screamed in pain as blood guzzled out his torn limbs, before Kiba's now two-headed Akamaru form drove one of his throats down on the man, crunching down hard and then spitting the man out as a mangled mess.

The man was a mangled, gory, bloody mess…that still breathed…albeit Kabuto clearly wouldn't be going anywhere else soon.

The moment Kiba reverted back to his form, taking a slow breath, the Inuzuka whispered.

"Just because I'm an Inuzuka, doesn't mean I can't be subtle."

Truly, he had used the smoke cloud to create two Mizu Bunshins mimicking him and Akamaru transformed, while the real him and ninken had transformed into the two-headed form, to take by surprise the traitor.

As the battle between the two finished, another, more slowly paced, was going on elsewhere.

Shikamaru eyed the Kunoichi from Iwagakure, recognizing her as Kurotsuchi, the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. He knew she should have been in the care of Ibiki, but he had received an update on her escape, done with the help of both Mikoto Uchiha and her son, Itachi.

The Nara, however, knew far more than to believe the rumors that Itachi was actually a betrayer. He knew fully well the saying of 'once a spy, always a spy', and was pretty sure Naruto knew everything, from the very beginning.

"Troublesome." The Nara had barely muttered that, that the girl's eyes flashed a brief blue flame for a second, making Shikamaru wince.

"Shikamaru. Rally point five-three-oh-four." The voice that came out wasn't feminine, nor was it actually the same that had taunted him till then. It was masculine, and known to the boy: it was that of the Godaime Hokage.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"Die Konoha scum!" Kurotsuchi suddenly yelled, before letting a rock dome emerge from the ground, trying to trap the Konoha shinobi within. Shikamaru, on his side, jumped backwards, using the shadows to actually grab upon a tree behind him and pull himself out of harm's way.

The next moment, the girl was gone.

Shino buzzed quietly, as he eyed the Iwagakure's shinobi corpse. He hadn't seen the Kamizuru shinobi again…meaning he had to have managed to escape.

He would have used the 'troublesome' of 'Kage', but at present his Kikkaichus were now busy holding down Kabuto, draining him of chakra and at the same time keeping him from dying because of blood loss. Truthfully, he would have left him to die, considering he was the traitor who had handed over to Iwagakure the patrol routes and led the Rock shinobis straight against Konohagakure. There had been a lot of Aburames' dead because of him…yet the information he could provide them about Iwa's survivors was essential.

Still, as Shikamaru moved closer to him and Kiba, both keeping guard over the prisoner, he knew that it wasn't going to be that way.

"He's dead," Kiba muttered, pointing at Kabuto, who had gone limp moments before Shikamaru had rejoined them. The Kikkaichus, now covered in blood, flew back into the Aburame's pockets and sleeves, staining his Anbu clothes with the drying crimson liquid.

"Troublesome."

"Orders, Kage?"

"Rally point five-three-oh-four," the Nara spoke quietly, his eyes gazing on Kabuto's body.

"Isn't that near Uzushiogakure?" Shino's question hung in the air for a moment, before Kiba's shoulders slumped.

"No going home yet… Damn it!"

"Better luck next month, maybe," Shino retorted, before the trio settled on a normal pace towards Uzushio, taking care of sealing into a scroll Kabuto's body: one never was sure enough with enemies.

*Orochimaru*

The snake sannin groaned as he opened his eyes, awakening form his slumber. He wouldn't normally display something as pathetical as a groan, after all, but in this case, he felt it was something much needed: he had gone through one of the worst possible hangovers in the history of hangovers. His eyes settled on the form that lay beneath the bed sheets of his bed, to his side, and that was rhythmically breathing making the sheets move up and down.

That was when Orochimaru, the snake sannin, froze.

He took a deep breath, and then slowly, extremely slowly, backed away to dress himself in the most silent way possible.

It wasn't difficult to come to terms with what had happened. He just kind of wondered _why_ it had actually happened. He was…well, him, and she was…well, _her_. Fine, maybe they had been so dead drunk not to understand but…he wasn't going to stay there. Not a second more…maybe he could go and take some sort of triple S suicide mission? Something to do solo, preferably…albeit he had half the idea it was still going to be given out to him, if what had happened became of public knowledge.

He kind of wondered if starting to kidnap babies again would make the Hokage less mad about this.

On the other hand…he managed to reach the kitchen, where, in the process of making coffee, he heard the startled groan of the female waking up in his bed.

Then there was the mumbled 'where the hell am I?', followed by the set of wobbly steps to the kitchen…and finally…

Orochimaru's golden eyes stared into the amber ones of Tsunade.

Neither said anything.

There was only one thought at present crossing both of their minds.

They were _screwed_. They had screwed and now they were…well, they averted their gazes the second after.

"I knew winning that poker game meant this!" Tsunade hissed, as her right hand began to glow green, to remove the hangover from her head. She had to think, and to do that meant that she had to keep the pain out of her brain.

"You remember anything?" Orochimaru queried, slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"Something about poker shots…and chocolate."

"Hmm…I recall meeting you for dinner."

"Yeah, from there it was…the bar…another one…a third one…you dropped your sword somewhere on a training ground, there was a perverted joke from my side, and then…"

"No, let's forget about it," Orochimaru replied quickly, shaking his head, "First thing first: coffee?"

"Oh Kami yes."

Orochimaru shivered. She had _said_ that a lot last night…right? He felt the need to bash his head against the kitchen counter. Some things simply weren't meant to be done. Sure, he had experimented on babies, on infants, on kids, he had kidnapped, maimed, tortured…but bedding your 'Hokage's' mother? No. That wasn't on the list. Sure, he had wanted to befriend her again, she was his teammate, after all, and there were years of catching up to do…but this? He hadn't thought about this! Even worse, it was his student's mother. No, scratch that…it was his teammate. No, wait, something ever worse. It was one of his old students elder sister. No, going even further down, it was the love crush of his other deceased teammate.

What could he say? He had crossed the line. He had no doubt he was going to get some sort of really, really, wicked karmic backslash.

On the positive side, whatever it was that was going to hit him, it would certainly be extremely ruthless and fast in taking him down.

Of that he was sure.

On a far luckier thing, Naruto Senju wasn't in Konoha for the time being, meaning that he was currently safe from whatever filial wrath might befall him. He would talk to Kakashi, 'giving a hand in killing the Yondaime' aside the two were 'cool'. They did both have the same boy as a student. Obviously Orochimaru believed it was his teachings that brought the boy where he was then, even though Kakashi pointed out repeatedly how it had to be the silver dye in the hair.

Considering the copy-cat ninja was acting as representative Hokage at present, to 'even' a score with Gai, it seemed, Orochimaru was sure he'd manage to get some really long lasting mission, elsewhere.

The coffee was warm, and did wonders for Tsunade's humor, who had decided to merely avoid chit-chatting and was quite actually awkwardly silent. As was the snake sannin, though. Probably the slug sannin's mind was filled with thoughts too, but still.

"Well…" there, she had started the topic.

"Yes, Tsunade?"

"I think…"

"Yes?"

"That maybe…"

Did she really have to draw the thing out? Couldn't she just, come out with it?

"We could be friends with benefits?"

Orochimaru closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn't just heard _that_. No, he had, and that was the problem. Friends with benefits? Since when in the kami be damned world did Tsunade Senju come out with 'friends with benefits'? Now it was clear: he had to be in a Genjutsu.

Some sort of dastardly wicked thing, probably the product of some sort of sharingan induced plot.

It was then, that in the awkward silence that followed, a snake popped into existence in the middle of the table, carrying a scroll on its scaly back.

Thankful for its arrival, Orochimaru was faster than light in taking the scroll and opening it. He had to know what had happened during the assault to Kirigakure…or well, old Kirigakure. He stood up and blurted out, seconds later.

"I have to deliver this to the Hatake." Tsunade blinked once, and Orochimaru was gone from the room.

The Slug Sannin sighed, shaking her head.

"He's such a prude sometimes…"

*Kimimaro*

The first thing done by Kimimaro, while infiltrating Kirigakure, was to take Jugo with him and go alone. The other 'experiments' of Orochimaru could take care of the few remaining shinobis, Root members included. What he and Jugo had to do was far more important. It was the focal point of the battlefield: to take out the general before it had a chance to retaliate. The mastermind behind everything, the true leader of Akatsuki was there, and he had to be stopped.

Kimimaro moved quietly, through the streets of Kirigakure. He had never felt better in all of his life, if it weren't for the fact that Sutego had begun showing the very same symptoms of his own sickness. Still, the slug sannin had told him that, if caught early, it was even easier to cure…he hoped on that. Actually, he was kind of angry at himself, for letting something as fickle as a son get in his way of venerating Orochimaru-sama.

Something about paternal hormones, probably, yet he couldn't actually wait to go back home, and look at his son. Normally, he wouldn't have cared, as long as it was Orochimaru's orders. Now, instead…it just felt strange. There were feelings he didn't think he could possibly know, and yet they came sprouting out, one after the other. Sometimes, he even thought about what life there could possibly be if he and…that Hyuga girl had actually clicked.

Heck, two months before, he didn't even know the term 'clicked'.

Still, as his mind was halfway lost in thoughts, the other half was shooting forward bone drilling bullets from the tip of his fingers, aiming at the few shinobi patrols that moved around the village. They were growing closer, and the more they did, the more Jugo's quietness became ill-bearing.

Kimimaro knew the man was going to change soon, but he could keep him in control easily enough. It was only a couple of meters forward. Only a couple of steps more, an inch, and then…

"Jugo, hit through the wall." The order came in a small murmur, but it was enough. The orange haired teen transformed, and his fist crashed straight through the wall.

Jugo was a terrific sight to behold, when he transformed. The only problem was that his lust for battle and death meant that he could not be controlled during it, aiming at foes and friends alike without fault. Only Kimimaro was recognized as an ally during his all-out fighting. That meant that the assault on the statue was carried out only by the two shinobis in question, while the remaining Otogakure forces took care of the village.

Still, they were actually overkill. Jugo alone, with a hand tied behind his back, would have sufficed. The blond pig tailed girl from Sunagakure stood no chance, as when the fist connected with her fan, Jugo's second arm shot forward in the form of an axe, tearing through the steel like it was paper.

The organic weapon slashed across the woman's chest, letting a wide gash spray the blood around, while Kimimaro's bone bullets darted from the shinobi's fingers to kill the Kirigakure Ninja slumped on the ground.

The man in the mask, however, dodged the upcoming shoulder attack from Jugo, swiftly moving right in front of the statue, and making a single hand sign.

That was going to be a problem. Kimimaro was stronger than Jugo, and that much the Kaguya knew without even trying. After having been healed by the slug sannin herself, thanks to Orochimaru's intervention, he had thought he had lost some edge. However, a quick and gruesome training later, he had once more been in the condition to single handedly manage a win over Jugo with ease. Still, he knew how strong Jugo was.

So, for the man in the orange swirling mask to actually dodge one of madman's hits…it could only mean that his strength was on par with the Kaguya, if not…higher.

Kimimaro tensed, as Jugo charged in blindly, without consideration for power levels, or subtleness. When mad with rage, it didn't matter at all to the orange haired man. All that mattered was blood, death and destruction.

"Tobi is growing angry with Konoha's interference…" The man hissed, before the statue opened his eyes.

Out of nine eyes, the ones that opened were the third…the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the eighth.

Temari was on the ground, blood gushing out from her open wound, as she looked at the battle raging on. She could hear the sounds of metal meeting metal and buildings crumbling under explosions from outside, and she couldn't help it. She had to do something, _anything_! She closed her eyes, and maybe that was the reason she missed the statue's eyes opening, all of those that actually held a 'slot' for a tailed beast.

With her eyes closed, the missing Nin from Suna channeled chakra into her fan, or what remained of it. If she could get a single hit in…even at the expense of her life…then she'd do it.

She would fight tooth and nail for her dream: peace. A peace that held no monsters, no children forced to become living prisons, no evil. A dream where everyone stood silent because of fear of retaliation, a safe haven for those who had been cheated by life...that was her dream. That would be the future. She knew it would come to pass, even if she would not be there to watch.

She had faith. Faith in Gaara, in the leader of Akatsuki, in the Mizukage…those who had known far more pain and blood than her…those who were guiding this movement towards the glorious end.

She grasped the side of her tattered fan, and gritting her teeth stood back up, blood spraying and making her wobble. There was so much blood pooling beneath her feet, drenching her clothes…and yet she had to swing the fan.

An object that she had no trouble holding on her back, and that she had trained so long and so hard to move around, so much that it had become instinctive, was now weighting far more than she could have ever thought possible. Yet she lifted it. It was hope, a mixture of tenaciousness, and probably the final straw, the final push of her muscles…she would deliver one last swing. That was her intention…to at least kill one of the attackers, but Temari couldn't manage. Kimimaro's second stage of the cursed seal merely deflected the suicidal wind attack, the bones not even suffering a scratch from it.

The Kaguya merely scoffed, as the blond haired kunoichi fell on the ground, probably dead or dying. Nobody would heal her, nor bring her out of there…she would die eventually, even without his intervention...so he left her there, and concentrated on the remaining masked man, that seemed to elude all of Jugo's attacks.

Then, darkness claimed the Suna kunoichi, as the building broke apart to reveal the statue's full height, the man in the orange swirling mask atop the head of said summon.

"It's lucky," Tobi spoke quietly, "That Nagato called back his paths…He won't know about this then…"

Jugo's fists kept crashing against the statue's feet, but for once, even though it seemed wooden, it actually resisted the strong attacks of the mad man.

Kimimaro was suddenly no longer sure the attack would end up swiftly. Still, he was sure he and Jugo together could…

"So, who told you about us?" Tobi queried, quietly.

"Die!" Jugo's single word was yelled with pure unbridled fury, as his fists crashed on the ground, cracking it to make the statue lose her footing. Futile attempt, but still far more reasonable than usual, especially for his conditions.

The statue's right foot lifted itself up in the air, before coming down on the orange haired man, only for the psychopathic shinobi to actually hold the foot above his head with his hands. The silent hissing of Jugo made it clear that it wouldn't be a prolonged effort: soon he'd either have to move aside or be squashed…but till then, he would hold.

Understanding that, Kimimaro began to run on the statue's leg, his body already brown and protruding two thick bone drill-like weapons in place of his hands. He'd aim at the head, at the eyes that seemed a weak spot, and at the man governing it all. If he managed to make him lose concentration…maybe they'd get out of there alive. The chakra condensing in the air was a forewarning that the Kaguya didn't want to see through…he'd stop this, and he'd do it quickly.

"Damn, you're worse than fleas!" Tobi exclaimed, as he suddenly flicked through hand seals, letting a torrent of fire fall downwards, alongside the statue's side, to burn Kimimaro to a crisp. The Otogakure shinobi jumped towards the other leg, and in doing that, the statue tried to move the foot backwards.

However Jugo wasn't still holding onto the other foot for nothing. Lacking a hold on the ground, the man actually managed to topple the statue down on the ground of Kiri, before Tobi's fire jutsu hit him dead on.

Kimimaro was quick to charge straight at the orange masked man, but just as one of his drill like appendage was about to truly carve a new hole into the man…the Akatsuki member passed straight through him, like he was a ghost.

"You knew of us here." Tobi added, thoughtful, "How could you know of us here? Tobi was a good boy…who was the bad boy? Huh?"

The wail of a whale like creature made the man stop for a second, before moving his head to the side, while Kimimaro kept his narrowed gaze on the man.

"Oh…Amachi…once on the snake team, always on the snake team, huh?"

"DIE!" Jugo's scarred body still drove itself forward, chakra escaping from the man's back as his fists cracked the ground Tobi was on, but didn't damage the shinobi at all.

"What are you, a broken disc!?" Tobi snarled, before wrapping his wrists in chains, and letting it fling behind him as his body passed through the orange haired mad man.

The next moment, Kimimaro moved in to assist, letting his bone whip come down to try and cut away the chains now wrapped around Jugo's neck and slowly choking the man to his death.

When the chains broke, the statue's mouth cackled open, just as Tobi himself disappeared in a twirl in thin air.

"Have to go…Tobi is a good boy!"

The Bijudama erupted from the statue's mouth, falling downward and impacting against the position where Jugo and Kimimaro stood moments before.

The explosion rocked itself around the entirety of Kirigakure, destroying the city and the fighting armies. Even when incomplete, the statue was still a weapon to be feared.

The next instant, in the desolated remains of Kiri, the colossal summon dispersed into smoke, like it had never been there to begin with, leaving behind charred remains of nothingness…Not even the mist that gave the name to the city, eternal and unchangeable scenery was there. The sky was devoid of clouds, such a pristine blue that it made the eyes hurt just to watch it…

Yet there was no-one to watch it. Desolation. Silence. Wind slowly breezed through the rock remains, as the water of the nearby sea began to move within the crater created where the sphere impacted. The sea water rushed in quickly, and moments later…there no longer stood Kiri. No remains, and what little still was stood swallowed by the sea.  
The bloody mist, the mist, the shinobis that still were there…nothing. Even the Otogakure shinobis that had taken to the streets weren't there to look for survivors. Everything had been destroyed, just like the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki had done with Iwa, so too it had happened with Kiri.

Only silence.

Yet a rock slowly began to move, and from beneath it, the charred and bleeding remains of Kimimaro emerged, holding in a bone and protecting cocoon Jugo, who was too shocked to speak, and had reverted back to his normal self. The cocoon slowly began to float, moving upwards. Its density becoming lighter, yet hard enough to keep afloat and when it emerged, it split up like a flower blooming, a white bony flower that revealed two half-dead individuals. One exhaling his last breath, the other grievously wounded.

"Report…to Orochimaru…sama…Jugo…" The Kaguya whispered those words as blood trickled down his chin, "I…I was glad…to serve him."

It was strange, he had thought he'd tell him something more…emotional, something about Sutego and taking care of him, but in the end, loyalty had won over those small and fickle feelings. There wasn't any hatred or anger left in the Kaguya's body, except for a small trickle of something. Something that kept on lingering until his last breath left his chest…it was regret.

The regret of not having done enough, of having failed, of having had the chance to do more, but not having managed…such a thing was what the bone user felt, as he closed his eyes.

And as darkness claimed him, the primeval howl of Jugo's transformed state echoed through the sunken and hidden beneath the depths ruins of what once was the hidden village of Kirigakure.

Still, the orange haired man jumped away of the bone cocoon, reaching for the new shore with a set of powerful jumps above the ruins of the Kirigakure buildings. Once his feet touched the ground, he let out another fierce roar, before beginning to punch at the ground, hit after hit, fist after fist. His rage was yelled to the skies, his despair echoing through the crashing down buildings, atop the water ripples, around the misty air.

There was nothing around him, yet as his wounds began to close, as his body began to return to normality, he couldn't help it: he began to cry.

What purpose could he serve now, except doing what he had been told?

And so, as a trickle of blood found its way on the summoning tattoo, on his wrist, a small snake popped near him, and with low murmured tone…the report was made.

*Kage summit*

Naruto Senju was giving the evil glare to the Kirigakure Mizukage. Mei Terumi was sporting a sort of happy grin, as she playfully sent a fake air kiss towards her 'hubby', the _civilian_ good _twin_ of Kisame Hoshikage…obviously, it was clear that the lie was so completely out of the world…to be fool proof.

They were some sort of twins who shared the same Dna, making it thus impossible to discern them. They had both had the same training, only one had left the shinobi program of Kiri. The two had the same likes, had the same tastes, they were practically…the same person. A pity that there was only one way to discern them: Samehada was on the shark-man, and this one didn't have it on!

It took all of his composure to avoid outright standing up from his seat to enter a scuffle against the tailless Bijuu. It took him every ounce of self-control to keep himself from conjuring a water dragon, or some other highly destructive jutsu.

He was there! Never mind the freaky teen that moved like a ninja, but truly was the teenager son of the Mizukage. _Really_? He was what, sixteen? Did the Mizukage give birth at twelve? Maybe she did lie on her age after all.

Still, he was growling lightly every time Kisame's, or better yet, Kusame's gaze lingered with some sort of lecherous intent on Anko, who for the occasion was sporting a purple kimono. Underneath it, the kunoichi stood in her battle armor, as usual, but since she was both the Hokage's wife 'technically' and also his bodyguard, she could go with both.

There was something funny, however, in hearing Kisame speak in third person about his 'angry at the world but clearly misunderstood' brother. Obviously A, for once, was keeping his cool. It was the murderous gaze of someone who wanted nothing more than to slit everyone else throat and bathe in their blood, but still…he was _quiet_. His two bodyguards knew that, and maybe that was the reason why C and Omoi kept extremely silent too.

The Raikage was a ticking bomb, and the Mizukage flaunting her 'mastermind' actions were bringing him close to the explosion.

Mifune felt that, because he actually cut short the meeting, letting only the Kages, and the bodyguards, remain in the room, while all the 'civilians' left for their rooms.

The Mizukage's guards were Mangetsu and Chojuro, and that could be seen as a sort of metaphorical slap to the Hokage's face. It was just like the Mizukage wanted to insult both of her opponents. The two shinobi from Kirigakure had participated in the assault of Konohagakure…having them there…wasn't quite the political finesse expected from a Kage.

Considering however how the meeting was going to be…it wouldn't have surprised anyone.

Naruto held the votes of Iwagakure and Sunagakure, because he had effectively become their protector. The guardian of a sandy and destroyed village, and of a rocky and annihilated village, yet he still didn't know of the first one, and kept silent about plans of rebuilding the second.

It was unnerving.

Mostly, it was the fact that neither A nor Mei could come to terms with what, actually, the Hokage wanted. It was clear, for example, that Mei had started the war to get rid of pirates, corsairs, and get some colonies on land. It was also clear as the day that A had kept the war going for hopes of getting a sea corridor all the way to the land of the moon and its rich commercial partners. Those, at least, were the official reasons. The unofficial ones ranged from capturing prisoners to extract jutsus to annihilating the enemy weapon caches.

The problem was that Konoha was interested in nothing, and thus was the perfect neutral ground. At least, that was all officially, which was precisely what the Daimyos actually looked at. Unofficially, asking a third Kage to come and play peacemaker was suicidal or stupid, officially? The Daimyos after all were happy their villages would soon stop to fight each other.

Wars were divided in three categories, after all. The Daimyo's public wars, fought with samurais, the shinobi's secret wars, fought only by shinobis and against shinobis…and the total wars, fought by both samurais and shinobis alike, hitting population and military structures without difference.

Still, the Daimyos eventually grew tired with the shinobis wars, and did all they could to stop them, be it by cutting funds to outright calling the Kages off. When reasoning with shinobis failed, a peacemaker was usually employed in the land of iron.

"We are here to start the peace talk," Mifune spoke slowly, "as such I hope…"

"Kumogakure will have no peace until the Hachibi is returned to us!" A bellowed, immediately shutting up Mifune, while Mei merely rolled her eyes.

"We don't have the Hachibi! How many times must I tell you!? We did not kill him!"

"You didn't!? The so precious Akatsuki did and that is your organization!"

"You have no proof of…"

The Godaime Hokage rolled his eyes, before slamming his right fist on the table, making both Karin and Anko flinch.

"Order at the table," he hissed, his light blue eyes narrowing slightly, "It is without doubt that Akatsuki belongs to Kirigakure. We have more than enough proof to warrant such words. However," he added, before either Mei or A could retort, "It is also clear that they do not kill Jinchuuriki, so they cannot be the ones responsible for the Hachibi's Jinchuuriki death."

"So you are responsible?" Mei queried, only for Anko to nearly snarl at the woman. Something with the way she had moved her breasts upwards, while asking the question.

"No, as I said before, I'm not into children squabbles," Naruto retorted with a smirk, making a tick mark appear on both Mei and A's foreheads, "But I do know who did that, if that's the question…"

Mifune raised an eyebrow but otherwise kept stoically silent. Karin, on the other hand, squawked. Her father's aura had begun getting darker and grimmer by the second. It was making her shiver, albeit she did her best to keep it hidden beneath a seemingly neutral expression…something she was failing miserably at.

"What!? Senju, you'd better tell me because I'm…" the Raikage didn't finish his sentence, because Naruto, once more, slammed his right hand on the table.

"Shut. Up. You want to know? You'll be a good boy and wait. First you two will sign a peace treaty, then, maybe, if I'm generous, I'm not going to ask Kumogakure's entire jutsu library for the knowledge of who killed your brother." It was cold, the tone of voice of the Hokage was as cold as the very same wind that howled outside the building where the Kage reunion was going on.

"That is prepost…"

"You stole knowledge of underground galleries to infiltrate Konoha and get your hands on a Hyuga main clan member." The Senju's retort wasn't an accusation. It wasn't a question. It was the sheer statement of the events. "You actually tried to infiltrate various key points of the land of Tea and Grass, albeit those shinobis claimed to have been missing-Nins…and the same can be said to the Mizukage," Naruto added quietly, "You financed an organization that outright attacked Konoha, that later on destroyed Sunagakure…"

There was a small clenching of Mei's teeth. How did he manage to know that in time for the meeting? Someone had to have told him! They hadn't been responsible for that, and yet it wasn't like she could say she wasn't, because it would have meant having known, and not having told.

"I should also add the fact that both of you still have Root operatives within your ranks, some even with the sharingan," the Godaime mused, "but beyond that, the point is another: I know, and you don't. So how about you start giving me a price, and then we can move from there?"

"I'm calling bullshit," the fact that it was the Mizukage, speaking, made everyone else flinch, before the Raikage gave his own thoughts.

"I'll have to agree with the Mizukage: we have no idea what you're talking about."

Mifune, for his hand, kept quiet, but his eyes were darting towards everyone at the table. Each of them was tensing, but worse, in his opinion, was the fact that the red haired girl wasn't looking at them, or at the Hokage…no, that girl from Konoha was looking at him. He thought about ignoring the gaze, as the two Kages bickered about how impossible it was for the Hokage to make such claims, and how he held no proof. Yet, the red haired girl was silently staring at him, her eyes a mixture of perplexity and curiosity…until something seemed to have dawned on her.

It was a startled gasp, again.

"Otou-san," Karin whispered so low that, truly, hadn't there been Kages and their bodyguards in the room, nobody would have heard it delivered, "it's him."

And with that…the finger pointed straight out at Mifune.

*Kakashi*

Now, maybe Gai had been a bit too expansive in his congratulations for the 'honorable' position of 'representative' Hokage, but Kakashi still felt that the headache he was feeling wasn't in large part owned only to the man in question.

No, for once, the fact that Orochimaru himself had come to ask for a mission, an S-rank at that, was making him feel strangely…in power. He could, maybe, send him off to try and cool down a volcano menacing to erupt near the land of Earth border, but then again, he had the feeling the Snake sannin would actually accept the mission in question.

So, he was casually making small talk, trying to come to terms for the reason why the Sannin seemed so keen on disappearing from the face of Konoha for a long while.

All the while he was, obviously, giggling while reading Icha-Icha Annihilation Deluxe edition. Somehow, Jiraiya's works had all been bundled together, with the addition of all the extra snips and pieces that hadn't made it through the editor. All in all, it was the most complete and exhaustive book ever on Icha-Icha…and probably truly the last one.

The fact that Orochimaru wasn't even complaining meant that it had to have been something big.

"You know, I kind of would prefer for you to stay in the village: without the Hokage around, it would be better to have more strong shinobis…"

"Yes, I'm sure there is no-one near my level in Konoha, but I'm sure you and that hyper-hyped green spandex wearing man can hold the fort even without me," Orochimaru drawled out, "And there's the fact of Kiri, surely warning the Hokage should take priority."

"Then, maybe, I should send you to warn him, huh?"

"I'd…rather take a S-rank mission," Orochimaru retorted, without batting an eyelid, nor averting his gaze. Still, Kakashi was good enough to realize he had hit the bull's eyes.

"So…what did you do to the Hokage?"

"Nothing."

"Then…to someone in his family?"

A light twitch of the right eyebrow.

"So…can't be Karin, or Anko, or Yumi…can't be Sasuke or Neji, since they're waiting the Hokage at the border of the land of iron…Shizune? No, she would have told me…that leaves us with…oh." There was silence for a moment. An embarrassing silence that actually made the Anbu's guards breaths hearable.

"I do not know what you are inferring about."

"You…I think this belongs to you actually," Kakashi retorted quietly, opening a drawer and extracting the Kusanagi, "It was found on training ground two, next to strange pictograms of…"

"Ahem! I think nothing of what you might think about really happened."

"No, but really, if, by any chance, it actually did go that way…well…" In a moment, Orochimaru saw the eye-smile from Kakashi, and then, it was followed by a thumb up, as the Icha-Icha book lay forgotten on the desk.

The golden eyes of the snake sannin narrowed, before a small hissing noise made its way through the man's throat.

"Hatake-san…the mission."

"Well…there are some weeds that need to be pulled."

"I think that giving a D-rank to a sannin, wielding Kusanagi in his hand is not the right way to have a long and prosperous reign as a Hokage." Orochimaru deadpanned.

Kakashi merely giggled, having returned to his book. He did, however, grab a mission from the S-rank mission scrolls. There wasn't even a need to check on it: whatever it was, Orochimaru would surely take it.

Moments later as the snake sannin left the room Kakashi dropped his book, and moved towards the Hokage's library. Two minutes later, his guards were dismissed, and his hands jerked through the forbidden jutsu scroll, flipping it open as he looked through the jutsus within.

_Kage Bunshin._

_Rasengan._

_Hiraishin._

_Chakra chains._

_Edo Tensei._

The silver haired Jounin repressed a shudder, as his sharingan eye blared into full view, some pieces of the script now making far more sense than before.

_Mangekyo sharingan._

_Byakugan's blind spot._

_Rinnegan._

_Uchiha Slaughter._

_Heredity project._

At the last one, Kakashi frowned. It was far more blocked than usual. It seemed to require something more too, but what could it be?

His sharingan pulsed slightly, as it slid into the Mangekyou form itself.

_Heredity…blood, genes, fetus operations… requirement of blank state…operations of controlled aging…spawning of genetic defects…requirement of… Kyuubi's creation…Yin and Yang…create from nothingness…Bijuus required…Jubi…Rikudou Sennin… annihilation. Peace. Heredity. Tests successful, last pieces…extremism. Acceleration of side development. Requirement of … blood. Prisoners of war. Refusal of head project. Removal of memories. Swapping with secondary head. Removal of memories. Swapping with third head. Removal of memories. Requirement of chakra sensing skills. Removal of head. Brain stores knowledge. Body stores muscle memory. Technique is stored in both. Both stored in Dna. _

_Playing god? Being god. Peace…requirement…_

_Annihilation through blood. Genetical aftermath swap. Removal of war. Removal of Humanity. _

_Removal of free thought. Removal of knowledge. Blank state. _

_Jubi needed._

_Tobi._

_Tobi is a good boy, isn't he?_

The problem…the problem was the date by itself.

That…that was the year…

"And to think I was just about to deliver a kid back home…" Tobirama Senju whispered quietly, sporting a small, wicked smile, as his kunai moved quietly towards the same named boy he held by the throat. Yamato wasn't in the room. There were only him, Kakashi, and the now slowly weeping kid.

"That…That's…that's not…" Kakashi's breath hitched, as Tobirama merely smiled, his features slowly changing to show the orange twirling mask and the Akatsuki cloak.

"You know, Tobi was the nickname my elder brother used…he wanted to make peace with the Uchiha, he wanted to make the world a better place…but he failed, as always," the man chuckled grimly, "He should have known better. You cannot live in light, without a deep darkness to help you…You know, they say that Izuna plucked his eyes out, and gave them to Madara…the truth of the matter, is that it didn't go that way at all…" another small snicker.

"You…but the Kyuubi!"

"You think, foolishly so, that as I was the wielder of the Edo Tensei, I couldn't use it to my own advantage? No, let me guess: he's Tobirama Senju, the good guy! He's the youngest brother of the two! He's not a mokuton user, he's shit! He can't even stay in power for so long, and he has to end up dying with honor! Wake up you moron! I went to my death, because I knew it wouldn't last long! The Edo Tensei wasn't perfected, it can't be true…but after all…people _lie_, don't they?"

"But…"

"Oh no, I wrote it wasn't. My, writing must be the truth, right?"

"That's…"

"Obito Uchiha is dead, Kakashi." Tobirama hissed, his tone showing a strange satisfaction as he spoke, while his sharingan blared into view from the mask's hole, "After all, I killed him myself, when I took over his mask…this mask. Though, to say the truth for once, I did think it was Uchiha Madara, still alive…the bastard did copy my Edo Tensei jutsu once…and that I didn't like at all…"

"N…No, it can't…"

"Tick Tock, time's ticking. You know where I went, all these years? South. To unite an army, to conquer a continent. It's true, I lied to the kid, 'I killed a lot for Konoha, now I'm tired and I want to take a vacation!' As if!" The Nidaime spat out, "You think power can't corrupt individuals? Power breeds corruption! There is no saint in the world that can resist the lull of power! Shinobis…they're no different."

"But…but _why_? And what does Naruto…" have to do with all this? Does he know? Does he not? But those questions didn't leave Kakashi's throat, because Tobirama, the Nidaime, interrupted him.

"Unluckily, the time for the questions is over…now. Tell me: how are you going to defeat me? Normally, I'd have killed you swiftly and silently, but there is something I want to know: where is that bastard? He thought he could lie to me and get away with it? I'm here to kill him…where is Amachi?"

"I'm not in an answering mood." Kakashi hissed, swiftly grabbing a kunai and getting into a defensive position.

"Are you sure?" Tobirama replied, his right hand holding onto Naruto's son, "Because, funny enough, I don't need to get it from you…"

"Kusanagi!" the snake sword flew from the window, impacting against Tobirama's side and sending him sprawling on the floor, through the wall of the Hokage's tower, and ending his run against the ground, in the middle of a bustling street of Konoha.

Tobirama, the kid, was swiftly grabbed by Kakashi, who dropped him safely in his office, before moving behind the Snake Sannin.

Orochimaru was glad he had decided to stay behind long enough to leave a note in his apartment. When he felt the chakra spike, that familiarly haunting chakra, at first he hadn't thought much about it…after all, he had known the man was still around. But when it had suddenly changed color…and when Kakashi's own had spiked…he had moved.

The screeching in the streets came to a stop, as the population disappeared from sight, leaving only the snake sannin, and a bit behind him, Kakashi himself, to stare at the Nidaime…or at the man who wielded the mask, known as Tobi.

"You know," Tobi drawled out, "I was looking for Amachi, and at the same time, I wanted to solve the rat's problem once and for all…like I did for this village, years ago…"

"I summoned you from the dead myself! You can't have…" Orochimaru's words were cut short, as a mirthful laughter escaped the masked man's throat.

"Who is the master of space and time fuinjutsu? Who created the Edo Tensei? You thought, and you thought wrong. Uchiha Itachi though I could be controlled by the Kotoamatsukami? He was wrong. I was never controlled, never. I always acted on my own, free, will! I am the pinnacle of freedom and power. My body is immortal, my mind is perfect and my technique is flawless! I am your worst nightmare! Nothing can stop me!"

"Orochimaru, we have to stop him." Kakashi whispered, "At least stall him until help arrives."

"If what I know from the Edo Tensei is correct…" Orochimaru hissed back, "Then it won't be easy at all…and in the middle of the village…"

"Oh no, that won't do, would it?" Tobirama spoke with a sort of twisted mirth, in his voice, "The village has to go, or we can't fight to our heart's potential…right?"

"Wait! You can't be serious! It's the village you helped to build! How can you even think to destroy it so easily!?" Kakashi's yell was met with silence, if for a brief second.

Then, Tobirama shook his head slowly.

"Oh my, you're right…this is Hashirama's village. These are Hashirama's people. The village founded by Hashirama, hidden by the leaves of Hashirama's trees. Built with the leaf symbol. Who founded the village? Hashirama. Who did something good and well done? Hashirama. Who made Konoha strong? Hashirama. You know what?" Tobirama muttered, "I'm tired and sick of hearing about what my brother did. I am second to no-one! I am Tobirama Senju! Let's see if his precious Will of fire will be quenched by the strength of my water!"

Geysers of water erupted from the very own ground, as the Nidaime's hands both shot upwards, "Chakra is no longer my limit! I am immortal. I am everlasting. BEAT THIS, HASHIRAMA!"

*Kakuzu*

The plan was to wait for reinforcements.

It shouldn't have been difficult.

Fu and Gaara had gone forward, and he and Hidan had to wait for the Kirigakure reinforcements.

Yet, he felt the horrible realization that something, indeed, was going wrong. One of his hearts, the water affinity one, was horribly pulsing erratically. It was just like if an overload of chakra was going on around, and yet they were quite a good distance away from Konoha itself. The earth trembled and shook, as Kakuzu's eyes widened.

"Oh hell," he hissed, while Hidan merely grabbed his scythe: it didn't take a genius to understand that, whatever it was, it was going to hurt a lot when it came their way.

Indeed, Hidan had barely lifted his scythe in defense, that a wolf-like creature had barged straight through the forest, tearing the man straight away from the ground and distancing him from his colleague.

At the same time, a strong and hellish Genjutsu began to weave itself around Kakuzu, who, however, remained unfazed.

"Pathetic." The Takigakure missing-nin muttered, "I possess a far more complicated chakra system…Genjutsus, on me? Worthless."

The display of an oni-like creature and screaming mad-men swiftly gave way to a bat-like creature, that with inhuman speed flew straight ahead against the zombie man, her tail swishing and slashing the enemy straight in the chest.

Kamira had thought it would be more than enough. She had thought wrong. The Akatsuki's Nin chest showed itself as a rocky brown surface, seemingly unfazed by the attack. The next moment, her tail was swiftly grabbed, and with a quick and furious movement of Kakuzu's arms, she was brought down on the ground.

The strength of the missing-nin was far beyond what she could defeat. Fugai was better suited for this enemy…and yet, as she was brought closer to the man, the bat-like woman opened her mouth, to release a thick cloud of smoke.

"Hm…I can still sense you," Kakuzu growled lightly, as his hands kept moving upwards, keeping one of them on the tail, and the other moving further up, in order to get to the beast's neck and snap it.

He had no idea what these monsters were doing around here. Maybe they were part of Orochimaru's creation, maybe they were some sort of strange and twisted experiment gone wrong. Maybe it was just a nightmare. Maybe they had something to do with Sunagakure's destruction. He didn't know.

What he knew was that these things had attacked them, and he would kill them.

Meanwhile, Hidan was holding his scythe diagonally, while the wolf-like creature had its claws pushing him backwards.

"For Jashin fuck the world! You mangy mutt-like whore! Get the fucking paws away from me!" he cussed violently, as he suddenly stopped retreating, bending his knees and then making a backwards bent that would have broken the spine of lesser men.

Hidan, however, wasn't a lesser man. He was a proud follower of the cult of Jashin…and he was immortal to boot.

The wolf-woman ended up tumbling forward, losing its footing. It was enough for the Akatsuki to actually twirl his scythe and force her upwards, in mid-air.

Then, the scythe came down, the three pronged surface gleaming in the forest light, as it tried to reach for the enemy's blood. The wolf's claws grew, blocking the attack from penetrating, and through the strength of the movement, Fugai flew backwards. The werewolf like woman flipped in mid-air, landing on her feet, her hands rising upwards to block another incoming attack from the scythe.

Making it spin around him, Hidan was cackling with glee…maybe, just maybe, this wasn't going to be as annoying as he had thought. The werewolf girl simply howled, and then charged in once more.

Sighing, Hidan shook his head. It was going to be easy once more. This type of trash never learned its lesson: no underestimating the enemy.

He made a small opening in his own defense, and grinned as the woman took it, howling madly. As the claws pierced through his flesh, so too did the back of his scythe pierce through the wolf's back wounding it enough to get the blood on the tip.

Fugai did duck and jump backwards…but it was already too late.

"For Jashin…You infidels never learn!"

Seconds later, Hidan was dusting off the dirt from his cloak, while Kakuzu seemed to be in the process of carrying an overgrown bat back to him.

"Where the fuck did you kami be damned get that thing?!"

"Came crashing against me." Kakuzu retorted, before shrugging, "I don't get it…who are these creeps?"

"Fuck Jashin…you think these are some sort of that snake bastard's experiments!?"

"Might as well," the Takigakure missing-Nin replied while shrugging, "Still, these must have been the failed ones, they were…weak."

Hidan spat on the ground, before giving a sharp kick to the humanoid wolf creature, making it turn around.

"Ya know: I kind of didn't feel any chakra from this shit-heads."

"Me neither," Kakuzu retorted, "though it doesn't matter."  
"Yeah, I suppose it doesn't."

That…that was when the ground rumbled again, and what seemed like a giant, metallic, single crab-like appendage came crashing down near them.

The two Akatsuki shinobis raised their gaze, following said leg all the way to the rest of its body, before, finally, a single word escape both men's lips.

"Fuck."

Standing there, Haido's moving castle wobbled, before opening what seemed like a set of compartments in its legs, unleashing a horde of armor-like creatures that came crashing down while wielding massive swords and weapons.

"Jashin is so gonna be happy!" Hidan cackled with glee, "So many wonderful souls to reap and devour!"

"This…this is going to be a long, boring, headache of a job…" Kakuzu sighed while shaking his head as he and his partner began their fight…they had, seemingly, a giant castle to climb…and the worst thing…was that he had no idea why these idiots were attacking them!

*New Kirigakure*

Haku slowly opened the door of her room, a nice smile on her face as she lightly hummed a song. She moved, deliberately slow, towards Yugito's room.

This was going to be easy. Really easy and really smooth, and then…then she'd have Zabuza-sama back! The man had told her so, and the man was to be trusted.

She held the sword of her master with one hand, like it didn't even weight. It didn't matter after all…the sword had to be kept clean, to avoid rust…to avoid her master's anger when he came back.

She smiled at the red haired woman, whose name was Kushina, if she recalled correctly, that stopped to chat with her.

"I'm sorry…Zabuza-sama needs me," Haku said, politely. She made a small bowing gesture with her head, and then she moved forward, towards the Nibi Jinchuuriki's room.

She could hear the moans coming from the other side of the door. The red haired woman had left. Konan wasn't there. Temari wasn't there. There was no-one except her, the whore on the other side and her boy-toy of the night…

How many months had she spent not training?

She was going to get Zabuza-sama back…

The door crashed open, as javelins made of pure ice darted through, with the full-out intent to kill and destroy.

"Hissatsu Hyōsō."

This was the moment. Nagato was gone with his path outside, to reunite with them all, Konan was with him…there was no-one strong enough to stop her…a kunoichi in love.

Yugito was on top…and that was probably the reason she did manage to escape from the otherwise mortal attack. Her 'lover' wasn't that lucky, however, and died on the spot. Crimson blood mixed with melting ice, forming pools on the ground. The Kumogakure missing-nin shivered slightly, in her naked form, before a wave of ice hit her strongly on the front.

The next second, flames of pure blue appeared around her. The ice melted, the water turned to mist, the building exploded reversing debris and scattering broken walls around…and yet more ice emerged. More and more ice of pure blue color met pure blue flames, and the ice…the ice was colder, it was stronger, it was there to kill, destroy, annihilate. It was there to freeze and stop.

The ice…the ice won over the fire.

The Nibi's howls suddenly stilled, as the Jinchuuriki's body ended up encased in an icy prison…one that became thicker and thicker with the passing of time.

Haku merely giggled, shaking her head, the now long hair moving with the motion. Zabuza-sama was coming back. Zabuza-sama would be proud of her, of his tool.

She now had to wait for _him_ to come…to come and collect it.

It wouldn't take much time…she knew…she knew it would be over soon…

"Haku!" The yell came from that annoying red haired woman, who was looking at her from across the street, on a nearby roof, "What the hell are you doing, 'ttebane!?"

"Zabuza-sama…I'm his tool."

"What!? Haku, come on! What the…is that Yugito!? Have you gone…"

"SILENCE!" The Yuki screamed, as ice formed around her a cloud of senbons, before flinging them forward, against the red haired woman.

"Zabuza-sama needs this!" she yelled once more, as twin dragons of ice rose from the ground itself, lashing forward only to be met with chains made of chakra.

"Calm down Haku! You don't know what you're saying!" The red haired woman, Kushina Namikaze, gritted her teeth as she swiftly jumped out of harm's way, using her chains to deflect the incoming attacks. She had to reach the girl before it was too late…heck, she had to reach Yugito before it was too late.

Why did Haku need to have a psychotic breakdown right now, when neither Nagato nor Konan was there to help her? For that reason, why right when the number of shinobis in New Kiri had reduced itself? It seemed…planned.

"Haku-chan…" Kushina's voice was soft, as the red hot Habanero crisscrossed her chains and started to move them in a drill-like motion in front of her, deflecting another incoming barrage while advancing straight against the Yuki.

Haku raised her hands, letting an ice wall rise from the very ground in front of her, to halt the advance of the red haired woman, but the chains pierced straight through it. In a moment, the chains had wrapped themselves tightly around the ice user, only for the body to reveal itself as an ice statue.

"Hyoton Bunshin?" Two seconds later, a wall of mirrors appeared, surrounding the Namikaze.

"Makyō Hyōshō, for Zabuza-sama, I am sorry, Namikaze-san…but I will kill you if you interfere…"

Kushina gulped down the glob of saliva that had seemingly frozen at the back of her throat. She didn't want to kill Haku. She didn't want to harm her. Yet…she had to avoid her destroying the pillars that kept the village hidden beneath the ocean. She had to avoid her damaging the iron ceiling, the wires…she had to prevent her from drowning the entire village to its death.

As the two met and faced each other in the village's streets, elsewhere, in the New Kirigakure prison, Katsumi was receiving yet another visit.

The red haired girl was worryingly thin now, having gone without food for at least a month, and had taken to drinking the moisture coming from the cage's bars.

She didn't want to end up drugged with something, she didn't want to be tortured…she had just…shut down, and slept. Her thoughts were already in disarray, but when her cage swung open…she felt relief.

"And out of here we go," the voice retorted, grabbing hold of her form. The mask was a swirling orange, the clothes those of Akatsuki, and the tone of voice seemed so much like that of the masked man that, normally, they would seem the same person, if for the fact that there was no sharingan behind the mask.

"H…Huh?"

"Calm down, the Hokage sent me," the man murmured, "We have to reach for the docks…our common friend is working on the escape route as we speak."

"Wh…Who are you?" Katsumi's voice was drowsy, and came out just like if she had been drugged.

"I'm a…mercenary, who'll get his prize when I get you out of here," the man added, thoughtful, as he began to walk carefully away of the prison block, doing his best to stick to the shadows. Katsumi's blurry vision could barely see the guards fallen on the ground, their bodies covered in horrible gashes, like they had been repeatedly slashed with a quick pace.

"Oniisan…where is he…"

"He's waiting for you in Konoha," the masked man replied, "Don't worry: you'll be safe."

Maybe it was the soothing voice, maybe it was that being held like a baby made her remember those times her father held her…but she fell asleep, exhausted from the long term prison stay, a split second after they had left the prison's building behind them.

The masked man, that had feigned, clearly, to be Tobi, was now walking towards the 'docks' of New Kirigakure, although there weren't ships, but bathyspheres in there. It took the man a moment, before he was met with his 'friend'.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"We can leave then."

"Let the abyss claim them."

"Another slaughter? Is this something that Konoha shinobis do?"

"I don't actually care. I'm following orders."

"I am too."

And then, the two figures leapt away, leaving the bathysphere with only Katsumi inside to drift through the docks, closed, until the iron walls split apart, explosions rocking throughout the village's metallic dome. The sea pressure did the rest, and as the seals began to glow and activate, to try and mend the damage, the masked man slammed his own fist on the ground, unleashing a far bigger seal array. The seals…stopped working a second later, and the cracks grew in size and form.

Slowly, but surely, the holes widened.

The screams began soon after.

New Kirigakure's dream of peace was drowned, by the mere actions of two individuals.

*Nagato*

Nagato was staring ahead. His paths were all there, ready.

He hadn't understood why Tobi had been so insistent on him moving on, and reaching Kumogakure alone.

Well, Konan had gone with him too.

To the others, he had merely left to reunite with all his paths, something that needed him to move because a couple of them were unresponsive…at least, that was the lie.

The truth was that Tobi, or better yet, Uchiha Madara, had asked him to move out and destroy Kumogakure while the Raikage was absent for the Iron Land's meeting.

The summons had begun their gruesome work minutes before, conjured by one of his paths and soon followed by the others. The yells and the screams mixed themselves with the cries, as his eyes saw everything that his paths did, and Konan merely looked ahead, holding with one of her hands the clenched fist of Nagato's real body, strapped to his throne.

The red haired man was shuddering under the weight of his actions, and yet he couldn't stop. This was for his dream. Peace could not come without the destruction of the shinobi system.

This was the peace Tobi had offered him, removal of the Jinchuurikis, keeping them safe in the village…and then moving with his powers to destroy the villages, one by one. This much, Nagato would do. He would stain his own hands, become the martyr for his people, the most horrible monster for the world…and he would save the world, by exterminating and destroying all villages!

There could be no peace, with the shinobis still lingering around.

Iwagakure had been destroyed, Sunagakure had been poisoned, Amegakure had been sacrificed, Konohagakure would crumble soon, Kirigakure would be used as a trap…and with Kumogakure's destruction, New Kirigakure would survive in peace, hidden from the world…an Atlantis of peace.

This was his way. This was the only way he knew of.

There couldn't be peace without suffering.

There couldn't be light without darkness.

He would become the most wicked monster of the world, the most pitch black darkness…if only to let the others live happily in the most blinding of lights.

Unknown to him…

His thoughts were the same as those of Naruto Senju, long before.

His thoughts had been the same as Minato Namikaze, even before the Godaime Hokage.

His thoughts had been shared by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura. His thoughts were to a minor degree within Orochimaru of the sannin.

His thoughts…weren't _his_ to begin with.

And somehow…somewhere…someone _knew_. And that someone smiled, because everything…was going according to plan.

**Author's wicked notes…ehm, plans…ehm…notes!**

**Well, first off, it seems I took my time coming out with this chapter, that, in the end, was but 14K and half of words.**

**Truth of the matter, I had to fight against Ventrue plots in the recently restarted Vampire the Masquerade plot in the forum I play on, plus a couple of online roleplaying games started again, and I was caught up with them. Plus university and blablablablabla *random stuff nobody wants to read about*.**

**Anyway, the next chapter will be the last one.**

**I know it seems rushed.**

**But I realized, much to my dismay, that once I 'reach' the end of the story in my head, my brain doesn't stay still, no.**

**It starts submerging me with new plot bunnies.**

**And I swear, if another one of those pass in my head, I'm going on a rampage.**

**So yes, I'm finishing this story on the next chapter. Because it's either that or ending up like many other writes who start a story because of 'writer block' and never finish one.**

**In my case, I've got the story's ending…I've got the 'writer rush' so to speak.**

**The reason I didn't finish it with this chapter, is, as some might obviously query about, because I do want the readers to think what do Mifune, the 'consortium of blood' (now named united front of the movies evildoers that are alive) and Tobirama have in common…**

**Oh, and if you guess who's the one that's laughing his ass off at the last line, you get the bacon.**

**Because no, it's none of the aforementioned persons before.**

**And finally: you didn't expect Tobirama, of all people, to be a big evil baddie, did you?**

**And what is his connection with Naruto?**

**What do Izuna's eyes have to do with everything?**

**Who are the two who brought Katsumi out?  
Is Itachi alive or dead?**

**How will the zombie duo fare against Gelel powered soldiers?**

**Is Konoha doomed to death by the unstoppable Nidaime?**

**What does Karin's action mean?**

**Why is Konohamaru willing to go to Sasori of all people?**

**What the frigging hell is Heredity!? (It appears clear now, I hope, that it was a project started by Tobirama Senju himself, after the taking of Izuna's sharingan (transformed into the Mangekyou variant) )**

**Is the Author enjoying tormenting us with questions at the end of the author's notes, just to make us growl at him? (This is a yes)**

**Next chapter, the Grand Finale, the Answers that many await and some won't like.**

**Oh…and yeah, no need to say it…but more heads (again!?) will roll.**

***chuckles***

**See ya!**


	28. SH: Ending

**35K and half of words. Mother of all that is holy I did it. This is the last chapter of 'The Harsh Truth'. A brief note: Nitramy has kindly offered to beta-ed the first two chapters of this story, so they might be republished with less 'comma-spawning'. That said, this chapter is huge, and just because of that, I prefer to give an author note at the beginning, rather than at the end.**

**Firstly, I simply could not manage to give complete and utter screen time to everyone. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. Secondly, there are characters' deaths in here too, but do read the epilogue before claiming someone's dead when he isn't. Thirdly, it's been a jolly good ride, I hope you enjoyed it half as much as I did.**

**Finally, a bit of final advice: I am the first to admit that some scenes, in here, are rushed. I admit it, but I could stand it no longer to let the readers wait. I'd rather upload a piece with rushed parts than not upload it at all. After all, you've got an imagination too: if you want to prolong a battle with flashy jutsus, then do so in the comfortable environment of your mind. **

**Anyway, read and be happy, have fun, cry a bit, fist-pump in the air, because the final chapter of 'The Harsh Truth'…is here!**

Chapter Twenty-Eighth

Sasuke was staring, with his twin sharingan eyes, at the most problematic dilemma ever.

On one side, his clearly girlfriend had definitively hinted at something, when she told him she wanted him to be on the look-out near the small lagoon. On the other, he was an Uchiha, and as one he shouldn't be peaking with his sharingan infused eyes that made it so that everything he saw was memorized. Still, the sight of his naked girlfriend wouldn't be perverted…would it?

The fact that Ino was there too meant nothing. Like Tenten's presence too was clearly overrated. He was doing this because there was Sakura, naked, bathing. Not because there were Kunoichis, naked, doing kami knew what while giggling like schoolgirls.

Furthermore he was half-way sure Neji was doing pretty much the same with his Byakugan…but if he actually was, then it meant he was peeking on Sakura too…the damn Senju!

Growling slightly, Sasuke turned his gaze to where the Senju stood, eyes closed, but with a strange twitch at the bottom right corner of his lips. The nerve of the Senju! To listen to the giggling of the girls!

Truly, Rock Lee was being held back by a strange sort of mantra that he kept on repeating while his eyes stayed closed too.

"The flames of youth do not burn for those who peek. The flames of youth do not burn for those who peek."

"Uchiha," Neji commented, "I believe no-one can giggle for half an hour straight."

"My sharingan detects no Genjutsu being used on us, Senju."

"What if it was only auditory in nature?"

"Senju, I'd know if…urk!" Lee had promptly tried to remove the Genjutsu, after Neji's theory, through the only mean that Gai had taught him: pain inflicting.

As a fist was driven straight into Sasuke's guts, and another quickly reached Neji's stomach, the two turned their murderous glares at the same time on the green spandex clad boy.

Sasuke coughed for a moment, before letting Lee explain himself through his usual ranting…he'd give the teenager one chance to say his few last words.

"Yosh! Painfully exiting Genjutsus is the sign of the flames of youth burning brightly!"

"Or maybe of your own stupidity," Neji retorted, wincing from the boy's high voiced screams. If, by any chance, there were any type of shinobi, even half-trained academy Genins, looking out for them…then certainly they'd end up being found by the sheer noise of Rock Lee alone.

If not from the giggling that had been going on for at least half an hour.

"I'm still thinking it's not normal for the girls to giggle that long," Neji pointed out, "and why is your sharingan still alight, Sasuke?"

"Huh? What are you talking about Senju? My sharingan's off."

"No it isn't. Both eyes are activated."

"Listen here…" Sasuke closed his eyes, concentrating for a second…

"This is my activated sharingan." And then, pitch black darkness emerged from the Uchiha's eyes, tendrils of pure black matter darting forward, as the giggles became screams of pain and promises of murders most foul.

The next second Neji opened his eyes in shock, the dream all too vivid within his mind.

They were in a small clearing in the land of swamps, halfway towards the rendezvous point to get the Godaime Hokage and his family back from the land of iron's samurais. They had merely decided not to return to Konoha and wait for the couple of days of the Kage meeting in the nearby land.

To say it was creepy however was to say Sasuke Uchiha was a natural blond. It was even worse than creepy: light fog, strange sounds, bleary weather that bordered the grey, toxic fumes that smelled of rotten corpses…even worse, the legends about the body of a great demon being hidden within the swamp made someone, that clearly was not him, nervous.

Looking around with his Byakugan active, he realized his watch was just about to come. He smirked keeping himself still. The one who would wake him up was Sasuke, after all: he'd get at him for the nightmare.

The Senju had warned the Uchiha not to boil the kami be damned mushrooms, but no, the raven haired shinobi had to go against his words. Obviously, the fact that said fungi had later been used by him too to give flavor to the cooked rice meant nothing: it was clearly the Uchiha's fault that he had a nightmare. A sudden gut twisting pain made him wince, however. It couldn't be.

He was a Senju! He shouldn't be feeling…a stomach ache.

The problem wasn't only that he was feeling bad, but that he was also sweating profusely. A thought struck the Byakugan wielder: what if those mushrooms ended up being poisonous? What then? He was sure Sakura would have told them, if such a thing was possible! Unless she had been on the same side as the Uchiha, whose dastardly plan had been that of making the Senju stomach-flustered!

The nerves of the two! They were supposed to be comrades of the leaf!

It was then, that Neji decided to stand up and start his turn sooner…only to find himself pinned to the ground. That wasn't…his byakugan flared to life, but there was nothing pinning him down!

Maybe the sheets?

He tried to move but…he couldn't.

He felt constricted.

He felt like an enormous weight was crushing him down, and yet there was nothing his eyes could see.

"This is a dream, a dream," Neji tried to mutter, but no words came out.

Whatever this feeling was, whatever this was…it was beyond his comprehension.

"Nature is such a wonderful thing." A voice he didn't know spoke quietly, "Just like your comrades, you are now awake, yet you can't move or speak."

The voice was silky, smooth, but at the same time had an undertone of…wrongness, in it, that made the Byakugan user shiver.

"Now, now, I'm sure you're thinking something along the lines of 'The pesky Uchiha and his mushrooms! The pink-haired girl and her large forehead!' But in truth, it's not like that at all…wouldn't you like to know?"

The Byakugan was active, and yet there was nothing his eyes could see. Why? The man was speaking, he could see him, dark hair, a strange doctor-like suit on, but…he wasn't being seen through. There were no chakra coils: there was…nothing but him. Neji could see the chakra of the others, all shown completely awake and yet immobile, but he couldn't see that of the man responsible for their paralysis.

It was just like he was…'there' like that.

"A leech bites strongly upon one's flesh," the man kept talking, "However, its saliva secerns a powerful analgesic…and thus no harm is felt, but the blood is taken nevertheless."

A punch flew through the air, aimed at the ground to crack it open and the force the man backwards, as Sakura suddenly jumped up from the ground, holding her waist with one hand. A hand that was slowly, but surely, turning reddish from the blood seeping through the wound.

"My, you managed to fight off the poison? But did you fight off the anti-coagulant? I doubt it…still, it does not matter to me…you won't be able to save them all," Yomi replied with a light smile, "You may choose. Fight me, die, and let them all die…or save one, and only one."

"That's…stupid!" Sakura yelled, "I'm saving them all, and I want to see you try and stop me!" The pink haired girl's hand went for her senbon needles, only to be forced to roll on the ground and avoid a pair of nasty looking black snakes that seemed to have emerged from the man's back.

The girl gritted her teeth, as the wound above her stomach, where she had fought back and removed the 'foreign substance' had left her a gaping hole. Still, she had managed to close it, mostly, and stop the bleeding.

It was just as Sakura took the opening to charge forward, that Yomi merely smiled, before injecting something within his own body.

"Make your choice." The man grinned, before his entire body began to transform, turning into a sickly brown and black color, four more arms sprouting from his sides, while his back suddenly cracked, to reveal a lizard-like tail.

His mouth opened with a sickening lurching sound, but it didn't open like a normal mouth, no, it opened like that of a snake, completely disregarding any muscles or bones that might have been in the way. Thick white streams of webbing gushed from it, aiming to cover Sakura in the substance, probably.

Had the girl been any girl, then, probably, she would have been forced to retreat. Had she been a normal, fire affinity girl, she'd have used a normal, pathetic, fire jutsu that would have most certainly caused collateral damage, with her teammates packed close to her.

But she wasn't a normal kunoichi. She was Sakura Haruno, and her purpose in life was to learn all possible jutsus, and tweak them. So, when the webbing came forward, it was met with fire streams coming straight out of Sakura's mouth, that however disappeared into thin air only a couple of centimeters far.

When the web landed, thus, there was a hole in the thread wide enough for the Kunoichi to comfortably jump through, land near Yomi, and deck him with a punch enhanced by chakra. The next moment, the man was thrown backwards, crashing against a couple of mangrove trees and then bouncing off a rocky formation within the swamp.

Sakura was on the man in a second, her hands going through the seals for a jutsu.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" Multiple small bullets of water emerged from the kunoichi's mouth, flying through the air to hit at the battered body of Yomi.

The man, however, suddenly twisted to the right side, getting back on his feet in mere seconds. The rock on which he had impacted was destroyed by the suiton's use, but the enemy shinobi was unscathed…like he had never been hit to begin with.

"Time's ticking," Yomi smirked, "Slowly, but surely…death comes to all."

"Shannaro! Stop spouting nonsense and die!" Sakura's yell was met with her fist coming down on the ground, once more. The earth cracked, as rock lances emerged from the ground on the spot where Yomi had been a second before. However, this time, when the man landed again, knee deep in the swamp's water, mud mounds emerged entrapping his feet, immobilizing him.

"And now…" Sakura muttered, taking a deep breath.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

And as the smoke covered the area, the slugs answered the call.

Yomi couldn't even move, but that didn't mean he was defenseless, as pitch black snakes slithered out of his wrists, the slugs summoned by Sakura awaited their summoner's commands.

"Well…This container has done his course, then." The voice spoke in a set of low hisses and growls, as the body suddenly jerked, "Time to find a new one…a fresh one!"

A sharp shriek echoed through the meadow, too inhuman to actually belong to Yomi's throat, but with that, the green eyes of Sakura darted to her teammates, whose bodies suddenly began to convulse. She had to be fast about it, even if…unladylike, she was sure her slug summons wouldn't mind.

The slugs she summoned were literally grabbed from the ground they were on, in wait for orders, and thrown on the chests of her teammates, like a baseball pitcher.

"Shishou told me there are four laws for Medic-nins…" she began, as her hands moved through a set of seals.

"No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end." As she spoke, the slugs actually moved the sleeping bags' covers of her teammates away, revealing pulsing tumor-like masses of black, the very same 'leeches' she had removed herself, using her innate chakra control to attack them from the inside out.

"No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines." As those words left her lips, she was forced to move to the side, to avoid the slashing of Yomi's snakes, that however didn't seem to stop, but went on, trying to hit the prone forms of the others.

"No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon." With those words, Sakura's right hand fell down on the snakes at her side, while her left hand instead kept going on with the seals. Yomi snickered, shaking his head that kept twitching, like it was just about to explode.

"Hahaha…think you can defeat me? Think you can stop me? Think the container can be so easily broken!? Nothing you have can stop me! No-one can! Again and again I shall be…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" a fire affinity enhanced fist landed on the left side of Yomi, just as a Raiton charged katana sliced through the right side of the man. On one side, Neji Senju, on the other, Sasuke Uchiha, both panting, blood seeping from their stomachs, and yet having attacked.

"Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique of the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws…that, or being Sakura Haruno, and having a far more apt jutsu for the occasion…" and with a perfect, white teeth smile, the pink haired Kunoichi finished the hand seals.

"Nunoshibari no Jutsu!" White clothes emerged from the ground, spinning around Yomi, to enclose it into the soft fabric, that was suddenly bundled in chains, covered in seals, and then fell on the ground, motionless, just as Neji and Sasuke barely managed to get away from it.

"Were you trying to get us too!?" Neji exclaimed, taking a deep breath as his Byakugan scanned the area.

Luckily, they were alone for the moment.

"Whatever: you alright?" Sasuke queried, eying his girlfriend, who gave back a mere weak smile, before moving closer to start healing their wounds.

"It's a strange anti-coagulant," she murmured, "I'd need some time to find a cure for it…you don't risk bleeding to death though, if you stay still and…"

And then the clothes twitched.

"That's…" Neji's statement was interrupted by Sakura paling: it wasn't supposed to twitch!

"I went through the hand seals to strengthen it! It shouldn't even move!"

Sasuke, however, was quicker. Grabbing Sakura, he gritted his teeth as he jumped away, just in time. The clothes ripped apart, as heads upon heads emerged from within it, roaring upon the skies.

"We are Moryo! We cannot be contained! We cannot be defeated!"

"Oh Kami be damned," Neji muttered, as he looked at the pulsing black mass that was reaching new heights, "We need a plan."

"We need to bring him away from the others. I had the slugs help remove yours because I knew we'd need all the firepower we could get…but…that thing's big."

"We don't have much time…you two always had more chakra than me: get some Kage bunshins to bring the others to safety!" as Sakura snapped that order, the two Shinobis nodded, swiftly conjuring two solid bunshins each, to carry the rest of their comrades away.

"The slugs might take a while to remove the…things from the others, since I won't be there to help…" she whispered, "We have to hold our ground."

The multi headed creature roared towards the skies, teeth flashing as the maws snapped repeatedly, before, with a quick and sudden movement, all the heads looked down upon the three shinobis. Three words emerged at the same time from all the mouths, three words that shook to the core the three ninjas beneath the creature.

"I. Am. Hungry."

The three eyed the pitch black creature that was slowly surrounding them with its slithering body, and yet they couldn't move. They did, however, react by instinct, getting shoulder to shoulder, in a triangle formation, watching each other's backs.

"Well, Uchiha, so now we face a god, huh?" Neji whispered, the tone held no caustic remarks, but the hint of nervousness was there, because, after all…it was true.

"What can I say Senju, it must be our sensei's bad luck." Sasuke replied, shaking slightly. This wasn't what he had thought would happen. He had expected brigands, but not a god. Not a god that was meant to be dead, and defeated.

"From what I read, this big mean guy was defeated by our Hokage when he was but a Genin," Sakura murmured coarsely, "we're the best chuunins Konoha has to offer." She added, "We can do this."

"Yeah, stop trembling, Uchiha, we can do this." Neji added quietly, his fists coating themselves in fire chakra.

"Hn. I wasn't trembling: I was shaking from excitement."

"Tell that to sensei when you meet him again," the Senju retorted with a light grin, "Well…I'm going to distract him up close."

"I'm taking him down with Amaterasu, if I get an opening for his body."

"I'll give you an opening from afar." Sakura hissed, "But I'm going low on chakra. I just hope those things don't grow back."

"With what I'm going to hit him? I doubt they will," Sasuke murmured, as Neji merely chuckled.

"Let the pride sink in, I still push you to the ground in Taijutsu."

The heads of Moryo roared, charging straight in and cracking the ground where they hit, only for the three shinobi to have already disappeared from there, in flurries of leaves and speed. Sakura, kneeling beneath the long winded necks of the beast conjured from the very ground rock whips, that swiftly bounded the necks of the dragon-like creature.

Neji, having moved backwards, began to turn to mush the faces of said 'god', doing his best to aim at their eyes, while avoiding the sharp fangs and the snapping movements of the maws.

Sasuke, meanwhile, had jumped upwards, trusting his teammates to take out the heads, otherwise he'd be in a tight spot right there and then, in mid-air...his eyes blazed both with the Mangekyou. The one that had been inserted into his socket, however, wasn't the same form of the other, but both still held their frighteningly fierce power over fire, over Amaterasu.

The black flames burned with the intensity of a hundred suns as they fell upon the back of the creature. The creature flailed, as the rock whips cracked and broke letting it go free, upwards, to devour its enemy.

It was then, that Susanoo sprung to life, the violet and ghost like armor protecting the raven haired Uchiha from the assault, long enough for a flaming sword to come straight down upon the god, that yelled its curses for eternity, as Totsuka did its job.

Just as Sasuke landed on the ground, panting heavily, Neji and Sakura were already close to him…but the Senju's face wasn't one of happiness. No, it was a frown of distaste.

"Uchiha…Explain."

Because no matter what, Neji knew that the sword of Totsuka had been in Itachi Uchiha's possession, and there was just no way it could have moved its owner like that, without reason…and yet Sasuke merely gave back a smug grin before replying.

"It is, after all, sensei's ploy."

*Tobirama*

"My…is this it?" The tone showed the amusement that was clearly plastered upon the Nidaime's face, as both Orochimaru and Kakashi stood, panting, side by side.

Around them, the village was going through a mixture of heavy typhoon like weather and flash floods, and the worst thing of them all…was that it wasn't stopping.

"Unlimited chakra regeneration," Tobirama spoke, "I could drown the world, if I so chose…but you know, this also works in your favor."

"Remind me why…" Kakashi drawled, as his sharingan tried to pinpoint the Nidaime's real location. The one in front of them was a Mizu Bunshin, that much both of the Konoha shinobi were sure.

"Because there's a difference between chakra capacity and regeneration: if it was the first case, I could push, let's say, an unlimited amount of chakra in a jutsu, and thus unleash a god-like Teppōdama that would most certainly destroy everything. However, since it's regeneration what I have, it means that no matter what I can only put as much chakra as my reserves usually had when I was in life."

"Fascinating…mind telling us how to defeat you?" Orochimaru spat out, his Kusanagi wielded in front of him.

"Why would I? I'm enjoying this. Two of the strongest shinobis of the village, powerless in front of me…and you'd be a Sannin, Orochimaru? You're pathetic."

The snake sannin merely smirked, before his golden eyes narrowed.

"Resorting to taunting the opponent? My, how low have you gone…for being my sensei's sensei, you're pretty weak."

Tobirama merely chuckled, before letting his hand move to the side, where the pool of water condensed, to form a water sword. The sword glistened for a second, before electricity began to spark through it, turning it into a condensed version of the Raijin, albeit this one was made entirely of water and thunder chakra.

"I might say that you're forgetting someone in this," Kakashi drawled out, "The moment the civilians will evacuate is the moment you'll get your defeat."

"Hum…I wonder…are you referring to the Sarutobi? Or to the Genjutsu mistress of Konoha? Maybe you're speaking of your eternal rival Gai, or hey, maybe it's Yamato we're talking about…but no, it does not matter even if it's the slug sannin…after all, they are busy with something else…something just, over, there." As Tobirama merely pointed with a light bowing of his head to the side of the village of Konoha, neither of the two shinobi turned to look, and maybe, just maybe, that was how they managed to avoid being beheaded.

The Nidaime literally flew atop the water's surface, landing a devastating slash with his sword that neatly cut in two the kunai that Kakashi was holding in his hand. The movement would have gone forward, beheading the silver haired man, had Orochimaru, out of all people, not extended the Kusanagi to parry the attack, giving time for his momentary teammate to move backwards.

"I am actually curious as to where the rest of Konoha is, though," Tobirama mused, "I mean: they are not in the refuges, because then the explosive seals I set there would have already detonated. They can't be out in the open, since there's an army of mindless armors lingering around… so where, indeed, are they?"

"Kukuku…Surprise, surprise…" Orochimaru grinned, and with that grin, it looked more like the snake sannin was the predator once more, and not the prey of the deceased Nidaime, "seems like someone's got a problem, isn't that right?"

"I kind of feel out of the loop," Kakashi muttered, and just then, a Kage Bunshin of the copy-cat ninja appeared from beneath the water, grabbing a hold of Tobirama and trapping him within the water prison dome.

"We have him," Orochimaru muttered, "But for how long?"

"Let's say…for not even a second," the Nidaime replied, this time his voice dripping with annoyance as the man in the bubble turned to water, and the real one appeared sideways the silver haired Kakashi…cutting through his side with the impromptu thunder sword.

The sharingan implanted within the man was maybe the only thing that saved him from immediate death, that and the Rashomon gate that Orochimaru managed to summon, a single one, in between the two. It was another level of speed. On the water, the Nidaime seemed to be a god…and maybe that was truly what a Suiton master was upon his element.

Worse, however, was another thought that coiled around the snake sannin's brain: the man was toying with them, and he was enjoying every moment of this. Orochimaru knew that feeling very well, he had practiced it countless times. It's the feeling of being at the top of the world, knowing that nothing and nobody can bring you down…and when somebody does, even if just a little bit, there is a cold seething fury that starts to bubble, awaiting release.

Something wasn't going according to the Nidaime's plans, and the man was toying with them, furiously thinking what was the cause of that, all the while knowing he could end this quickly…but couldn't, because he needed information.

Orochimaru was even tempted to give them out, really…but he didn't. He didn't because he knew all too well that if he did, then there would be no way out. There was nothing but a slim way out just then, and that was with everything going according to plan.

The blood drizzled out of Kakashi's wound, falling in the water as the copy-cat shinobi felt his body going limp by the second. The electricity of the blade numbed his senses and his muscles as his nerves became slower…it was like feeling drugged. Only there was all the pain attached to it, flaring like his body was on fire.

The Rashomon gate sported large cracks where the blade had just passed through like it had been nothing but a paper thin wall.

"The stupidity and the arrogance of the new generations is something that leaves me baffled every time," Tobirama hissed, as a water dragon sprouted from beneath Kakashi's feet, created with but a single hand sign and entrapping him within.

"I fought against many type of shinobis, of samurais, of warriors. I fought against technology and together with it. I fought many things, wide and varied. I learned many things, saw many tricks…and yet you believe me to be stagnant and stale like the water of a pond?" The Nidaime's question was drowned by the thick rain that poured down from the skies.  
"Let me answer your question: yes." With those words, Kakashi's sharingan opened into the Mangekyou form, and Kamui activated.

The only problem…was that it did not work. The water beneath the Nidaime twirled and disappeared into nothingness, as too did the remains of the Rashomon. On a positive note, the water dragon dispersed freeing the copy-cat ninja, but the chakra exhaustive technique…did not work.

"You seem to forget where you got your eye from, Hatake," Tobirama mused, "And whom I killed to take his place," he added, "Maybe you weren't connecting the dots? Maybe, just maybe, you thought it a lie? If two sharingans of the same person meet, they nullify each other. Two teammates betraying Konoha out of three…and yet here you are, defending it to your last breath…Kind of makes me wonder why."

Kakashi clenched his right hand in a tight fist, wheezing from the blood loss and general fatigue, but he couldn't fall. Not there, not then…strangely, it was in moments like those that he kind of missed Gai's youthful rants. He could use the green clad man in that particular moment.

In truth, he could use anyone right there and then. His vision was getting cloudy, his legs barely sustaining him, and he knew, deep down, that the Nidaime's words had merely been the nail on the coffin. He didn't want to reminisce. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want to confirm and prove true that indeed, Tobi had been Obito once, an Obito who had then been killed by the Nidaime. Because if he did connect the dots, then the man who had freed the Kyuubi, condemned Jiraiya to death, brought an all new level of pain, suffering and despair on the world…that had been Obito. The Nidaime's actions had barely been on his same scale of power, or threat. Yet he was here nevertheless.

Kakashi was there, defending Konoha.

Konoha, the very same village that had yelled and screamed for his father's blood, forcing him to commit seppuku from the stress, forgotten by all the others, left alone.

Konoha, that held the very same population that would ignore, or try to murder a child, whose only fault was to be the jailor of the Kyuubi.

Konoha: the village that had bred and spawned the worst beings in all of the history of the shinobi world.

And yet, there he was. For even if he could betray the village, even if he could betray the civilians, the haters, the evil that lurked beneath its surface…he couldn't betray that one grey haired boy who had given him his trust.

Tobirama's sword came down once more on Kakashi, unrelenting and viciously mortal; deciding that to bring down a winded opponent would be easier than try and press up on the snake sannin.

Yet, Kakashi didn't feel sad. He didn't feel anger. He felt…at ease. He would die gladly for Konoha…but he would at least bring something of the Nidaime to hell with him.

So, as the sword made of thunder came down, Kakashi held onto it, and then…then he collapsed.

He…he would have wanted to stay awake, to hold, to use the shinigami sealing technique. However, he couldn't. There was too much exhaustion, too much loss of blood, too much pain jolting through his body…and so he fell. So his body began to fall silently beneath the water's surface.

And when Tobirama Senju turned, to face his remaining opponent, he couldn't help but smirk: eventually, they would all fall.

Eventually, his plan would move through. No matter what accidents there might be, or what that little 'other him' had planned to counter…because he was Tobirama Senju…he was the Nidaime Hokage. He was on the path of _godhood_.

He had Izuna's eyes, he held a body that could sustain their usage. He had the weapon. He had everything he needed…so why were they still fighting him?

They should bow and obey. This was also his village, after all…why couldn't they realize what he was doing was for their own good!?

"Orochimaru…seems it's you and me now."

The Snake sannin merely smirked, tensing as his Kusanagi moved in a sway-like motion. Just like a cobra that's about to strike, and wants to hypnotize his opponent.

"Now, now, I'm not going to kill you, if you cooperate," the Nidaime spoke, "After all, I need to know what my second coming did, and why he seems to know…"

"Kukuku…I have no idea what you're talking about, but I know I'm going to enjoy destroying that technique…and then steal it for myself."

"At least you're honest." Tobirama shrugged for a moment, the sword made of lightning chakra affinity in his hand dispersing, "A pity…because I hate honest people."

The thunder, however, did not merely disperse. No, it flew across the water surface, directed by the mastery of the Nidaime towards the sannin, who flung the Kusanagi in front of him, cutting through the water. The true purpose was for the sword's tip to touch the ground beneath them, to use it to spin in mid-air and subsequently roll to the side and land atop a rooftop nearby.

The roof creaked, as the water around the building began to increase. The Nidaime merely chuckled, landing on the opposite side of the rooftop.

"What irony," he mused, "Look where we are."

Orochimaru quirked an eyebrow, but it was only an instant.

They were close to the stadium.

They were…

"Well, what better place to kill a Hokage, than a place where it has already been done?" The Nidaime taunted, "But I'm already dead…so how are you going to play it?"

And Orochimaru, actually, truthfully, in the deep bowels of his mind…didn't know.

He didn't know…but that didn't mean he wouldn't come up with something.

*Naruto Senju*

Naruto Senju was calmly holding the Raijin no Ken, the sword of the thunder god, in front of him. As he did, the kunais that would have embedded deeply upon his side instead fell loosely on the ground, the small electrical field surrounding him made him virtually untouchable.

Obviously it was a lie. Obviously he merely was using concentrated bursts of wind chakra to let the kunais fall on the ground, and the electricity surrounding him? Merely a stage effect to hide the disappearance of Anko and Karin, since, after all, they had their own objectives within the three lions mountain.

Actually, they had the most important job: to rescue Yumi and get the hell out of there.

He was the one stuck with two Kages, Mifune and squadrons of samurais…oh, and the kages' bodyguards, yet he was the one with the easiest job out of them all.

He just had to wait, grab the moment, and then high-tail the hell out of there. In the meantime, he just had to enjoy a conversation with people who had wanted to kill him, wanted to kill, or would do all that was in their power to kill him.

"So, who wants to empty his sack first?" Naruto queried, "Mei and her Akatsuki funding and goons, A and his Kumo spies and actions to kidnap a Hyuga or Mifune and his general ploy of exterminating shinobi villages?"

"What?" The question was asked by A, who turned his gaze to the leader of the iron country.

"He is stating the truth," the man retorted, his Katana in front of him, and held with both hands, "I merely could not allow such rash attempts at war to go on any longer: the shinobis are a disgrace to peace."

"Actually, you were just jealous of shinobi taking over samurais," Naruto piped in, as his Raijin parried Chojuro's sword, before he slammed his fist straight into the man's guts, sending him backwards to impact against the wall.

The next moment, two samurais placed their swords at the man's throat, effectively stopping him from moving.

"There, what more proof do you need?" The Godaime Hokage's question wasn't answered, obviously, but Mei did send his way a cloud of highly corrosive acid. Something that Naruto was forced to dodge. The moment he did, A's fist slammed into his side, sending him to ricochet against another wall, only not before having passed through a couple of samurais that didn't manage to get out of the trajectory.

He felt pain. For once, the armor of the Nidaime that he was wearing actually had a hole punched within its side, and blood was oozing out of there.

"I'm not the Kage for nothing squirt," A bemused, "I knew perfectly well the trick behind your actions…waste of chakra that was."

"Not entirely," Naruto's reply came with a smile, as the ground along his 'launch trajectory' splintered and cracked, "since, you know, thunder beats earth."

A managed to jump backwards, avoiding the unstable terrain, but a couple of samurais were unlucky, and thus ended up falling downwards, their screams high pitched and certainly not manly as they plummeted to their deaths.

"Nice fall…Now I understand why this meeting area is overlooking the mountain's side…and not built on the mountain proper," Naruto's tone was condescending, even with blood coming out from his wound, he seemed to be having a school trip. It was unnerving. It was just like he was unfazed by the events.

"Raikage-sama, we should leave," C muttered, "I feel signatures coming from all around us: samurai divisions."

"The moment we give our backs on Mifune is the moment he gets to kill us," Omoi replied, for once not going over random thoughts but reaching straight to the point, "He's a master of swift extraction, I know for sure."

"Yeah, I know that too," Mangetsu snarled, "Which is why I really, really wish Kisame-Danna and Sasori-Danna moves it."

"Oh my, so you're telling me he wasn't the good twin of Kisame? How shocked I am," Naruto muttered, "But after all, Mifune knew too, didn't he? He did plan together with the Mizukage to kill the Kumo and Konoha kage in order to ensure peace with Akatsuki, didn't he?"

A flinched, because for some strange, debased reason, he had half a feeling…

"And he did the same also with A, the Raikage, yet he didn't even try and deal with little poor me…something to do with me not liking the outcome? Or maybe with the fact that, after all, he was also the one who provided the mercenaries for both factions? I kind of wonder how much time it would have taken to realize that they had been played, had I not come along…" the Godaime smiled, before slowly moving his left hand to take something from a seal etched onto his armor. It shone briefly, before revealing a couple of small orange pebbles.

"You know, I kind of understand the point," he mused, taking one of said pebbles and plopping it in his mouth, "after all…wouldn't want to give your final enemy the clue that you're going to backstab him, would you?"

A narrowed his eyes, before looking at both the Mizukage and the leader of the samurais.

"He's lying! I've always been on your side!" Mifune's exclamation was cut short by A's sudden jolting out of sight, and just like that, the samurai drew his blade.

The Raikage appeared right behind the leader of the land of iron, and for a second, neither said a word. Then, the next second, A's right arm was carved out of its socket, blood spraying everywhere.

That was the cue of the Mizukage, who swiftly went through hand seals, only for both Omoi and Mangetsu to simultaneously parry with their blades at Mifune's dash forward.

A pity, because the Raikage wasn't dead, as his remaining left arm made itself known by slamming straight on the floor of the room. The stone cracked, and broke, splinters flew in the air as whatever surface that could have held them became loose, crashing down completely upon the lower mountain surface.

The fall did kill the samurais, who weren't able to lighten the damage of the fall on their legs that gave way due to the terrible pressure. However the shinobis landed without a scratch, and Mifune, who was falling downwards, managed to impact against the ground with his entire frame, deadening the otherwise lethal blow.

It was a testament to his willpower and soul power that he actually got back up on his feet a second later.

"You shinobi lie," he hissed, blood oozing from the side of his mouth, "You use deceits, tricks, you follow your nindo and stray from the path of Bushido. You are dishonor incarnate…and none of you will leave this place alive!"

The cold freezing wind of the mountain howled upon the spectators. Chojuro stood bleeding by the neck behind the Mizukage, freed during the fall but also wounded. He couldn't feel his right leg, and with all probability, it was broken.

Mangetsu showed the samurai's leader a shark-like grin, but he was worried too: he couldn't turn to water in this weather, it would be his end.

The Mizukage was eying the situation critically instead. She had to leave quickly, because there was no doubt that if the Godaime, Naruto, knew as much, then who said he didn't also know what Nagato was up to? And if he did tell… and if the Raikage did believe…then she wouldn't be able to leave unscathed.

A, on the other hand, was planning the escape route already. He had to get back to his village, gather enough shinobis, destroy those hired mercenaries, and then hope that while the Mizukage did the same, she'd let herself open to attacks by his troops.

However he was the one most wounded, and little did it matter that he had used his lightning to cauterize his wound: things weren't going at all as planned.

The only positive thing was that both Omoi and C were still there, while the Godaime was alone. However if he did manage to escape, then it would be the Hokage's victory, and not theirs.

"Hey, Mei," A muttered, "How about we get a piece of the Godaime first, and then we settle our disputes?"

Mei raised an eyebrow, but said nothing for a moment, then, smiling sweetly, she chirped right back at A.

"How about you and I take care of Mifune here, while our guards take care of the Hokage?"

"How about no?" The Nidaime no Sairai spoke, "You seem to forget…I have many nicknames."

The wind howled and raged, as the clouds loomed darker and darker in the skies.

"You think every plan can work, in the nick of a second?" He added, reddish tendrils of chakra emerging from within the man's body, as another orange pebble found its way inside his mouth. The Godaime sported a grin, for but a second, before the wind howled higher and higher.

It was a second. After all the best plans, the best fights, the best scenes…do not last more than a second.

In that single second, a massive tsunami emerged from the top of the mountain, sprinkling water. At the same time, a giant black-scaled snake was surfing the wave with atop Anko, Karin and Yumi. Behind them, a shark-like Kisame was roaring in anger and rage.

In that second, Naruto, the Godaime Hokage, merely clapped his hands together, and the raging and howling winds came to his aid.

"Kaze no Yaiba."

Air swords flew through the air, crashing through the compacted snow atop the mountain's side. That tiny moment of distraction was all that was needed for Naruto to make his escape atop the skiing downwards snake.

As he landed atop the snake's head, he was met with the wide eyed stare of his oldest daughter, Karin, who seemed completely occupied gazing at his side wound.

"We get out of here, we talk later," Naruto supplied hopefully, before looking behind him, where the tsunami of water still seemed to be coming against them.

The Mizukage barely managed to get out of the way of Kisame's own angry snarling, and seeing how outright furious he was, Naruto couldn't help it: he had to ask.

"What happened?"

"Yumi-chan peed herself in his water dome," Karin supplied, doing her best to avoid chattering her teeth. A quick glance around showed that, indeed, the three females were all…wet, and with the freezing temperatures that wouldn't bode well.

"And?"

"And he took offense on it. When he transformed to capture us, I might have supplied to him how…he was breathing pee from his fins," Anko retorted, clenching tightly onto Yumi to keep her warm.

"Oh." Naruto's single word was more than enough, as he swiftly spun atop the head of the snake to counter the incoming water sharks with the Raijin.

"SENJU TRASH! I'M KILLING YOU!" Kisame's feral roars were something of bestial…for only a little bit of golden shower…

"You disgraced Samehada and me! I'm going to…"

"It's just a sword," Naruto replied rolling his eyes, "It holds no feeling."

Kisame snarled back as a reply, suddenly sporting a wicked smirk. The next moment, water columns erupted from the ground in front of the running trio atop the giant snake, and the freezing temperatures soon turned them into ice the moment Kisame's chakra stopped working upon them.

The snake crashed straight ahead against the ice column, bringing him to a halt as Kisame descended with maddening fury upon his enemies.

There blade met fist, and Kisame screamed as the thunder dashed across his scales, pushing him away from the Nidaime no Sairai.

The wind howled, the snow fell, the blue icy eyes of Naruto looked into those of the Monster of the mist, and surrounding them samurais looked. Kisame's water dome had burst as Samehada reassumed her normal form with Kisame wielding her ahead of him.

Naruto did the same and there, there the two faced each other in dreadful silence.

The samurais did not intervene, they did not interrupt. In the matter of swords, all knew well that it was dishonorable to interrupt.

Anko bit her lower lip, even if Naruto did defeat Kisame, would they manage to get out of there?

It was Karin who acted first and hadn't it been for her, then the purple haired woman would have probably died together with Yumi. The red haired kunoichi pushed her mother and sister out of the way, avoiding a barrage of kunais that seemed to have come from the air itself. Indeed, flying above them stood Sasori, leather like wings emerging from his shoulders and flapping to keep him in the air.

"Kisame…we should be withdrawing…not entering a fight with…"

"Sen'eijashu!" Anko had taken less than a second to get back her wits, throwing from her arms snakes wielding swords that however fell short as Sasori flapped his wings, rising upwards and out of reach.

"Come back here and fight you Kami-be-damned…"

The voice cut off short, however, as in that split second, both Kisame and Naruto moved.

The Raijin hummed and the Samehada snarled. The drops of drool fell upon the white snow as the two shinobi charged at each other. The blades met with sparks and silent crashes. Samehada could twist and bend its head to chew upon the Hokage's head, and the Raijin could assume the form it wished.

The speed increased and blurs of yellow and blue was all that remained to be seen.

Neither of the two moved from their spots one in front of the other, completely concentrated upon winning or dying.

There was no need for words, for taunts, for anything. Even Sasori had to stop and stare at the form of fighting the two swordsmen were using. It wasn't the art of puppetry, but it was art nevertheless.

Then the wind increased in intensity, the water gushed forward from the ground and the two shinobi were surrounded by an increasingly deep blizzard of ice. Sparks of electricity flew in the air surrounding the sort of small circular arena and then…then it exploded.

Naruto Senju's chest sported a deep bloody gash on his chest as blood came oozing down his mouth. To Anko, his battered body suddenly seemed far paler than before, far whiter than before...and she outright saw red. Nobody was messing with her husband while she was on watch.

"Not so tough now, huh, Senju?" Kisame's snarl came with a bloody cough, as the shark man too spat out blood from his mouth.

"Listen who's…talking," Naruto whispered back, his Raijin deactivating.

Anko charged ahead. If she could get to Naruto in time, then she might have been able to stabilize him. What she hadn't expected was Karin to do the same; furthermore, she hadn't expected her to run _through_ the hail of senbon needles that Sasori flung at them from his wrists. Her emerging unscathed on the other side, while the Tokubetsu Jounin had preferred jumping backwards to avoid them was also something unexpected.

Yumi's gaze was fixed in fright on her father's bleeding form. Sure, she felt cold, but the reason she was actually shivering was another…it was fear. Parents are god in their children's eyes, and to see one fall…it was horrendous.

She knew her father was the strongest. He was the Hokage! He was undefeatable! Nobody could harm him or wound him or do anything to him…and yet he stood there, bleeding.

Yet he stood there, wounded.

Yet he stood.

Naruto Senju stood, gritting his teeth as he felt the familiar chakra of his eldest daughter move closer to him to mend his wounds. He could feel the warmth of it, and he was sure she was instead feeling the bitter cold and darkness of his own.

Since when had it been that dark? When did it all start to change? When did he decide that darkness was his path, that betrayal and hatred was his purpose?

Hadn't he become Hokage to smite on his father's actions? The very same father he had forgiven? Hadn't he kept on using his friends, his shinobi and his family? He had used Karin as bait, and yet there she was, healing him, moving through the senbons like it didn't even matter.

There was a little moment of relief, as he felt her soothing chakra knitting his flesh close, and then, just like that, he pushed her away as Kisame's Samehada came for the finishing blow.

As the blade came down upon him, he could hear it, the blood curling scream of Anko, of Karin, the cry of Yumi…so why, why did that particular scream mean nothing to him, in that precise moment?

Samehada cleaved straight through Naruto's chest, his blue armor shredded to pieces in the scuttle before, as blood sprayed all over the blade of Kisame, the chakra of the Hokage being syphoned out.

Yet as Naruto Senju fell on the ground, the white ground turning reddish, the blue skinned man could but barely whisper the start of his snicker…that he was surrounded by ninja wire. Only, this ninja wire was a pale white color, translucent and sticky. It seemed more like the webbed thread of a spider web than the metallic filament used for traps.

Maybe, if he hadn't stopped to ponder for that single second what it was, then maybe he could have dodged it.

He did, however, stay to ponder on it; it was only a second.

Seconds, in the shinobi world, are far too much time to stay and ponder.

*Nagato*

"Shinra Tensei."

Two words, only two words to define the jutsu of the wielder of the Rinnegan. Yet, with those two words, millions of lives were lost. That was the power of god. That was the power of Nagato. That was the power of Pain.

Kumogakure, the village hidden in the clouds, ceased to exist, nothing more than a crater left behind in its wake.

The population at large died instantly, those few who did not were wiped out by the Asura path and by the summons of Nagato. There wasn't a battle. There wasn't a fight. There wasn't anything but cold, brutal, slaughter. Just like Naruto Senju with Iwagakure: no secret planning to infiltrate, nothing but two words…and a hidden village met its end.

Nagato hadn't wanted to: truly, he would have preferred something less bloody, but there was no choice. Kumo had to fall. So that peace could become an option, the village had to be completely and utterly annihilated.

No zombie soldiers could withstand the strength of the Shinra Tensei. No amount of reinforced concrete or steel could fight off gravity itself. Yet he felt something was off.

It was Konan's cry that alerted him. The blue haired woman who was right next to his real body was screaming at the top of her lungs from pain. Pain that was his name and yet…why did that made him feel so angry?

Nagato opened his eyes, the ones of his real body, to try and understand what the problem was. He had but a second to flinch, and then nimble, porcelain white fingers curled around his chest.

Konan smiled, blood oozing out of her mouth as she looked at him, with an emotion that Nagato knew he wasn't worthy of, and then she fell. On her back, protruding from her flesh and covered in blood, her blood, stood kunais and swords.

Someone had thrown them at him, and she had blocked them with her body. Someone had found them, even though they had hidden, and was now attacking them before his paths could come back to help him.

His eyes looked, and what he saw angered him.

A Hyuga with pearly white eyes and a forehead protector of Kumogakure, that he knew was the apprentice of Orochimaru, was looking with a smirk at the scene in front of her. A teenager with a long white robe held swords and kunais emerging from his sleeves, looking ahead of him with a bit of guilt.

A kunoichi stood with a floral kimono, her hair tied behind with a comb that resembled a chrysanthemum. She seemed to be sporting a frown, as her hands weaved through various sets of seals. The third one was a Kunoichi too, she however wielded what seemed like a staff, and wore a camouflage trench jacket.

Nagato saw this. He did, indeed, see…but he also didn't care. Konan was on his lap, exhaling her last breath, and those four…those four were responsible for this.

His rinnegan flared as chakra condensed around it. No matter the Genjutsus the kimono clad girl wanted to throw at him, his eyes saw through them without a hitch. No matter the weapons that the only boy of that group flung at him, his eyes deflected them. His paths fell on the ground lifelessly where they stood, since they wouldn't have made it back in time, and as their powers reached him, Nagato stood up.

He had been wounded by Hanzo of the Salamanders, and restrained to the chair. From there, he had developed the system of sending chakra to corpses in order to reanimate them, and use them in conjunction with the Rinnegan's path-ability. Now, however…

Now Nagato was enraged. The damage to his legs had healed over time, and truly, he had never bothered saying the opposite in order to keep the advantage. To make sure the others thought of him as a cripple that had to stay still to control his paths.

Yet now he stood up.

He stood up with Konan in his arms, looking at him with shock and surprise.

"I'm…sorry." He whispered, barely. If he hadn't mistrusted her too, then she would have known he could move. If he hadn't kept a façade of being a cripple, then she wouldn't have brought herself to take a hit in his stead.

"The Genjutsu isn't working any longer!" Saya exclaimed, as Yugoro merely directed his hidden weaponry from his right sleeve to create a wall of blades.

"Fate is…"

"Shinra Tensei." Nagato spat out with hatred, as the blades flung themselves backwards, together with the bodies of the four shinobis that had dared attack him.

Konan remained safely tucked away between his arms, as the red haired Uzumaki merely advanced upon the four, without relenting even for a single step.

"Shoko-chan, no!" Saya's exclamation was met with the resounding crack of the blond haired, violet-eyed girl trying to withstand the gravitational pull by pushing her staff downwards, against the ground.

The result was that she was closer to Nagato, while the others ended up being further back.

Pain's right hand opened as a condensed black sphere appeared straight in his palm, at the same time moving Konan on his shoulder to keep her from falling down.

"Chibaku Tensei," the whisper was barely heard, and yet…Shoko folded. Her flesh cracked and broke as her bones and everything of hers collapsed upon itself. The sphere emitted so much gravity that the girl died instantly, resulting in nothing more than a sickening ball of pink flesh falling on the ground a second later.

The smirk on Hinata's face grew slightly wider, as she jumped backwards. Just in time to avoid the screaming of Saya and Yugoro, who suddenly realized that indeed…they were overpowered. Truly, they were going to die right there.

Saya was the one who broke in fear, turning around to run away. Nagato turned his gaze to the boy that, instead, was yelling at him with anger. He drove forward with a Katana, enhanced by his chakra and crackling with electricity while doing so.

Nagato didn't flinch. He didn't speak or move.

He merely raised his hand once more, and a volley of air bullets emerged from the tip of his fingers, creating large chunks in the boy's flesh.

Saya was already crying and shrieking in pure unbridled fear of death, when the merciful blow came to her heart…by Hinata's hand.

The Hyuga kunoichi merely showed a smile to the red haired Uzumaki, while removing her bloodied hand from Saya's corpse, before whispering.

"We should talk, Pain-san…there is something you should know."

Nagato's gaze was murderous. Did the Hyuga really expect him to speak to her? She did kill the last girl though, so maybe she was a spy of Orochimaru? He was tired of having to deal with betrayers. He'd listen, and then he'd kill her nevertheless.

"Speak."

It was one word.

Just one single word…and yet, after having said that Nagato found himself listening to a tale. A well spun tale. One that forced him to tighten his grip on Konan's body…

*Shikamaru*

"Troublesome," the Nara muttered. He was staring at the bubbling mass that should have been the ruins of Uzushiogakure, and instead there stood nothing but whirlpools, like the amassed land had caved in and fallen downwards.

They stood at the coast, in wait for whatever reason the Hokage had deemed them necessary to be there. Kiba was tense while Shino appeared to be completely at ease.

"You know Kage, I'd think anyone could make the connection between you and a, say, certain Nara, with that key-word of yours." Kiba stated.

"Shush it," Shikamaru snapped back, "I'm not in the mood right now."

"Calm down," Shino buzzed, "chakra signatures inbound…two are…they're…impossible."

"Huh?" Kiba's question was soon met with Akamaru's growling voice, as a small bathysphere popped upwards from the sea. Behind it, seemingly having pushed it upwards was a masked man with an orange swirl. He was wearing the Akatsuki's clothes, yet the hood was lowered, displaying a bright blue color in his hair.

"I'm Suigetsu," the man snarled, pushing the bathysphere to land on the coast, "You must be the Kage team, right?"

"Indeed," Shikamaru muttered, "Is that the package?"

"Yeah, one Yang Kyuubi container: coming right up," following the taunt-like tone of the voice, the teenager opened the metallic contraption, revealing to the three shinobi a familiar red haired face.

Kiba was the one who broke the startled silence with a small tucking in of air, before exclaiming.

"Katsumi!" The Inuzuka hurriedly grabbed the fainted Namikaze, holding her in bridal style as he made his way to lower her on the soft sand of the coastline.

Suigetsu merely smirked at the scene, before turning his gaze back to where the bubbles were frothing.

"That damn fool…"

"Mantis, look over Katsumi and tell me if she's got anything wrong."

Katsumi felt something soothing pass over her for a brief moment, before fluttering her eyes open.

"She's regaining consciousness."

The glare of the sun stung into the girl's eyes, as she slowly turned her head around, looking at the masked individuals…well, that and the giant white dog that she knew was Akamaru.

"Huh?" She mumbled, but that was soon interrupted. It was interrupted because Kage had turned his attention on the light blue haired man that had removed his mask to show a set of fierce shark-like teeth.

"Well then, my part of the deal's done. Tell your Hokage that if he doesn't show up with his own side, I'll be angry alright."

"Of course," Shikamaru drawled. He had no idea what the deal was, but he merely nodded in confirmation. The teen then disappeared in the water, and the Nara had no doubt about it: he had actually become like water, to not even leave an afterimage of him below the waves…but that was a problem to solve later.

The Nara turned to where Katsumi was, and knelt next to the lay down form of the kunoichi.

"How are you feeling?"

"I…I knew he'd send someone…" the girl gasped for air, "I knew it…"

"Did they do anything to you?" Kiba asked.

"She appears malnourished," Shino stated, grabbing from within his equipment a ration and handing it over to the red head. Katsumi didn't say no, instead she nearly chew off Shino's hand as she devoured it, the following ones, and the few salted strips of meat that Kiba had hunted and turned to edible food.

"Malnourished? I'd say she hadn't eaten in years, if she hadn't been kidnapped for less than a couple of months," Shikamaru muttered, before shaking his head.

"So now it's home time, right!?" Kiba exclaimed, "I mean, come on! There's nothing else to do here…right?"

"I assure you, if something happens right now, I will personally neuter you." Shino stated in his overly serious tone while looking at Kiba.

Shikamaru sighed, before hastily looking around. Everything seemed to be in the norm: they could camp and wait for a while before returning home…at least that was his purpose.

A pity that twin electrical bolts decided to make things far more difficult, searing through the sand and turning it to glass as they made their way to the assembled shinobis.

A girl with blond hair and red eyes stood in a pink armor at the side of the beach. Kiba hadn't smelled her, Shino's bug hadn't found her…and Shikamaru knew, he just knew that it was going to be troublesome to deal with her.

"That's…That's not possible!" Kiba yelled with a startled cry to the skies, "You can't hate me that much! What did I do to you!?"

"I am Ranke, of lord Haido's knights…and you're all in the way!" She yelled once more, as electricity began to crackle around her.

"She smells of ozone! I thought there was a storm coming, not a person!" Kiba's explanation had already been thought by Shikamaru, who suspected that Shino's Kikkaichus hadn't been able to communicate with the Aburame for the very same reason.

Yet as he stood there, he eyed Katsumi, the 'package' slung on Kiba's shoulder.

"Kiba, take leave," the Nara ordered, as his shadow began to creep towards Ranke. The girl didn't even make an effort to move, as the shadow bind her on the spot.

"W…What!?" The girl snarled, "What the hell is this, you little…" her growls grew as Shino had the gut instinct to raise his Kikkaichus' swarms forward. Maybe that was what brought the two enough time to Kawarimi out of the trajectory of an incoming flock of electrical bolts.

"I do not need hand gestures to control my electricity!" She snarled, "And my overheated plasma can withstand and pass through even the thickest of steel!"

Shikamaru didn't speak. He was just seriously considering the benefit of letting the woman vent out her stress, tell him everything about her strengths, and then wait the right moment to formulate a plan taking into account her weaknesses.

Kiba, meanwhile, had already jumped with Akamaru out of the area, holding Katsumi tightly to avoid letting her go. Albeit she was pouting and sending him cursed words through mutters, he thought better than to comment on her. He was on the job, and seriousness was required.

The Nara narrowed his eyes from his hiding spot, as he could see the girl grab a small teal crystal, and outright push it deeply within her chest. The sudden discharge of electricity in the surroundings blinded him, and when his vision came back, he was barely brought out of the range of a wicked claw-like punch by Shino's quick reflexes.

The girl had transformed into a monster of white fur and purple skin, an electrical sphere surrounding it.

"Purazuma Bōru." She hissed, "If you hide, then I'll just have to demolish everything around us!"

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered…as Shino, for once, actually replied.

"Indeed."

*Kakuzu*

If there was one thing Kakuzu hated, it was to waste time.

He understood killing people that stood directly between him and his target that much was granted in his line of work. What he didn't like was when people tried their best to irritate him and get in his way. In this particular case, he was outright furious.

He was outright furious because he had, indeed, been fighting nothing but empty armors commanded from afar. He was fighting puppets. He hated fighting puppets.

Just like Hidan too hated fighting opponents that didn't bleed. It just was a type of thing they both didn't like. Without hearing the screams of pain, just how were they going to survive the dreadful boredom?

The yells coming from the other side of the giant walking metallic contraptions made it all too clear they weren't alone…at all.

Hidan's snarl finally made the five-hearted shinobi turn to stare at just what the reason for all of this commotion was about.

A green spandex clad shinobi was outright charging upwards one of the metallic legs of the giant construction…while holding on his shoulders two outright screaming shinobis.

At least, one was a male with a beard and trench knife in his hand, the other was a Kunoichi dressed in a white wrapped up clothing that seemed to be made of bandages.

"What the fuck is that for Jashin-sama!? That's cheating! They're avoiding all these assholes! Fuck you Jashin! Fuck you!"

As the scythe spun around, tearing in half the armors around him, Kakuzu found himself merging with the ground, before letting black threads emerge where the armors had converged tearing them apart from below.

"This is annoying." He muttered, as he jumped atop Hidan's scythe's blades, "Throw me upwards."

"FUCK you. You know what? Fuck!" Still, the man did obey, even as a couple of armors managed to pierce his sides with their swords…obviously doing nothing.

As Kakuzu was flung in the air, he brought his left hand forward, letting the black thread escape and twirl around an overhanging steel bar. With his right, he grabbed Hidan's body, and pulled him upwards together with him.

"Ya know: you could have flung a kunai," Hidan snapped as he was flying upwards.

"It was not the same thing," the Takigakure shinobi commented, "And have you seen Fu or Gaara?"

"They're fine! You know how Fu-chan is! She wouldn't enter the fray! She's probably watching us fight from some hiding spot, you know."

Kakuzu grunted. He hoped for Hidan's safety that the Jashin cultist was right. He would have a few choice words with Gaara, however. It was best to remove the 'misunderstandings' about being close to Fu sooner than later. He didn't want any grandchildren as long as he breathed. He was ninety-one, not old and decrepit!

It was as the two made their way through a steel corridor that Kakuzu stopped.

"Hidan," the Akatsuki zombie whispered, "I'm feeling him."

"Huh? What the fuck are you talking about?" Hidan snorted back.

"A man that should be dead, a man that I failed to kill."

"You, failed to kill someone? Fuck Jashin, you told me you failed only once and that…" Hidan paled.

"You're shitting me."

"I'm sure: this is…Hashirama's mokuton chakra."

Kakuzu stilled for a moment, seemingly torn, before muttering.

"If he's using it, if it's actually 'him' then he's using it on Fu and Gaara. I can't let it go…I have to intervene, you understand?"

The silent hissing of the pipes around the two shinobi was the only noise in the long corridor for a moment, before the man grabbed his scythe with his right hand.

"For fucking Jashin! I'm with ya! Lead the way! We'll deal with this walking wreck leader another time!"

Kakuzu merely smirked, before bringing both of his palms to the side of the metallic surface they had worked so hard to reach.

"Doton: Domu."

The metal creaked and bent, under the strain of the fists that came crashing down on the wall itself. In the end it gave way to the two shinobi, who began their dash forward into the general direction of the Mokuton's chakra.

Truth be told, Kakuzu was willing to let Hidan tease him for the rest of his life, if he was proven wrong.

As the two neared a circular room, deep within the metallic construction, the stitched together shinobi looked with a mixture of rage and worry at two figures, tightly clutched within the claws of a wooden dragon.

A man with a monocle stood in a corner of the room, eying the chakra being drained by the two and entering a strange statue, no, not a strange statue…the statue of the Akatsuki: a statue that held many eyes open and that was, in that instant, opening two more…the seventh and the first.

Haido looked at the newcomers, who had so barbarically managed to bypass his security by tearing down the metal walls and grinned.

The two wouldn't even manage to scratch him. He had the stone of Gelel, obtained from the harsh sands of Sunagakure itself. He had the royal heir to control the power of the stone, and he had a man known as the 'first Hokage' itself among his grasp. That much, Tobi had guaranteed.

Hashirama Senju stood, clad in his red armor, in front of the statue. He appeared to be concentrating heavily upon the chakra that flowed out of the two Jinchuuriki and within the wooden construction. After all, he was the one who created it to begin with. He was the one who used it to keep the leash on the beasts known as Bijuus in the beginning…and he'd do it again.

Kakuzu stared at the first Hokage, or at what seemed like him except made of clay and dirt, and felt a bit of something within his chest. His original heart had given way to the years, decades before, but this…this was universal. It was the feeling that every shinobis feels when he is outclassed, and yet has to move forward for his mission.

Had this been a mission, Kakuzu would have fled. Considering how his village had treated him the last time, he would have…but this wasn't about his village of Takigakure. This wasn't about the elders of Taki, the mission, the money or anything as quaint and vain as that.

This was about the first Hokage, known as the one who fought and defeated all Bijuus and sealed them together, the one who founded Konoha and defeated Madara Uchiha…this was about him trying to kill his daughter.

For once, Kakuzu saw no plan or strategy. For once, for a single, mere moment, Kakuzu saw nothing but the pained face of his daughter…and then he charged right in.

Hidan was the one who at least managed a little bit of calm, which was the reason Kakuzu didn't lose a heart immediately. His scythe spun to the side extending itself, wrapping around the armored body of a blond haired teen that seemingly had appeared from above with a sword in hand.

Hashirama did not move. He wouldn't need more than an hour, to take back the Bijuus from the hosts. Had Mito been there, it would have taken considerably less…but at the same time he was glad that his wife wasn't there. Because it would mean that his brother had resurrected her too…and he didn't know, he didn't think…he couldn't even hope that Konoha would survive.

Bitter thoughts were all that ran through the man's head…how could his brother do this? Was it him, growing in shadow? Was it his successes, and him coming second? Was it the comparison, the way he had died? Was it his final words, or those of his colleagues? What had brought Tobirama to become like that…twisted beyond redemption?

Hashirama did not know. What he knew was that his orders were clear. He had to obey. If only he knew how to free himself from the seal…if only he knew the seals. But he didn't, because Tobirama had never used this despicable technique while he was alive…maybe he could have stopped him then. Maybe he could have helped him then.

Now, now he could not.

Now, tendrils of wood grew from the very metal that shouldn't have been able to sustain life, as the trees broke into branches that could cut as the sharpest of steel and flung forward encompassing the two Akatsuki members.

Hidan was repeatedly pierced in the chest, in the head, in the arms by the speed of the technique. Every leaf was like a shuriken, every branch was like a blade, and even the trunks seemed to be hitting him with the concussive force of a war hammer.

The Jashin cultist screamed in anger, rage, and maybe even a tiny bit of fright. Although he would never admit it openly, he too had grown up hearing the stories of the strength of Hashirama, the first Hokage…the one who had outright grew forests and decimated armies, equaled maybe only by Madara Uchiha himself.

It took a moment for Kakuzu to realize he had gone through the hand seals for the Katon: Zukokku, because when he did, he remembered just why he had actually accepted the mission of killing the first Hokage.

He had thought that fire could defeat the wood, that it was no big.

Just how wrong and idiotic was that thought? Terribly so. Wood was made of Earth and Water elements…neither weak to fire.

So when the fire spread, it did not even cover in sooth the branches, but the wood…the wood retaliated by tearing apart two of his hearts.

The Earth heart and the Water heart gave way in a second, as blood spluttered out of the man's mouth.

This was a rookie mistake, a potentially fatal one, from him…that was not expected, that was not wanted. He had to keep his cool! To defeat the wood affinity chakra, it was lightning that was needed. Electricity crackled through Kakuzu's body, as the trees splintered around him.

He raised his right hand just in time to block the incoming blow from Temujin's sword, and fling him backwards with but a lightning ray.

The boy did not stay down, but when he moved to charge once more, Hidan intercepted him, his wounds disappearing as if they were never there.

"Normally," Hidan commented in a low, silent voice, "I'd be yelling, and I'd take my sweet time," he whispered, as the trees covered him from Kakuzu, "But not today."

Temujin was silent, but he did charge in once more, again, just to be parried by the scythe and pushed with inhuman force back against the wall.

"Today, I'm not doing the interests of Jashin," he muttered, "He gave me a bye, you know? Figured he'd rather let me do this quick and then later I'll be twice as nagging," he added with a snort, "See ya in hell, kid."

Then the scythe prolonged itself, the wicked red blades grew in size and form, as the face of Hidan turned black with white markings around it in a sort of tribal paint.

Blood oozed down from the three pronged scythe, and Hidan did not speak. He did not yell. He merely plunged the scythe straight within his heart.

With that mere action, Temujin slumped to the ground, a hole wide open in his chest, at the same spot his heart was.

The only problem, as Hidan turned to leave, was that Temujin stood up once more.

"Hahaha! You cannot defeat the power of Gelel! The power of life itself!" Haido snickered, holding a strange light green orb within his hand, "With even a tiny amount, an entire continent can be destroyed! Resurrecting the deceased, controlling the weak minded…anything is possible!"

Hidan narrowed his eyes, and then shook his head.

"I'm in serious mode right now…" he sighed, making his scythe twirl, "But Jashin says, and I quote: 'the stupid blabbermouth infidel must be purged with the most atrocious pains and with the highest cackles of madness from your mouth' so…"

And then Haido found out that no, having a Gelel controlled heir meant nothing when he wasn't as fast as an S-rank shinobi whose only purpose was seeing you scream, and cry and yell in pain.

Temujin's attacks on Hidan actually made it even easier for Haido to scream: every wound on the Nuke-nin would pass automatically onto him, and thus…thus Haido died…because Hashirama wasn't there.

In truth, amidst an arena made of trees, the Mokuton Bunshins of Hashirama were fighting evenly off against Kakuzu.

"I recall you now," one of them spoke, "Kakuzu of Taki."

"Yeah, I outlived you all. Now if I get my hands on the sucker that brought you back from hell, maybe I'll wring his neck too."

"Tobirama," the first Hokage replied smoothly, "my brother…his darkness was way stronger than what I could have even thought about."

"Tobirama? He's alive too!? Oh hell," Kakuzu muttered, as he found himself conjuring a gust of air to redirect wooden shurikens and kunais coming at him from all sides. The truth was that Hashirama could make things grow, and 'purge' them from the trees…adding to that his innate healing abilities, he was an enemy Kakuzu had stood no chance of defeating.

Sure, he was famous for the Mokuton, but Kakuzu…the Taki shinobi knew just how much powerful he truly was.

Weapons were grown from the wood of his trees, and answered his commands. He could make a sword twirl and become a scythe, block and lop the enemy's head off in a single movement. He could make shurikens turn into a net in mid-air. He could inscribe seals within the trunk's bark and use it. He could grow Mokuton Bunshins from any place that held a tree of his. He could heal without hand signs, from the inside out. He could use Fuinjutsu like a master. He…he was Hashirama Senju, and Kakuzu had managed to survive a fight against him once.

There was only one difference, right there and then.

Hashirama had been a prodigy, a genius, an outstanding shinobi of unparalleled power…but he had not been fighting for the same time Kakuzu had.

The only difference, between the two…was experience.

Power could be defeated.

Nimbly, Kakuzu moved to the left of the arena of trees avoiding to step on them, or their barks, because he knew that from even one of them could emerge a sword. His wind heart left his body from below, granting him the push to outright emerge from the trees and look for a split second in mid-air at the situation.

Gaara was the one with less chakra, out of all of them…and he was now slumped on the ground, the first eye of the statue completely open. The seventh one… was instead three quarters wide and steadily opening up.

"I don't have time to play around with you!" Kakuzu exclaimed while in mid-air, as his fire heart emerged, to fling him forward, straight ahead to where the original Hashirama was. He brought both of his punches forward, charged with electricity, and silently, for once, he pleaded for the hits to connect.

They did. The hits passed straight through Hashirama's body…but the problem was that no blood emerged from it. Instead, it regenerated. It regenerated and held the Takigakure's shinobi's arms encased within his chest. In that single instant, Kakuzu closed his eyes.

Wooden pikes emerged from the ground, tearing apart Kakuzu's Lightning heart, and as they did, the other two masks began to tremble…but their last orders were there to be executed. Both reached for the statue itself: if they couldn't damage Hashirama, then they could as well make the statue 'un-repairable'.

"Fūton: Atsugai! Katon: Zukkoku!" the fire maelstrom shook the entire area, sweeping Hidan off his feet as he hurriedly brought his scythe upwards to parry the blazing inferno.

"Fuck you Kakuzu!" In truth, maybe Kakuzu knew that somehow he would fail his attack. He had at least planned for that contingency.

He had planned for it, and in the end, the gambit had paid off.

While the statue seemed cracked in various points, but still salvageable, the structure around them seemed on the verge of collapsing, and collapse it did.

With the statue falling, Hashirama was forced to let go of the technique in order to make the statue land and repair it. As Hidan too fell upon the ground, the man's scythe twirled in the air to grab upon Fu's and Gaara's bodies, both falling downwards.

This was going to hurt a lot.

"Dainamikku Entorī!" Maito Gai, green beast of Konoha, literally jumped from the side, from the frigging side while the Akatsuki members were falling in mid-air, and outright pushed them upon one of the wobbling metal creature's legs to grab a hold on.

"Yosh! Let the fire of youth burn brightly today!"

"What the fuck are you on for fucking Jashin!? Why the fuck are you saving us!?" Hidan had no idea what was going on…but of one thing he was sure: whoever wore green spandex 'had' to have some problems, deep within one's head.

"Worry not! For we are on the same side now!" Gai replied with a bright flashing grin, "It is the fire of youth that brings us together to defeat our most unyouthful foe: the Nidaime! He is the man known as 'Tobi', and he has betrayed your organization! Yosh!"

Hidan's brain refused to think for a moment. Really? Tobi was Tobirama? The name was there, alright, but…it just seemed so…strange. Tobi was a dimwit idiotical buffoon: there was no way he could be…

"But isn't the Nidaime…" as Hidan's hand kept its hold upon a metal bar, Gai merely pointed with his free hand at the scenery, specifically in Konoha's direction. There a massive hurricane was outright surrounding the village, with water flowing out freely from the roads…

"Now let us make haste! There are Sunagakure villagers to save!"

Hidan merely nodded. He had Gaara and Fu over his shoulders: if the guy had wanted to fight him, then he would have done so already, maybe decapitate him while his hands were busy. He'd wait.

He'd wait and see and then, maybe, he'd decide on a course of action.

*Deidara*

"This is going to be a problem," the ex-explosion corps artist muttered, looking at Itachi, who was outright in his best asset of war mode.

"Please tell me it isn't true," the bomber spoke once more, "I mean, look around! There are only civilians in here! New Kirigakure has not much in terms of shinobis…just why?"

Itachi did not speak. His Mangekyou sharingan merely spun, as black flames darted forward, to burn the spot where Deidara had been not a second before.

Deidara knew he was outclassed. Never mind being alone, facing an Uchiha prodigy, whose level was far more than a mere S-rank. Never mind the fact that his Genjutsu was something his trained eye could barely scratch through. The problem was that if he did use bombs, then it would destroy the village. It was already drowning, but it was doing so at a low pace, a deliberate one. If he fought with all he got he might not win, he might stall the Uchiha for a while, but he would, most certainly, hasten the demise of the sustaining pillars of the dome.

If that happened, screw the water already reaching halfway the dome's height: it would smash completely downwards, killing everyone.

Yet Itachi was there, facing him off, preventing him from reaching the emergency commands to at least make the dome start to rise.

If he did that, Deidara might have saved some civilians…yet now he knew there was no chance.

There was no way but to fight through this.

The black flames of the Amaterasu burned with fierce intensity, unquenchable and unstopping. The water fizzled and went out where it connected, and yet Deidara had to find a way.

A way to bypass the gaze of the Uchiha…

"Calm down," he whispered to himself, "You haven't trained for nothing. You can do this. You can show your art. Come on…it's nothing more than that..."

"Fear clouds judgment," Itachi commented, disappearing from sight in a murder of crows, "Genjutsu is powerful, because it displays fears as a mean of battle."

Deidara froze on the spot: that was impossible! He had his eye! His trained eye that could see through Genjutsus!

"Are you sure?" a voice hissed at his ear, "Are you sure that is all it takes? Are you sure stealing a Kinjutsu will make you the best Tsuchikage?"

"Why did you do it!?" A female shrieked in his other ear, "My daughter was in there!"

"You murderer!" An old man.

"Curse you, Iwa! Curse you!"

"They deserved no mercy, or pity, did they?" A voice Deidara knew as that of his ex-commander muttered behind him.

"N…That's not true. This is not true." The blond stuttered.

"Oh…but you are wrong," the voice went again, "We are but what you know…we are your truth, Deidara…aren't we?"

"Deidara-nii…why did you do it? Why did you betray Iwa? Why did you kill Kaa-san?" This was female. This was Kurotsuchi. When he had escaped he hadn't planned on killing anyone he had known. He had just thought Oonoki would have laughed at his daring attempt of getting one over his fellow Iwa shinobis and let him go. He was friends with his granddaughter after all.

It hadn't worked like that.

He had felt bitter, he had just wanted to escape…and when he did, he hadn't realized just who was in the prison waiting to see him.

"It was an accident!" He screamed.

"Accident? No, you wanted it, didn't you?" Another voice, harsh and old spoke. Oonoki had resurrected from his grave just to yell at him.

"My most prideful student: look where your pride has brought you! You're a murderer, a slaughterer, an assassin, a betrayer! You have failed me…you have failed my teachings."

"Stop this…please stop this," the teen whispered, tears coming down his eyes.

Quietly, Itachi's blade poised to slit Deidara's throat. For a brief instant, the Uchiha stilled. He could have ended it with Amaterasu…but he didn't want to make the last moments on earth of the man in front him painful. So as he was about to plunge his sword deep within Deidara's neck, he muttered a small prayer to Kami to forgive him…even though, for his sins, he would never be forgiven.

But he was a shinobi: forgiveness was not something he would ever live with.

Deidara merely stilled as the blade passed through his neck. Yet the man turned to clay. He turned to clay and he exploded, forcing Itachi to discard his own Akatsuki cloak and use it to deaden the explosion.

As the Uchiha was flung across the landscape, his back impacted against a wall. It was cold and freezing at the touch, but the raven haired man had no time to think about it. He rolled to the side, using chakra to maintain his balance upon the frozen surface and avoid the incoming miniature clay birds that seemed keen on exploding near him.

Deidara, the real one, emerged from his hiding hole atop a clay dragon, his gaze sorrowful and both of his eyes closed.

"You know…deep down, I knew it. I knew that no matter what, no matter how much I trained, I'd never defeat a genius. It happened in Iwa, a long time ago…and that was why I stole the Kinjutsu that made me who I am…" He whispered, unrolling his chest piece and unstitching a giant mouth that seemed to have grown there.

"Yet even all the cries of the people who I have killed mean nothing to me. Tell me, Uchiha, am I a monster? I burned and scorched and blew up many. Mines detonated killing children and shinobi and samurais alike. Yet…yet for all of that pain and sufferance…not once, not even once, was I unable to sleep at night…am I a monster?"

"No." Itachi hissed behind Deidara, seemingly having disappeared from the frozen surface of before, "You're a shinobi."

"Shinobi are not emotionless tools," the Iwagakure Missing Nin whispered back, as clay was fed into his central mouth.

"That is your truth to know, not mine to counter," and with that, twin yells echoed through the drowning village.

"Susanoo."

"C0."

The Susanoo's clawed hands enclosed themselves around Deidara, as Itachi hissed.

"Yata no Kagami."

The Yata mirror could not nullify an advanced release, but he could nullify one of its two components. When the attack happened, the lightning nature was removed from within it, and instead of a titanic explosion that covered kilometers of width and range, it merely cracked open Deidara's body.

The earth component was not stopped however, and the Susanoo's hands guarded Itachi from being impaled by rock spikes that seemingly had the purpose to enhance the area of the attack once the lightning flew through them in the air.

The red colored guard of Itachi disappeared within his back, as what little remained of Deidara crumbled to dust and then melted with the water.

Itachi glanced over the water where Deidara's turned to earth body had crumbled, and then, once more, set off for his objective.

Why was he fighting against his very own belief of peace? Why was he becoming a murderer he had no wish to become? Would he lose his sleep at night, drowning in the screams of the dying civilians of Kiri? Would he wake up after nightmares of ghosts, accusing him? He had them already. When he killed his father, when his father looked at him with those blasted eyes of his…they showed no hate.

Even as his sword had pierced his father's heart, even as the blade had ended decapitating him…there was no hate in his father's eyes. Only sadness…for him, or because he had failed his coup?

That was the question he would never receive an answer for.

For that unanswered question, he would stay up and dread the night. For that question, he would cling to what he knew was there. For that question, that question that could never receive an answer…he would fight so that it would never happen again.

No matter the blood spilt. No matter the hatred that would gather.

He would fight for a night of silence. He would fight for the beliefs of the man he had chosen as his leader. He would fight for his friend, he would fight for the future of Konoha…he would fight.

And…and if he lost…then he would get his answer all the same.

But that moment, that moment was not there and then.

In that precise moment, as his hands moved through the few remaining controls deep within New Kirigakure's seat of command, he knew what he had to do.

The button for the emergency rise of the village was there, just to his left. He could push that button.

He could push it and save the few remaining alive persons.

He could…but his sword cut through the wires before his soul could scream at his cruelty.

There was no turning back now.

*Tsunade*

Tsunade had been sipping coffee when it happened. At first, her thought had been on just what she had been running through her veins to come up with the 'friends with benefits' line to Orochimaru, of all people.

First off, she was a widower-in-the-heart, even though she had never been married in a temple, at the same time she had never gone with another man before. Then, if she took into consideration just what happened during that drunken night and past that, she suddenly felt the need to blush like any teenaged girl.

Still, the Sake was just that: liquid courage. With enough to kill an elephant running through her body, she had jumped on an innuendo she shouldn't have even retorted about. The next thing she knew, she was trying to close the loneliness in her heart with the closest thing to her to a 'passable' friend. Damn Jiraiya and his being dead.

The coffee mug she had in her hand suddenly felt lighter, as she realized that the coffee had been floating, indeed, in the air. That was followed by the water from the faucets to escape in torrential jets, just like the same happened in every street and through any crack of the ground. Suddenly, it was no longer a normal boring day. It was raining, hurricane-like, and water was everywhere.

Yet there were no screams.

For that, Tsunade would need another half an hour to realize that, outside of the building, there were no civilians of sorts walking through the water filled streets.

But they had been there at least half an hour before! Was an alarm sounded? Was the evacuation order given?

She didn't hear anything…yet if the hospital had been evacuated, she would have known!

It was when she finally managed to regain her bearings, running from rooftop to rooftop, that she came across a familiar mop of grey hair being brought away by the strong current in the flooded streets.

The slug sannin took a moment to jump down and bring Kakashi's body on a nearby roof, before starting to check for his vitals.

Her face became a frown, as she barely could feel a pulse…but it was there. It was faint, it was weak, but it was there. She slowly mended his wounds, knitting back the flesh and stopping the hemorrhage. Her hands nimbly moved across Kakashi's chest, looking for the spots where the electricity had done the most damage, and helping in their regeneration.

His heart stopped repeatedly during the course of her operations, and she had to restart it every time. Many of his nerves had seemingly fried up, and the few that were salvageable had to be carefully reconnected to the muscles. Even if the copy-cat ninja survived, he'd probably be unable to feel anything in the surrounding area of the wound, and there was no way he'd ever be in for active service again.

"Just what is going on…" Tsunade murmured, looking to the right and to the left for someone, anyone, to help her transport the silver haired man.

Instead there was no-one around them. Yet she could hear, among the roaring sounds of the twirling water currents and the thunder claps up above, the flinging of metal against metal.

She had to make a choice, and she knew what it would be: she was a medic-nin. Gently, she held Kakashi's limp form and with precise and meticulous practice shunshin'd away, out of the village, towards the outskirts.

Her first stop should have been the hospital, but with all that was happening…she was sure it had been the first thing taken out. Whatever it was that was causing havoc in the village, it had to at least be of such a threat that barring a Sannin there was no hope. It was the only reason for a mass evacuation order. It had to be the only reason.

Yet, when she finally managed to reach for the refuges, the hidden stone bunkers within the Hokage's statues, she pulled open the door without thinking.

Had she thought, at least a bit, she would have avoided the detonation at point blank range that sent her, and Kakashi, rocketing backwards. Only with her instincts did she manage to shield the man from much of the blast, using her Creation Rebirth technique to survive the rock shrapnel that bore itself deeply within her back.

As the stone statues began to creak and fall down, deep gashes appeared on the side of the mountain as a veritable avalanche composed of the heads of the first, the third and the fourth Hokage came crashing down. The Nidaime and the Godaime's face, however…did not.

They stood there, cracks running alongside their necks, but neither fell. Between the two, that of the Godaime seemed the most unscathed, only a small amount of web-like cracks on a cheek, nothing more.

For some reason, that was finally the cue for Tsunade to look around with purpose. The eyes of the stone heads seemed transfixed upon a single spot.

On a rooftop, near the arena now halfway filled with water, two shinobis were battling in blurs of speed and clashes of techniques.

Orochimaru had always been the devious one in fights. He had never fought fair once, for all of his time as a Sannin of Konoha, during the war or even after. He had always used tricks, misleading and confusing the enemy before striking, but never, ever, did he fight head on.

When it was the time to gather information, he went on ahead. When he had to pull back, he had more than a hundred ways to escape. He was tricky, he was devious and he was deeply attached to his own life. Jiraiya had always been the powerhouse, the imbecile that charged forward yelling and held no regards for his own safety.

She had lost count of the wounds she had healed from the white haired man's body, and the few times she actually had to heal Orochimaru? It was mostly because of light scratches taken in order to avoid far bigger ones.

Orochimaru did not get wounded, period. He could get tired, he could get exhausted, but he could not get wounded.

In this particular case, however, Orochimaru was bleeding. He sported a deep gash on his left arm that stood limply to his side while the Kusanagi blade in his right hovered in front of him. His right hand went through the hand seals for his techniques, while the sword clashed in order to protect him from Tobirama's ire.

There had to be something wrong with that, because clearly, Orochimaru could not be bleeding. It didn't even matter that there was Tobirama, or at least, someone who resembled him, fighting on the rooftop. To Tsunade, the strange thing was Orochimaru bleeding.

It was so strange…so out of character.

The Snake sannin wasn't sharing such thoughts about his status. He was mentally going through every single trick he had, barely avoiding the 'throw the mud in the eyes' one since it was too easy to counter. His speed seemed even slow compared to that of the Nidaime, heck, everything he did seemed uncoordinated and grossly raw when compared to him.

It just didn't matter what he did: the Nidaime had the counter ready, like he knew everything that was being thrown at him.

The fact that he seemingly wielded two sharingan eyes was also another cause of distress for the snake sannin. He might have stood a chance with the sage mode…but he had never mastered it. No, more precisely, he could never master it. His body wasn't aptly his to begin with, and the technique he used for it wasn't able to survive the stress of condensing different type of chakras within one's own body…He was a genius, but even he had his limits.

That why, the second best thing to a genius was a cheating genius: the cursed seal, or 'heaven' seal was just that, a cheating tool. It worked too, all thanks to Jugo.

Yet all this paled in comparison. Speed, strength, technique, chakra, everything of the Nidaime was genuine, and it was desperate to even manage to keep up. He probably would have already died thrice, had the man been serious.

But the Nidaime wasn't. He was toying with the Sannin like a kid playing with a ball. Orochimaru was dancing to a fine tune, and he knew it, and even if he knew it there was nothing he could do to free himself from it.

That…that was the final explanation of why Orochimaru of the Densetsu Sannin did not expect to survive that encounter, at least had he any knowledge of Fuinjutsu as high as that of Jiraiya, then maybe he could have come with a way to remove the blasted seals that kept him from using his body rejuvenation technique.

Yet there he stood, desperate.

But he stood. Why was he standing? Orochimaru knew that answer.

He was afraid of dying. He was afraid of the stares, of the gazes, of the pointed fingers that would forever look at him in the ghastly afterlife. He was a murderer, a slaughterer, a monster. No matter the words 'scientist' no matter the words 'approved by the Hokage' no matter the permissions…he was a monster.

In his death, he would pay. A life of redemption would not bring him any closer to forgiveness, and he knew it. He knew it and he embraced the thought that he was so wicked he could go further, and still leave as a hero. He knew it, he cherished it…and that made him ponder in the dark of the sleepless nights just why…why had he chosen that path?

It was too late right there and then.

The blade of pure thunder came down, and this time, the Kusanagi creaked.

Cracks appeared alongside its surface, and when the second hit was parried, bits of molten metal flew away from it.

A miniature water dragon of the Nidaime slammed straight into Orochimaru's chest, appearing from the muddy ground, and brought the Sannin on his knees as it twirled and twisted around him, holding him prisoner.

"Tell me what I want to know, Orochimaru-kun," Tobirama muttered, "And I'll reunite you with your parents."

The golden eyes of the sannin narrowed as a startled hiss escaped his throat.

"No. Never."

"I know that Amachi was your spy, Orochimaru," the Nidaime spoke quietly, "I know that Naruto knows that, I know that he planned something, I know that he used Kushina to get through the defenses of New Kirigakure, I know that he has sent the Kyuubi Yin half away from here. I know that he suspects I'm not merely Tobi but something else, but am I right? Am I saying the right things, Orochimaru? Tell me, little bumpkin, is it right? You always were a good kid with homework always done, weren't you?" The voice was sweeter now, it was also more feminine, older, graceful. To Orochimaru, that voice was also familiar, terribly so.

There was no Nidaime there, there was him, five years old, looking with a bit of worry at his mother. His parents couldn't help him with the homework, both were illiterates, farmers. The only reason he had managed to get into the academy was because of who he was: a prodigy, a lucky kid that had caught the attention of the Kami of Shinobi.

Whenever he did his homework at home, his mother would always smile a bit at him, ask him if he did everything correctly, and then nod. She couldn't read, but she trusted him to do the right thing. She trusted him implicitly: she…had such beautiful golden eyes and raven hair.

"How…How do you know her?!" The question was asked with a guttural howl as Orochimaru's skin cracked and began to break, to reveal the inner and true body of him.

Tobirama laughed, he laughed as he brought his right hand to a closing motion of a fist, constricting the Sannin's body.

"I solved rat problems in Konoha before you were even born! Do you believe that my fake death stopped my experiments? I just relocated! The war helped to hide my tracks, and you should know what the first casualties of war are, isn't that right, little Oro-kun?"

Fury erupted like molten lava from an active volcano, as the sannin simply screamed to the skies, his body breaking up completely.

With a startled but mocked face filled with shock, Tobirama opened his arms wide as the Sannin entered his body, to try and wrestle it over.

Did he really think…he could win in a mind battle against him, of all people?

"Now my dear grandniece," Tobirama commented, turning to stare at Tsunade, who had barely arrived, "Or should I say granddaughter, come closer and tell me all you know."

He beckoned her with his right hand, but she stood still, looking at him, waiting for something.

Tobirama merely smiled, before adding.

"What? Don't you want to hug your grandfather? I still remember Mito-chan's drunken night, you know? She was such a prude outside, but once under the bed sheets…roar," he added with a mocking tone, "your father was born that way, you know? He even outlived Hashirama's precious first born, proves that being first isn't always a plus."

"Wh…What are you…doing here?" Tsunade managed to stutter out.

"You mean, me being alive, me destroying Konoha, or me generally doing my thing?" Tobirama retorted, with such calm, such ease, that Tsunade simply popped a vein in her forehead.

"You…You killed…"

"I killed," the Nidaime said shrugging, "I also lied, I deceived, I misdirected, I was the prime cause of the third shinobi war, and nobody realized it. I was the cause of the second shinobi war, and nobody realized it. I used the first one to lay the foundation of all my works and nobody even saw it fit to ask, to damn frigging ask why I stayed behind. I mean: I was in my prime, there were six shinobis I could choose from, why me?" He snorted, "Teammates? Friendship? Doing what is right? Do you know my words, '_Guide the people, and believe in them, for it's from among them that one will come who will carry on when your time is done'_ ? Well, the meaning of that sentence was completely different." He narrowed his eyes, as the thunder sword deformed into a chakram of thunder.

"What I wanted to say was that from those you nourish and trust there will one day rise the man that will stab you in back…just like I said to protect those who had faith and to train those of the next generation, because by controlling them, you can control the future. If you control the future," Tobirama gestured with his hand around him, "Then you control the world."

"There is a Body, a Mind and a Technique," the Nidaime muttered, "There is a past, a future and a present. There is darkness rooted in each and every individual. Some take days, other take years, but eventually all who walk upon the path of shinobi will bloom into wretched being of darkness. There is no way to stray from this path! There is no way…but my way."

The chakram flew, just as Tsunade lowered herself in time to end up with her ponytails cut, but not her head.

"A way that is of pain, devastation and slaughter. A way that shows the world the atrocities it has committed, a way that leaves behind no shinobi, no being of darkness…complete eradication…" Tobirama chuckled, "And yet I couldn't do that. That was my way, but I couldn't follow it through." He grinned, as Tsunade barely managed to roll to the side, avoiding jet blasts of electrified water.

"I couldn't, I needed to do something else…and so…so came the Heredity Project." He spoke quietly, "but now…now the mind of Orochimaru is growing thinner within my body, and soon, pretty soon, all that he knew will be mine. When that time will come, then Naruto will lose. For the enemy that knows is the enemy that wins…"

"Stop. Ranting." Tsunade hissed, nearly choking down as her very own saliva tried to turn against her, forcing her to spit it. When she did, the spit stilled in mid-air, before turning around and darting straight through her flesh.

"I was playing with Orochimaru, Tsunade-chan," Tobirama commented, "I will not play with you: I don't have the time." He added rolling his eyes, "You don't even have any of the grace Mito had. You must take from your mother's side of the family I suppose."

It was then, just as Tobirama was going through the single hand sign of his famed water dragon that he stilled. In that second of disbelief, Tsunade charged, her chakra enhanced punch ready to tear to smithereens the Nidaime, only for it to pass straight through his armor, without making any discernible damage.

Tsunade didn't stop trying to fling punches after punches at the man, but they all passed through his seemingly frozen body. She could see it: the Nidaime was shocked and figuring out something, but then, just then, just as he was about to let out a howl of primeval rage and hatred…

Wooden pillars raised themselves from the ground around the village, contorting into wicked and twisted vines that reached up above, towards the skies, before plummeting down upon the rest of the city.

Tsunade watched with morbid fascination as the Nidaime's body became physical once more, she watched with shock and surprise as the branches did not discern friend from foe and attacked her too.

She did not flinch as her heart gave way.

She did not flinch in death, as she realized that, after all, she was going to meet everyone she loved.

It was a bitter afterthought, but Naruto…Naruto was no longer in her thoughts as a loved one…and that was her only regret. She was a culprit, just like everyone else…so what did she not feel sadness?

Why did she not fight back?

Because she felt so sleepy…

Because she…saw, the blurry figure of Hashirama moving through the trees, and that…that clearly had to mean she was already dead...right?

*Kushina*

Kushina's chains nicked repeatedly at Haku's ice dome, but it seemed to be for nothing.

The scratches would be closed in seconds, and the senbons flying around were definitively starting to hurt the fierce red haired woman.

"Please give up, Namikaze-san," the girl commented, "For Zabuza-sama, I have to do this."

"Please Haku! You're lying to yourself! You know Naruto is lying to you! There is no way to bring back the dead of their own free will!"

Haku stilled, for a moment, but then she resumed her incessant attacks.

"No, that is not true: he gave me proof…he's coming, and he's the proof."

"Who? Who is coming Haku!?" Kushina's yell was deafened by the explosions that rocked the dome of Kirigakure, as the water began to descend upon the village, and the screams echoed in the air.

"Oh no…the counter seals…" The Uzumaki woman knew that it was impossible. It should have been perfect. The seals were designed to be perfect.

There was no way they could be destroyed.

There was no way they could be removed with such ease.

There was simply no-one who had the skill to do so…and yet, there they stood, destroyed.

As the ceiling began to crack, Kushina expected the security mechanism to initiate the village's rising movement…but it did not happen.

Haku did not move, standing still with Yugito encased in ice next to her. It took but a moment, and a masked figure leapt into the dome. The cloak was that of Akatsuki, the mask was that of Tobi…but it was not Tobi the one behind the mask. The flash of light for his appearance, that…that was something Kushina had known, and when the mask gave way, removed, the red haired Habanero, Kushina Namikaze, let out a startled gasp.

For in all of his undead glory, Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage, stood there. Reborn from the Edo Tensei, his blond hair was still, unmoved by the wind. His eyes turned softer, at the sight of his wife, but no words escaped his lips as he merely shook his head.

"Mi…Minato…"

"I am here for the Nibi," the Yondaime commented.

"Did he do this?" Kushina hissed, "Did Naruto bring you back to life?"

Her chains rattled, as her rage menaced to blind her in that instant…it didn't matter that the ceiling was falling upon them, or that the rage of the ocean was pooling its resources on them…all that mattered was to find Naruto, and have her revenge on him.

"No," Minato whispered back, "Tobirama Senju did…and I am not the only one."

"Let's go!" Haku yelled, enraged, "We don't have time for this! I have to bring back Zabuza…"

The moment the girl left the protection of her ice mirrors, many things happened at the same time.

Kushina shot her chains forward, hoping to get to Yugito. Haku moved her hand upwards, trying to conjure an ice wall. Minato moved to grab Haku and the Nibi Jinchuuriki's frozen form. Itachi Uchiha emerged from only he knew where, deeply embedding his sword within Haku's spine.

The next second, none of the fighters was any longer within the village that soon ended up beneath the sea…the last drowning gurgles of the survivor haunting the bubbles of air that would surely end with enough time…

A village had been lost, not the first or the last, but all the lives, all the hopes, dreams, all the desire for a better future…were all crushed by the ambition of men: No…not of men, of monsters, those monsters known as Shinobi.

When they arrived, Kushina's chains were already preparing themselves for yet another attack, only for a sword to press against her neck. They stood upon what looked like the charred remains of a battlefield, one that had seen the sand itself turn into brittle glass, considering how it shimmered with the light of the sun.

Signs of explosive rocked the entirety of the surface, but whoever had done this had long since left the area. A bathysphere was the only thing that belonged to New Kirigakure, and that made it all the more evident that their location was in its close proximity: the sphere made of metal was still floating gently, the waves having yet to reclaim it.

"Haku…My blade." With the voice, the familiar voice of Zabuza hissing behind her, Kushina knew that something was just…not right.

Yet she could do nothing to stop the strangely rejoicing Haku from throwing the giant blade to the hand of the demon of the mist reborn, or resurrected, that took it with ease with his free left hand.

"Finally, Kubikiribōchō is back within my hands," the man growled, pushing with a strong kick Kushina on the ground, the sword swinging vertically to cleave the woman in two. However, the chakra chains that sprouted from the woman's back parried the blow, forcing the Uzumaki woman to grit her teeth from the effort.

"Futile." The man commented, his sword continuously slashing against the chains, without even an effort of changing tactics. Kushina's eyes settled upon the Yondaime, who looked at the scene with dead eyes, not even sporting the glint of an emotion.

Haku instead seemed to be in a sort of cheerful and gleeful mood, giggling madly at the sight of her Zabuza moving around. The girl had lost it a long time before, but Kushina had thought, hoped, she would return to the most 'sane' part of the shinobi world. She had been wrong, obviously.

She had been wrong on so many things…she had done so many things wrong, that she seriously was starting to think that her entire life had been a mistake. She had thrown out Naruto, instead of listening to him, instead of trying to understand him. She had done all that she could to bring him back all too late, and she had lied to him, and now…now she was paying her price, wasn't she?

Katsumi was going to be fine, she knew it. If the seals on the cage broke, the Kyuubi would take over and bring her to safety. But then again, if Minato had asked for the Nibi…then why didn't he ask for the Kyuubi too? Did he already have her?

Her eyes flickered for a moment to where Itachi was, speaking in a low murmur to the Hokage, who suddenly tensed after the Uchiha said something.

"Persistent," Zabuza growled, before snickering, "Well, I stretched enough." And then, without delay, another blow came down. This time, however, Kushina dispersed into a cloud of smoke, as the real one appeared, her Katana in hand, from Zabuza's side.

The Kubikiribōchō moved by the will of the Demon of the mist, and its flat side parried the blade, before pushing back the assault. He swung the massive cleaver sword in a half moon pattern, only for Kushina to duck beneath it, her red hair flying wildly in the air. Two chains came from beneath the ground, impaling the man's feet as the brief instant of distraction granted Kushina the chance to plunge her sword straight into the man's heart.

She didn't smile, however, or yell. She swiftly jumped backwards, in order to avoid a tsunami of ice that came at her from Haku's side.

"Zabuza-sama! Don't touch him you filthy whore!" As Haku's ice senbons hailed at her, Zabuza merely chuckled, before removing with a deliberately slow motion the katana from his chest. Not a drop of blood emerged, nor did the man wince in pain. Such was the level of the forbidden jutsu used. Such was the strength of Edo Tensei.

The blade cleaved down once more, as the man charged forward to behead the Uzumaki woman. This time, however, Itachi intervened, his sword intercepting and parrying the bigger one.

"We need her alive!" He hissed, "Without her daughter, she's the only one we can use to subdue him!"

Zabuza merely growled, before placing his sword on his back, securing it with some sort of hooks that attached themselves to the holes within the blade.

Kushina tried to stand up and run, but Haku's senbons hit her in the calves and in her legs, sending her sprawling on the ground.

It didn't much matter by then: she was surrounded by S-rank shinobis, and Minato could use the Hiraishin to reach her in less than a second. So she surrendered. At least, if she did manage to get near Naruto, she might just try one last time and see if her son actually had a heart, somewhere, or if it was too late…of one thing, however, she was glad: they didn't have her daughter.

*Anko*

The smell of charred flesh filled her nostrils, but she did not care. The wind howled fiercely, but felt like nothing to her covered in scales body. The flames that burned straight out of her deformed lungs melted the steel upon the samurais' bodies. The spears and lances enhanced by chakra were deflected by her natural armor that strengthened around the areas soon to be hit.

Another wave of fire erupted from the back of her throat, condensed into a ball that exploded straight into the formation of advancing samurais. Screams of the dying filled the air, but she did not care.

She was protecting her family. She was protecting her heaven. She was protecting Naruto and Yumi.

Karin was there too, but Naruto and Yumi were more important.

Her hands stretched even more as claws, and her teeth began to hurt as they turned to fierce and pointed fangs that emerged from her mouth. She was far less of a human now, and far more of a monster.

Yumi was shivering right next to her father's body. She was crying, she was afraid, she was scared. She was seeing her mother kill people like they were flies and her big sister doing her best to keep calm and healing their father.

Their undefeatable father that never lost a game of tag or that was kind enough to let her take leave in his office. The father that tucked her in and went out of his way to be there for parents reunions and the like. The father that was there when she got wounded or cried…yet now he was there, in the snow, bleeding. Yumi knew what bleeding meant.

They were trained in the academy to know it. Bleeding had to be closed quickly, or the man would die. There was no other explanation: she was only a first year after all…yet she knew he was going to die.

Her father was going to die and nobody was going to save him.

So she cried. She cried because she was but a child. She had little to no training, little to no expertise on the matter. She had nothing.

She had nothing and she grieved because of it.

It was the sound of the cries that awoke Naruto. It was that and Karin letting her blood to find its own way through the man's throat.

The pale blue eyes of Naruto opened up just as Anko's monstrous form reached the final two digits. The number reached the nine, and Naruto barely got up to sit, a bawling Yumi reaching for his leg. The number got to eight, and Karin looked around frightened, scuttling closer to her father.

It went to seven, and Naruto stood shakily up.

It went to six, and a small orange pebble was inserted into Naruto's mouth.

It went to five, and the Nidaime no Sairai moved towards the back of Anko.

It went to four, and Anko felt a weight on her back.

It went to three, and Naruto pulled out a scroll, wiping blood over it.

It went to two, and the scroll lit up with strange arrays of seals.

It went to one, and the seals glowed.

The moment it reached zero, seals etched themselves out of Naruto's scroll and straight into Anko's neck area.

Then the woman slumped on the ground, her form reverting, and Naruto Senju, Nidaime no Sairai, muttered a single word.

"Shiromari! Commence plan Alpha!" The yell echoed through the samurais' lines all the way to the back. It reached the tree tops and the winds, the howling winds. The winds that suddenly parted because it hadn't been nature to create them, but something else...

Shiromari, her red eyes glowing, howled from the nearby treetops, and the wind flew…it flew as it blasted off samurais like they were paper airplanes. It flew through the armor cracks with freezing intensity, and those who stayed on the ground turned to cold, icy statues…

And the giant chameleon stood quiet for a moment.

Then, in a moment of tense silence, it finally spoke.

"The master's plan appears to have been fruitful."

And to that, Naruto merely grinned.

Elsewhere, A and Mei were both flinging kunais at Mifune, who easily deflected them with his blade, while at the same time charging forward. Chojuro moved to intercept him, aided by Omoi and Mangetsu, and yet, even when three blades, two of which from Kirigakure, came to clash down on the steel of the leader of the land of iron…the sword did not shatter.

"It is the Bushido of the samurai: the sword is the samurai's soul. Unyielding, undying, eternal." Mifune spoke, as he overcame the combined strength of the three men, before twisting his Katana to the side, letting it slash horizontally on his enemies. Chojuro, with his broken leg, could not move back fast enough.

The teen's head rolled on the ground, as Mangetsu gulped: he was glad he had taken the risk of turning to a semi-liquid state. He'd have died otherwise.

Omoi had been the furthest away of the three, and thus had the most time to move backwards, resulting in him only getting nicked in the cheek. The blood began to slowly drip down, as Mifune merely chuckled, before sidestepping. Doing so avoided him the palm strike coming from C, while at the same time brought him in the trajectory to lower his blade and parry the upcoming attack of the Raikage's left arm.

Mei went through the hand signs for yet another technique, but shrugging off the Kumogakure's kage like he was a light weight, Mifune charged at her, his blade ready. It was C who somehow recovered fast enough to shunshin straight on the path of the samurais' leader, kunai ready to intercept the blow.

The blow came, but the sword cut through the iron of the kunai like it was butter, reaching through it and C's Jounin armor, leaving a wide and bleeding wound behind. Yet he had been lucky too in surviving said attack: the kunai and the vest had greatly lessened the otherwise lethal impact.

Samurais began to pour towards the mountain, in an effort to provide aid to their leader, completely ignoring the Konoha Kage who seemed worst for wear.

Yet they couldn't distract themselves now: Mifune thrived with said distractions and made them pay in lives. Mei had jumped backwards, and as the man had followed, so too had the Raikage moved to intercept. The electrically charged fist reached to the side of the leader of the land of iron, flinging him against the ground, but then the man got up, graciously so too.

"A samurai's armor is as thick as his unrelenting spirit," Mifune quoted once more, as his neck cracked under his movements to 'ease' the muscles.

A gritted his teeth. This wasn't possible.

This wasn't meant to be possible. There was a hole there, in Mifune's armor. He should have been dead by now! Certainly after having fallen from so high, and without Ninja training, he should have been wounded. Yet why wasn't he? Why was he still there?

A high pitched noise caught everyone's attention, forcing for once all sides to stop: because it wasn't normal. The winds suddenly stilled atop the mountain's side, while down below, where the Hokage stood, they intensified, they condensed and then gave way to a veritable barrage, that send Sasori who had been flying close to the skirmish zone straight away from the battlefield, to crash against the mountain's side.

Mei didn't even stop to look back, as she hurried to reach for the red haired boy, Mangetsu in tow.

Chojuro was already dead, and her eyes had seen Kisame being charred alive by that monster of a woman. Heck, she had a new found respect for Konohagakure's kunoichis now, seeing how she was holding her ground against samurai divisions. Yet, that wasn't important. What was important was leaving, getting back home, and once there hope to solve the situation peacefully. Whatever had happened right there and then just meant that, once more, they had to retreat.

Everyone had been played by Mifune, if only they had been smarter about it! New Kirigakure was going to end up completely indebted, just like Kumogakure, and all for a war that had barely solved the pirate problems, and had by no way managed to conquer any strip of land worthy of notice. Furthermore, instead of bringing Konoha down, it just seemed that Konoha had risen once more above them.

Mei wasn't an idiot, but she had doubted the Hokage could have planned anything like this...until that precise moment. There were just too many things that could have gone wrong…How could one even begin to predict all the variables? Even though she used her flirtatious attitude, and her body, to act like a naïve bombshell, she hadn't survived the civil war and become the Kage of Kiri only because she was pretty.

She could think, and she knew that somehow, somewhere, and in some way the Hokage had managed to get out of the gutters that had instead swamped both Kumo and Kiri.

The question however remained the same: how?

The Raikage, on the other hand, wasn't that lucky to be able to think.

He didn't have the time. He was busy trying to juggle C's attempts at stemming the blood loss while holding said Jounin with his left arm and making as much distance as possible from the crumbling mountain with Omoi following him closely.

If he didn't know better, he'd think the mountain had a will of its own, starting to shake and quiver like…like it was alive.

Kamereon's eyes flickered open, and by the will of his summoner, the earth broke and cracked.

The three wolf faces splintered and fell; their meaning of trust and neutrality shattered as the ground itself gave way to the rising steams from deep below the frozen surface.

C didn't have the time to warn anyone, wounded as he was. Omoi couldn't manage to dodge. A was too busy not dying. Mangetsu felt the ground itself disappear beneath him. Mei Terumi's eyes opened both wide in shock. The samurais nearby looked with renewed determination at the crumbling mountain. They knelt on their knees, and stood still. The symbol of their Bushido had been destroyed by the arrogance of their leader. They had followed him in honor, and now they would have to die to make amend. The sacred mountain had given its answer to their actions.

Mifune stood in a quiet awe, his gaze locked upon the elder summon.

"But…when…how…"

"We can wait," Kamereon replied in a low growl, the voice echoing and tearing apart the very ground, and then, the mountain side came down upon the samurai. The strength of nature itself was something far too strong for him to parry, or dodge. When it settled, when the rocks and the dirt and the ground itself stilled, there was no mountain any longer.

Shiromari lunged forward with its maws, gently grabbing a hold of Naruto and the rest of his family, tucking them away in a spare pocket of her stomach before starting to run away, turning invisible. Kamereon looked with tired eyes, for a chameleon, to the rest of the assembled men and women, and muttered.

"Loyalty is what makes us strong." With those parting words, the boss of the chameleons disappeared into a giant puff of smoke, leaving behind the already ready to die samurais, a staggering Mizukage, and a bleeding to near-death Raikage and C.

*Land of the Sky*

The land of the sky's engines hummed quietly, as Yugao Uzuki and Genma Shiranui overlooked with their binoculars the road ahead of them. The two Konoha shinobi were on the lookout for possible troubles, as behind them the rest of the flying city bustled with activities. The Konoha villagers had taken the transfer with a pinch of salt, considering they had no idea how they had actually been brought there, nor how to leave. Still, it was all under orders of their Hokage, and because of the war, they actually felt that it was better be safe in a strange place flying above the clouds, than sorry and dying on the ground.

Had they known that they had literally been kidnapped in their sleep by trained Anbu soldiers, transferred through the use of complex seal arrays to the flying city, and left there for their own safety, then maybe, just maybe, there wouldn't have been half the chaos there currently was.

The shinobi had taken it easily: orders were orders and had to be followed. The shinobi families had understood, but the civilians? It had been months, months! Months of staying up there without any way of perusing their businesses! The only thing that kept them from outright revolting was that the Hokage, or at least, that was what the rumors said, would be refunding any loss encountered by the civilian party once it was all over.

Sometimes, however, shinobi had to intervene.

"Is Iruka fine now?" Yugao queried quietly.

"He's doing good," Genma replied, "Raido got to him in time, and the rioters were put down."  
"Can't believe there's a war, people are kept safe, and they have to riot."

"Don't tell me. You heard from Hayate?"

"He's doing fine. The POW camps have been emptied, so he should come by as soon as all traces are removed." Genma merely nodded to that information, before a sour look overtook his face.

"I don't like this."

"Welcome to the club," a voice spoke from behind them, forcing both to jolt back and stare at the newcomer.

"Scared the hell out of me Ebisu!" Yugao muttered, "I'm not in the mood."

"The Sandaime's grandson has been sedated," Ebisu whispered back, "Indeed, Shizune-san is right now looking over the mind-altering Genjutsu he was put in…they're making astonishing progress."

"And you still look that haunted?" Genma muttered, arching an eyebrow.

Ebisu coughed slightly, before shaking his head.

"It's not that I don't trust the Hokage, but the progress made is…mechanical, periodical. I know all too well how there is usually some sort of distance, of irregularity between one and another…it's just like if…"

"They were feeding the info, having already researched it?" Genma completed the sentence, before overlooking once more ahead of them, "Well, you know the drill: if we're not cleared, then we don't have to know."

Yugao snorted, before grabbing the binoculars, "Doesn't mean we have to like it though."

"Still…it would be good to know at least what enemy we're fighting. It's not Kumo and it's not Kiri," Ebisu replied, placing his glasses back at the bridge of his nose.

"I've got the sights on plan Alpha," Yugao commented drily, "Team 'Mighty Beast' is at it right now."

"Why did they let Gai, of all people, choose the name?" Genma replied with an inquiring tone.

"I believe they lost a bet with him," Ebisu added, "That, and they made him promise it wouldn't be a continuous 'Youth!' power nagging."

The land of sky, a vast infrastructure of metal, gently hovered over the now stopped moving castle of Haido. Gently, its belly opened revealing small, in comparison to the two towering structures, golden airplanes that glided downwards with ease.

The Sunagakure civilians, ragged, dirty and malnourished, were eased aboard the bigger planes that could carry more than just one person. The other shinobis instead began to dismantle the castle, moving nimbly and quietly along the silently haunting corridors.

Gai overlooked the exchange while eying the Akatsuki member known as Hidan, who seemed to be, rightly so, distrustful.

He was an S-rank shinobi, surrounded by Konoha Nins. He had no doubt that he could escape with ease, being immortal and all. The problem was with Fu, who stood still out of her lights. He might have been fine with accompanying the Konoha shinobis, but that didn't mean he'd have the girl leave his sights.

Not on his very far away death bed.

Still, the fact that the green 'beast of Konoha' was dangerously close to him was starting to worry him. It was just like he was a tiger ready to pounce on him at a second's notice: but wasn't he just ranting about youth while the others merely chuckled and gave away with it?

Wasn't it just that, an idiot who just so happened to be powerful, like Tobi? And then again, wasn't the statue…was he even Akatsuki any longer? The statue, Hashirama reborn, was he still alive after the fall? Wasn't he meant to be coming back? Did something happen to him? Did Kakuzu take him down for good?

He didn't know that, but he did know he was going to protect Fu for the moment, and worry about the rest later.

Those were his thoughts, before wooden branches grew from the very ground he was on, latching firmly upon his body and holding him still.

As they did, he could clearly feel his head being removed by a quick sword swipe, while the rest of his body was smashed to a pulp by the ranting about youth man. A Genjutsu had taken over his mind while he had been worried in thoughts. Now, his head was rolling upon the metallic surface, and he was all too stunned to even think properly.

Wasn't Hashirama…wasn't he working for Akatsuki then? Was he working for Konoha? But then, why the…why the statue? Wasn't that theirs?

Yamato merely grunted in effort, nodding slightly to the other assembled shinobis as he appeared from the side of the structure.

"Target acquired." He muttered, as a scowl-looking Gai nodded silently while grabbing the still knocked out Fu.

"This is most unyouthful…"

"It's the only way," Yamato whispered back, holding the girl and then dashing off towards the side, falling downwards while using the Mokuton to create a sort of bridge to the tree tops down below.

Down below, the figure of Hashirama waited quietly. His eyes stood dead, yet they looked with ill-conceived anger at the man who appeared in front of him, having gone mere minutes before up, claiming he could get the seven tails without wasting any more time.

"And yet another innocent goes, for the will of a mad man once known as my brother," the first Hokage whispered, his head shaking slowly, "Who are we to refute? Is free will no longer ours?"

"We're shinobis." Yamato merely replied, holding back the nervousness in his voice, "Do I have your master's word?"

"You do: your daughter will be kept safe."

The exchange went in silence, and then Hashirama was no longer there, disappearing into a twirling of air. Yamato merely clenched his fists, hitting at the ground with his teeth gritting furiously.

Why could nothing ever go the way he wanted it to?

Why, just why, did he have to lose everything, every time, by the machinations of others?

He sighed deeply, easing the Anbu mask once more on his face. He couldn't stop now…he had a mission to do.

*Nagato*

"The blade does not cut, unless you wish it to," Nagato murmured, "Yet I do not believe a blade can stop being an instrument of murder."

"The blade is but a tool. Keep it sheathed and it can harm no-one." Hinata retorted, as the two seemingly strange companions walked towards their destination.

"I remain of the belief that a blade must be shattered, in order to fully stop it from harming."

"If you shatter the blade, won't the splinters be dangerous still? Better to sheathe it and avoid it from coming out."

"A sheath can be broken." Nagato retorted.

"Not if it's strong enough." Hinata murmured back, "And one built by a master craftsman cannot be broken."

"Nothing is eternal." The leader of Akatsuki retorted, "Nothing ever is."

"Tell me about it," Hinata rolled her eyes as she heard, once more, the rant of red haired man. She just knew this wasn't going to go as planned. All that she had wanted was but a chance to earn her teacher's forgiveness, and now that she was given said chance, she had no idea how to proceed.

She had been given few sparse words, all to help bring Nagato on their side, but then again, she could have been dead already, and she had no idea why the man had kept her alive. Maybe he was just too taken by nursing the blue haired woman that was on his shoulders, rather than kill her? Or probably it was just because he needed her as a hostage if things went sour.

It could have been either, and it wouldn't have mattered anyhow. She was doing this for Naruto-sensei, for his forgiveness. It wouldn't have mattered if he had asked her to swim in an active volcano or drink up the ocean: she'd have done it nevertheless for him.

Maybe it was the cursed seal effects, but she knew it wasn't true: this was love, her love for him. Sure, it might have been a bit twisted, but it was that and only that. She knew he'd come around, eventually. Maybe he just needed for her to show him how trustworthy and loyal she was.

Even if she had to die to accomplish that, what was death compared to love?

"Nagato, Nagato…you amuse me to no end." Tobi spoke, appearing out of thin air in the middle of the desolate wasteland that was halfway between the land of lightning of border and the land of water border, straight in the land of fire.

"I thought you'd kill all in Kumo…why is the Hyuga still alive?" The masked man queried, a light chuckle escaping his lips.

"Because she provided useful information," Nagato replied, his voice monotone as his rinnegan flared, "Especially on your true intentions, Tobirama."

Tobi ducked, avoiding the massive pincers of a swiftly summoned centipede with rinnegan eyes. He merely chuckled, as he disappeared within a flash of yellow light.

The next moment, three pronged kunais had surrounded the entirety of the area, and as the man removed his mask, Minato Namikaze appeared in all of his undead glory.

But his eyes were a pale blue, far paler than the cerulean they used to have.

"My…it appears you have been sorely mistaken," the voice drawled out, "And sorely misinformed…but it does not matter. I will solve this problem, and acquire your eyes nevertheless."

"My eyes?" Nagato hissed, as Hinata jumped backwards, her eyes flickering from Nagato to…the resurrected Yondaime and viceversa.

"Indeed. Tobirama is proving to be…difficult, and lacking a Senju Dna…I'll have to do with the Rinnegan."

The blond haired man smiled gently.

"Kindly die for me, Nagato."

Then, in a flash, he was gone. Nagato could but swiftly jump forward, avoiding a rasengan that came straight to him on the side. He spun and kicked at the Yondaime's side, only for the man to disappear again, reappearing behind him and flinging down his kunai on the red haired man's back.

Nagato had but the time to throw Konan to the side, and that got him a nasty laceration parallel to his spine.

"Shinra Tensei!" The roar bellowed by Nagato's throat scattered the kunais around the area, but as the Hokage itself disappeared, he reappeared but a second afterwards.

"The attack goes in waves," he noted quietly, as he reached straight for the man's heart, "A pity that it has a five seconds delay."

"Teppodama!" The sphere of water emerged from Pain's throat, hitting dead-on the Yondaime, and sending him to fly backwards of several meters, before the man managed to regain his footing, and skillfully restart his charge.

"Banshō Ten'in!" Nagato hissed. If the Yondaime wanted to get closer…then he'd move him closer!

"Foolish." The 'Yondaime' spoke, as his cloak opened wide, to reveal seals that began to light up. Hundreds of kunais flung themselves forward, aided by the magnetic pull, but Nagato was ready all the same. The man jumped backwards, throwing straight ahead of him a large blue sphere.

"Fūjutsu Kyūin!" The blue and white sphere engulfed the Yondaime, as chakra seemingly moved from the dead body to the living one of Nagato, who appeared far more in health than before.

"This technique is how I got my legs back the first time," he muttered, "Let's see you doing anything now, Kyuubi."

A loud chuckle escaped from behind the man's back, as the three pronged kunai of the Yondaime made its way straight through the man's spine.

"Let's take them away again then!" The Yondaime's face deformed into a mask of madness, as twin blue flames erupted from the man's eyes, "You think your precious eyes see all? You know nothing! I'm the one who will have the final laugh!"

Hinata moved. Her right hand reached forward, engulfed into the fire chakra as her Byakugan activated. She ducked under a Kage Bunshin of Minato that had suddenly appeared to her side, rasengan in his hand. The sphere of destructive chakra wheezed over her head, before a sharp kick from the Yondaime forced her to parry and renounce intervening on the battle against the two destructive forces ahead of her.

"A young girl like you shouldn't intervene in a battle with stronger guys," the Yondaime's Kage Bunshin muttered, only for a tick mark to appear on Hinata's forehead.

"Was that a sexist remark you frigging…"

Minato took a step back, avoiding a barrage of fists and hits that seemed more targeted at his manhood than at his entire body.

"Hey! No, that wasn't what…" and just then, Hinata smirked.

"Got you in range. Ho Hari!" the flaming hands of the Hyuga turned into stacks of fire needles that launched themselves forward at point blank range against the Yondaime's Bunshin. The bunshin disappeared in a puff of smoke, tendrils of pale blue chakra lashing out from within its confinement, before outright dashing back towards the main body, busy battling a now staggering Nagato.

"Oh…now that did get my attention, little Hyuga," a sultry voice whispered, "A pity. You showed promise."

As the girl spun around, trying to pinpoint the location of said voice, it was too late that she realized that she hadn't actually heard it from her ears.

No, the voice had come straight out of her thoughts.

Nerve wracking pain passed through her, as the nine nines seal on her neck flared to life, forcing her on the ground as she could see with her byakugan her chakra system being broken down. The strength of the chakra itself wasn't the problem: it was just how it was silently cannibalizing the entirety of her chakra coils, removing the chakra bit by bit.

Blood escaped from the Hyuga's mouth, as she lay there, coughing and retching in spasms. When it was over, she stood as an empty shell of flesh and blood.

Meanwhile, the Yondaime simply snorted at the sight of Nagato raising his hand to conjure a small black sphere. Too fast to be seen, a rasengan found its way straight against said core, destroying the technique before it could be unleashed.

"Resorting to suicidal techniques now? It won't work." The Kyuubi-Yondaime spoke slowly, "Surrender, and maybe I'll spare her."

Nagato merely snorted, before shaking his head.

"You lie."

"Oh my, you got me!" The Yondaime chuckled, as his right fist drove itself deep within Nagato's guts, "You know nothing of lies and deceits." He hissed, as his left hand drove the three pronged kunai into the man's neck from the side, "And you will never know."

"Says…who?" The man whispered, as pale green chakra surrounded his body, "Maybe I don't…but if…if my dream can never be achieved…then I will erase yours too!" the wound in the man's neck closed, just as the red hair became white.

"Let my revenge be my justice, if you want my eyes, my power…then I will sacrifice them together with you!"

"Huh? What are…" The words died in the mouth of the Yondaime, as black rods emerged from Nagato's chest, hitting straight ahead and piercing through the Edo Tensei body.

"Chakra…cannon." The man whispered, as his entire body began to glow blue.

"Wait! You can't be serious!" The Yondaime snarled, trying to use Hiraishin to leave, only to find itself blocked.

"The chakra pulse is sent around to your kunais and they answer back for summoning you," Nagato whispered, "But now they pass through the rods…and I absorb them," the glow intensified, "It does not matter…you used me. You used Akatsuki. You used its members. I don't care…I'm stopping you here...Kyuubi."

"Stupid arrogant idiot!" The Yondaime snarled, "I am not even in this body to begin with! You are just wasting your life!"

Nagato merely chuckled, as the light grew even brighter.

"Maybe I am…but I'll entrust my justice, my revenge…to someone who knows and will defeat you."

"You know nothing!" and with that final exclamation, Nagato exploded in a devastating pulse of chakra, tearing apart to a molecular level even the Yondaime's reborn body, leaving behind only charred land.

Hinata's opaque eyes caught the slumping sight of Konan's form slowly get on her knees. The blue haired woman had barely stood on her knees, that her weight wobbled forward, already prepared to fall downwards.

Yet, a chest met the side of her face, and when the Akatsuki member looked at who the chest belonged to, she let out a blood curled whimper, before darkness claimed her once more.

*Katsumi Namikaze*

She had thought she'd be free. She had thought everything was over. Yet why was she staring at the fallen bodies of Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru?

Why was she looking at an entire group of Black Ops Anbu brought down to its knees and defeated in the blink of an eye?

Why was she staring at an Iwagakure shinobi, holding upon her three tails of pure blue chakra?

And why…why was her blood boiling back at the scene? Why had the sky such a bright fierce blue up above, like if to mock their misery? Why was the plain such a verdant green and why were the leaves falling from the trees without a care, while she could feel the despair assault her soul?

"So he decided to make it difficult, huh!?" The voice of Kurotsuchi snarled ferociously, "Fine! I'll just have to rip them out from the Edo Tensei body!" She howled, before turning her full attention to the situation at hand.

"But first…you are going to come back where you belong, Kyuubi." She hissed, as Katsumi felt her stomach area, where the seal was, flare with pain and tremble, as chakra was forcefully extracted.

"That's right. Accept this deal and don't fight back." Kurotsuchi snapped, "I have waited for decades…waited and waited for this moment, since I was sealed the first time."

Katsumi staggered on her feet, clenching her fists as one of the blue chakra tails was passing her stomach side by side, turning purplish with streaks of pure red.

"Why?" She asked, her voice wavering under the pain.

"Why?" Kurotsuchi retorted, "Why? She asks why…isn't it the purpose of a prisoner to be freed?" she replied, "Isn't it the purpose of a death to have a meaning? Isn't freedom the highest thing to strive for? Or is it happiness? Is happiness in slavery better than sadness in freedom?"

"I…I don't understand."

"I thought so. You wouldn't, and you couldn't. You don't have the brains to understand it. Nobody does. I suppose we can enjoy the chat, while I absorb the Kyuubi's half from you," Kurotsuchi commented drily, as yet another blue tail appeared on her back.

"This one wasn't supposed to be here," the girl whispered, looking at the fluttering tail, "Did he lose? Couldn't be…it has to have been that other guy, the Yondaime…"

"Otousan?" Katsumi whispered, "But does my father have to do with all of this!?"

"Your father, Katsumi…was the prime culprit of all of this," Kurotsuchi exclaimed, opening her arms wide, "him and his master, Jiraiya, divided me in two! And that…" the kunoichi growled, "Was both a prize and a curse."

"Wait…you're the Kyuubi! But…it's supposed to be sealed in…"

"The Iron Seal couldn't contain a Bijuu that wishes to escape on its best days: do you really think it could contain me? The strongest of them all? Even half of my chakra would barely be contained by the Shiki Fuin! And he let me out…I did suggest it to him though, so maybe I'm to blame?" The girl teased with a light grin, "Just like I whispered in his ears for a long, long time…my hold on him is absolute, you know? Everything he does…he does it for me, because of me. And you? You served your purpose," the Kyuubi snarled, "Now…I no longer have a need for you."

The pain in the stomach grew even greater for Katsumi, who shrieked while both of her hands moved towards the tail, trying to remove it.

"Hum? Still moving, are you?" The nine tails mused, "I'll have to…oh, already here?"

Another blue tail sprouted from her back, as the kunoichi merely chuckled.

"Seems the seven tails has been sealed then: no need to keep Hashirama around…I've got Tobirama and he'll suffice." Another tail sprouted.

"You see, as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, I have nine tails," the Kyuubi spoke quietly, "Three, I kept within Naruto. One, I plunged deep within Zabuza, another in the Yondaime, a third I sent straight into Hashirama, a fourth entered Tobirama, the fifth was for Anko and the sixth I used on Hinata…then I removed two from Naruto, and plunged them in this body…and now? Now I'm getting them back. Doing so kills the hosts, but…I'm pretty sure nobody is going to mind, right?"

Sweat fell from Katsumi's brows, as her face contorted into a ferine mask of hatred.

"Oh…that face! The same face I had…come on, give it up! Give me back what is rightfully mine." The Kyuubi cooed, "Think about them, in the dirt, gasping for their last breaths as their chakra coils melt upon themselves! Think about those I killed destroying Konoha! Think those I betrayed: think…and get angry!"

"No…That's not…"

**Freedom is worth any price.**

"No…You can't have…" Katsumi's plead was met with a light smirk.

"It's a long, long tale," the Kyuubi spoke, "but now is not the time…I've…"

Then, on the back of the Kyuubi, eight tails suddenly stood to attention, of which five were now a deep scarlet color.

"Huh?" Kurama stopped, for a second, to stare at the tails. There were eight of them. That wasn't meant to be…possible.

"Wait…Wait…No. The Kages should have killed Anko during the battle against Naruto, the Yondaime with Nagato was a coincidence, but it's fine. The Hyuga was a failure and she was there…Two were with me from the beginning…who? Tobirama? Zabuza? N…Naruto?" The growls reached a new level.

"I see…" the Kyuubi hissed, "I underestimated him." She added, "But this won't happen again." The kunoichi vowed, as the rest of the tails plunged deep within Katsumi's stomach.

"First things first: I take back all that is mine from you, then I go and kill the bastard…and nothing…nothing you can do will stop me."

"Maybe she won't…but are you sure about _me_ being unable to stop you?" A voice inquired from the side of the clearing. It was then, that the Kyuubi turned her gaze to the side, and for once, she did, indeed, feel fear.

"Y…You!?" The roar that accompanied that question was met with the strong shaking of an earthquake, as the ground itself cracked open, ink erupting from the very soil to form chains and bindings.

"Oh my…always the potty mouth," the woman whispered once more, her red hair tied into two buns perched atop her head. Two piercings stood on her earlobes, both having papers with ink seals written on them. She was wearing a simple, light peach kimono, and her eyes were pupil-less.

"I thought I had told you once…_If you use your power, only hatred will come from it. Stay tranquil deep inside me_, but you did not listen: did you?" the woman asked, only to be met with a fierce violet furred claw, that dashed straight ahead to charge at the 'ghost', at the dead woman, at the haunting presence that was Mito Uzumaki.

The first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, the wife of Hashirama…someone that Kurama hadn't resurrected using Tobirama. No…how stupid had she been not to consider the possibility of Naruto using Edo Tensei? But even then…why had he been freed from her control?

"You are supposed to be dead!" The Kyuubi roared, "I felt you die when I was imprisoned again! Why did he bring you back to life?"

"Tobirama left behind a sloppy trail," Mito whispered, "Probably he didn't expect anyone else with the Mangekyou Sharingan to unlock the forbidden scroll, to have his own armor and sword, to have his own blood…Naruto has been quite the infiltration specialist in his youth, don't you agree?"

"Wait." The Kyuubi murmured, "You mean he knew about the Heredity project, even before the…the death of the Yondaime? I was there! I would have known!"

"Oh my…maybe you weren't there. Maybe you were too busy sleeping, or trying to control Anko-chan's thoughts, or maybe you simply were not smart enough…or maybe you were controlled by the Mangekyou? My…lots of possibilities."

"You can't stop Tobirama, not now that we're close." Kurama snarled, "There is no way you can win: even if you seal me, I'll still…"

"Poor, poor child…" Mito whispered, shaking her head as twin tags appeared between her fingers, "You truly think I'm going to try, again, to crudely seal you? It wouldn't solve the purpose."

"I can't be killed. I'll reform. I always reform." The cries of pain of Katsumi became sobbing whimpers, as the eight tails of the Kyuubi were now a deep red. "I'll need the Nibi…but that is something Tobirama will give me once he's done cleaning house."

"Poor, poor Tobi-kun," Mito murmured, "You used him, and me, didn't you? You made a connection between us during that…drunken mistake, and from there you began whispering in his ears promises of power."

"Oh no…" The kunoichi body actually smirked, "I promised him something else…I promised him…"

"Kagemane no Jutsu." Shikamaru muttered, from his fallen position. His shadow binding technique, however, stopped mere inches away from the Yin half of the Kyuubi, as even the Kikkaichus of Shino, springing up for a surprise attack, fell dead at the beast's feet.

"Oh my…I should have drained you to death," the Kyuubi snapped, looking at the Anbu team slowly getting back on their feet, "I must have forgotten about chakra pills."

"Yeah! Fat chances of that happening miss!" Kiba snapped, "Katsumi! Snap out of it! You should be kicking her butt, not whine in a corner!"

"Correct. My methods of attack are worthless." Shino stated drily, as Shikamaru cursed quietly, trying to think. If chakra was drained, then…

"She's lying." Shikamaru muttered, "She can't keep the draining up any more than that! Kiba! Full-out! Shino, go back-up!"

"On it!" Kiba yelled, as he ferociously got on four paws, chakra springing forward from his limbs as he jumped at the target. The soldier pill, taken while the Kyuubi had begun to drain them, had been Shikamaru's idea. It had actually worked, considering they had barely survived that sort of monstrous freak. Although they did receive help in putting it down…_flying_ help.

"Gatsuga!" Kiba's drill like motion was soon followed by Akamaru's, who however came from behind the proto-Jinchuuriki. The tails circled around the Kunoichi, flinging both the Inuzuka and Akamaru backwards, until Shino's Kikkaichus suddenly buzzed to life, finally reaching through the cracks and actually touching the woman itself.

Mito meanwhile unrolled a scroll that had been sealed in her right sleeve, and as she began to carefully brush upon the white surface with the tip of her finger, to chakra-write upon it, Shikamaru's eyes narrowed upon their enemy.

Katsumi was still halfway out like a light, not truly able to fight but not wanting to fall down and faint. She merely fought to stand, and just like that, she suddenly lurched forward.

As the Kikkaichus moved away, Shikamaru's eyes finally bulged in comprehension, seeing the red haired Namikaze punch straight through the tails at the woman's face.

"Those tails are chakra made…and the chakra is mostly Katsumi-chan's by now." He muttered, "Shino! Keep using the Kikkaichus to deliver chakra! She can't attack so close without killing Katsumi-chan too!" and there was something that ticked him off, that Katsumi wasn't meant to die until later…why?

"Naras…how I hate Naras…" the Kyuubi's voice was filled with disdain, as her hand moved to block another punch from Katsumi.

"The feeling is mutual," Shikamaru's mutters were lost in the cracking of the ground below them, as pale bone-like hands began to erupt.

"Genjutsu!" Shino exclaimed, only as a small chakra wave encompassed them all, disrupting it.

"Stop it Ku-chan, it won't work," Mito muttered, finishing the last stroke of the ink. "Immobilize her."

"Kagemane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru's low murmur of the technique was soon followed by the black streak of his shadow, erupting from the ground to land at the beast's feet.

The scroll swiftly wrapped itself around Kurotsuchi's body, pale flickering blue light emerging from within the scroll, as the seals written upon it purged the body from the hostile presence.

Minutes later, a wave of chakra detonated from the epicenter, sending Katsumi backwards, her back hitting against the earth before being stopped by Shikamaru himself, who gritted his teeth at the impact.

Kiba grunted in frustration, as he held on to Akamaru who was using his claws to keep his footing.

Shino merely stood unfazed, but he had been the furthest away of them all.

Mito Uzumaki…was gone the next moment.

*Tobirama*

Tobirama looked apprehensively from his spot at the valley of the end. Quietly, he was sitting atop the head of his older brother, looking all the more curious as to why Itachi was being so late.

He had felt Minato break off from the rest of them, to head over to get Nagato to move. That much he had felt through the Edo Tensei, but then the connection had grown blurry. Zabuza too had disappeared a moment later, but that much he had expected. After all, his plan, together with Itachi, was something far different than what the others could expect.

Zetsu was looking critically at the situation at hand, his golden eye fixed in front of him.

"Brings back memories," he bemused, "We fought here once, didn't we?"

"That you two did." Tobirama replied, his mask on his face.

"You're not really Tobi, are you?" The plant man queried.

"The Tobi you speak of is dead. You know that."

"Tsk. So much for being brought back to life." The black side of Zetsu spoke quietly, before black flames suddenly surrounded him. There were no screams of pain, as the plant-man burned to ashes. Maybe he simply did not feel it, or maybe it didn't matter any longer. The cause of the black fire appeared on the other side of the valley, however, and the Akatsuki cloak fluttered in the wind.

"My…Itachi. You shouldn't have gone that far you know?" The masked man commented drily, "You disposed of everyone?" He asked, only to receive a brief nod from the raven haired Uchiha, who brought forward the Nibi Jinchuuriki, beaten up and knocked out. Kushina was instead tied with ropes, a chakra suppressing seal pressed on her shoulder.

"It was most easy." The Uchiha replied quietly, "Shall we begin?"

Tobirama chuckled, before nodding. His hands moved through the hand signs, and the Gedo Mazo was thus summoned from the earth.

All its eyes except the Ninth and the second were now open, and for that Tobirama merely grinned.

"Seems like my brother has managed its own part…Then I can unsummon him now..." The chakra condensed around Tobirama's form, before the statue itself opened his mouth, thick blobs of energy emerging and surrounding the half-frozen and half-chained form of the Nibi Jinchuuriki.

"Everything comes to an end, doesn't it?" Tobirama whispered as the blue and golden hue of the Nibi's chakra began to enter the statue, "Just one more and everything will finally be over."

"Naruto will not be an easy opponent to defeat," Itachi commented, as his own chakra was added to the statue, in order to facilitate the removal of the Bijuu.

"What I created, I can destroy." The Nidaime merely commented, "I killed two sannins, does he really think he can beat me? Me who created him, who made him what he is now? Does he think I can be defeated by his tricks, the ones that I taught him?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, as suddenly he pivoted on the spot, unleashing a barrage of explosive kunais both at the Nibi Jinchuuriki and at Tobirama himself.

The explosions soared atop the head of the first Hokage's statue, but the Nidaime stood there quietly, his right hand already in the seal for the Suiton: Suijinheki.

The water deadened the explosion, as the kunais scattered around and the water began to rise.

"Kuchiyose." Tobirama hissed, as the puff of smoke to his side revealed Hashirama Senju, "Take care of him." The man commented as the first Hokage darted forward, uncaring for the water pressure that composed the defensive perimeter around the statue.

Itachi had jumped backward, starting to fall downwards towards the riverbed below. That action, that movement, the wind blowing upwards against his back as his eyes settled upon the pursuing Shodaime…it was all so familiar with that time, years before, when another Senju had battle him. This time, however, would it suffice?

Was it even the same, now?

"Amaterasu." The black flames of the sharingan sprouted from Hashirama's chest, but just as they did wood grew from it, before being cut off like a dry branch, falling downwards.

"Madara used better tricks," Hashirama commented, as a wooden storm of kunais emerged from both his hands, only to be blocked by a purple colored and enflamed armor.

"Susanoo, huh? It never gets old." The first Hokage muttered, "Useless, but still." The fall was abruptly stopped by a wooden platform that had grown, in the span of few seconds, from the ground itself. Itachi's Susanoo impacted with its back against the bark, before wooden pillars began to constrict and surround it.

"Do you know what my real strength is, Uchiha?" Hashirama whispered, quietly standing atop a wooden tree, sprouted from the very cage that seemed to hold still Itachi's Susanoo.

"It's Growth. Wood is but a byproduct, but the truth is that Growth is two-fold. On one side, I grow," at those words, flowers began to sprout from the bark, "on the other, feeding must be provided. So as one side grows, the other drains." Hashirama's words were met with the sizzling noise of chakra being absorbed from the Susanoo's ribs.

"Uchiha chakra is always so…cold, dead, horrid. Hatred fills your every moment, anger, rage, violence…such fate is your curse, isn't it?" The man added, before suddenly arching an eyebrow, "How quaint. You're different."

"Fate…is bullshit," Itachi hissed, the Susanoo's armor disappearing as thick white fog exploded literally around them, "What matters…is what we decide for ourselves."

"Kirigakure no Jutsu? Are you really, really going to…" the fog exploded in a deafening explosion of electricity, as the wood itself cracked and splintered.

Hashirama's chest was torn apart by the lightning jutsu known as the Raikiri, as Itachi merely kept his hand stuck deep within the man's chest.

"Maybe you're right," the Mangekyo sharingan twirled, his gaze locked with that of Hashirama, "but even if that is the case…I do not believe in you."

Swiftly, Itachi disengaged the hand and dashed to the other side of the riverbed, with Hashirama in quick pursuit, the wound already closing up the second the hand had been removed.

A wooden sword met a chakra enhanced one, and even though the Shodaime's one was splintered, from the cracks more blades grew, forcing Itachi to disentangle his own or risk having his right hand skewered.

The Akatsuki cloak was thrown straight ahead, and beneath it Itachi revealed an Anbu armor and twin Konoha chakra blades strapped to his chest. The third one in his hand was spun rhythmically as the sharingan traced the movement of the splinters and of the seedlings that seemed to sprout from within them.

"I changed a landscape, but Madara had the Kyuubi with him," Hashirama pointed out, "You hold no chance."

"I know," Itachi replied smoothly, "No need to repeat yourself," the man added, "but after all…I'm not alone, am I?"

"Huh?"

Chakra chains suddenly surrounded Hashirama's composition of trees, tearing them downwards as the red haired woman known as Kushina Namikaze entered the fray from her side, while the one chained and chakra-less disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"I'm still not convinced!" Kushina yelled, as more and more chains began to wrap themselves around Hashirama, "But just this one time, I'm taking a chance!"

The chains began to bulge, as they soon ended up being destroyed by the growth of more and more trees around Hashirama himself. The time that Kushina had given him, however, had been more than enough for Itachi to charge yet another Raikiri.

Just as the assassination jutsu landed, once more, against Hashirama's chest, so too did wooden spikes erupt from the man's own body, piercing through the Uchiha's armor and grievously injuring him.

Yet Itachi moved backwards, as more and more splinters…

"That, won't, work." Hashirama drawled, as the scene around him wavered and then broke, thousands upon thousands of flowers releasing a thick amount of pollen while branches smashed his own brain apart, before the Edo Tensei built it back.

"I fought Uchihas before, for years and years I did before peace was signed. You think I never faced Izanagi? Izanami? Susanoo? Amaterasu? Tsukuyomi? I faced them all! I…" the first Hokage exclaimed, as cloth bindings began to swirl around him, "This is…oh."

The next moment, Hashirama disappeared into ashes, a corpse been left in its place. Kushina had barely turned her gaze to stare at the bleeding Itachi that twin fists landed straight upon her face. On one side, Rock Lee with fire in his eyes, on the other there stood Sasuke Uchiha, while Neji was standing guard near the bleeding body of Itachi, Sakura already at work there.

"We're back and this is the mess we have to face? Sensei…I hope you know what you're doing." Neji murmured, his byakugan eyes settling their milky white gaze atop the head of Hashirama's statues.

The white and red Hokage's robes were flying in the wind, as twin cerulean orbs stared ahead, where a statue with eight open eyes stood. The wall of water had fallen down, to reveal the Nidaime in his armor, standing in front of the statue, only one eye remaining.

"So kind of you to come here," Tobirama mused, "I was thinking you'd be late," he added carefully, "But you wouldn't be, would you?"

Naruto said nothing: his eyes merely flickered from the now dead and cold body of the Nibi Jinchuuriki back to Tobirama himself.

"Right about now, my associate is capturing the nine tails," Tobirama added dutifully, "I'm sure you know, by now, who it is. I did consume Orochimaru to understand your ploy…that's why I'm here, holding you to fight instead of letting you go to kill Katsumi. Can't have…"

For a brief second, Tobirama merely looked with a kind of surprised face at Naruto, before it turned into a deep scowl of rage.

"How did you get…"

"Balanced, you mean?" Naruto candidly replied, raising an eyebrow, "Turns out, and this is a funny story, there's a kid called Sora that had been bestowed with some of the Kyuubi's Yang chakra after the beast's sealing. I might have crystalized it, and used it for my own gain." The Hokage retorted, "Once she was removed from my body, leaving behind but a figment, I could naturally balance it out, tap her out, and block the connection. I'm free. No Kyuubi in me any longer. You want your nine tails? You'll have to kill the nine tails itself."

"Why are you fighting me?" Tobirama queried, "You read my writings, didn't you? Weren't they helpful? Didn't you model yourself after me?"

"I remembered…I merely remembered who I was," Naruto whispered back, "You see, I did, at first, grab a hint of the Heredity project when I bestowed upon myself the remaining eye of Shishui Uchiha, after a nightly infiltration within the Hokage's tower. The scroll was there, ripe to be opened and read. I didn't actually think I'd find anything interesting except the Kage Bunshin…turns out there was far more in there."

"So you read it all?"

"All. And…for a while, the idea was fine." The Hokage muttered, clenching his fists, "Even then, I had grown blind. There is nothing fine in what you were planning to do!"

"So you cleaned the POWs camps, backed away…it's not going to stop me."

"I know," Naruto whispered back, "I know. The Pows, the idea of selecting genetical traits so as to ensure perfection…but I must ask…how long was it, since you last read your own words?"

"What are you talking about?" The Nidaime queried, his eyes narrowing as the crack of thunder became more pronounced around them.

"You wanted to transcend war by making it fruitless and pointless. You turned to the objective at hand and came up with the Edo Tensei as a key point of it. The problem was the requirement for it to activate: somebody had to be alive in order to start the summoning procedure, because it was a required sacrifice."

"By using the prisoners of war, one could with little problems bring back entire civilizations, as long as even a small amount of body was recovered," the Nidaime nodded, "The great knowledge of the past, the greatest minds, the greatest achievements…everything could be brought back, and made immortal and indestructible."

"Yet it had a flaw, didn't it?" Naruto whispered, "You'd have to destroy thousands upon thousands of lives just to save the same amount."

"No, it wasn't that. It was the requirements. You might think that Hashirama is strong, but world leveling? Could he destroy an entire nation? No, he could not. Could he kill an entire army? No, he could not. Could I? No. Could you?" at that, the Nidaime grinned, "The more the generations pass, the stronger they become, the more they overcome the boundaries of the old ones. Genetics at its finest claim that from two distinctive beanstalks, the most predominant traits are the most like to be heredities…so what I actually needed was some way to make the numbers more manageable."

"If you can't work with millions work with dozens," Naruto snapped back, "You began experimenting on the population, unknown by them you used the water source beneath the Senju compound to corrupt the drinkable water, and from there you started working on achieving a new level of default for the shinobi power."

"Indeed," Tobirama nodded, "Chakra Coils were the first part of it. They had to be wide enough after all, to grant the user a chance with overpowering jutsus. From there, I simply worked on making sure the new generations would be born better, stronger, faster, smarter…the Nara clan? A byproduct of mind enhancing spillage. The Akimichi clan? A byproduct of strengthening and mass. The Hyuga themselves are the result of mingling with the Senju and Uchiha Genoma, and the Rinnegan? That I must say…was a pleasant surprise."

"You performed experiments on the population, created the clans and governed them, even though in your writings you claimed the Hyuga had come at the same time as the Uchihas…those were lies."

"Had a look at their charters and the dates of my diaries, didn't you?" Tobirama retorted, earning a scowl back as a reply, "What can I say? I had to be sure: double sure, that nobody would touch my plan that wasn't…selected for the purpose."

"How much of it was a coincidence?" Naruto queried, "Me with your sword and the armor on, saying those words in the library? How much coincidence and how much planned by you…and by the Kyuubi?"

"Coincidences do not exist in the shinobi world," Tobirama spoke, making a 'no-no' gesture with his right hand, "I had to be pretty sure everything would work as expected. I had to make sure you'd follow the right path, mine. After all, I couldn't have you chicken out halfway through. Let me tell you this though," the second Hokage added, "I wanted peace. I still want peace. It's not too late to join my side, you know?"

"Then how about answering me a question? What are you actually doing with the statue? What is its purpose, if you actually don't need it?"

The man's face turned sour, as no reply came back from that mere and simple question.

"I thought...I thought you'd understand me." Tobirama spoke quietly, "Did my teachings not reach you?"

"That they did," Naruto replied, in a low murmur, the Raijin humming at his side, "But even then, I chose my path."

"This will only lead you to despair and sufferance. This will only lead to your fall."

"Then so be it: let it come. I will accept it when it arrives, and I will fight it with all my might…destiny holds no sway over me."

"I see…well, if the truth is something you cannot tolerate, then so be it! You will face it! Face it like those before you, those that will come and those that are here now! There shall be no peace, until darkness has devoured us all!"

Naruto closed his eyes, taking a sharp breath, before shaking his head.

"I refute those words! I renounce that theory! I am not your second coming!"

"You can try…but too long have you walked in the darkness, Naruto…too long have you followed into my footsteps. Too long have you acted like I would have done, too long have you been me…there can be no other outcome, no matter what you do!"

The wind blew through the charred land that had witnessed the fight between the Yondaime reborn, and Nagato.

Now silence stretched widely through it, dust being the only thing lifted around the two shinobis, the two so similar to one another to be far more than brothers: more like clones.

"I will still hunt down the Kyuubi," Tobirama added quietly, "And I will take the power of the bijuus as mine."

"I will stop you."

"Your own self is against you, and you have yet to realize it," the Nidaime chuckled, shaking his head.

"Oh no…" the Godaime Hokage replied, in a low murmur, "should I be shocked? You forget: I am your second coming in thoughts, after all…"

Silence came for a moment, before the Hokage finished his sentence, "But unpredictability…that's my forte."

Tobirama's eyes narrowed, as he began to hum a light jingle within his throat.

"So…So…Oh…Well…if that's what it is…then let's see, hum? Let's see if you know or if you just think you know."

And then the clash happened.

The Raijin met a blade of pure thunder, held by the Nidaime.

The sword creaked under the strain and the pressure, as a typhoon roared above the heads of the two similar clad shinobis, who fought to overpower one another.

On one side, a man who had fought tooth and nail for respect, power, glory, who had backstabbed and hit, who had murdered and ordered murders, a man that had walked through the light and the darkness, throughout the entire spectrum of possibilities…and had come out as Naruto Senju, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha.

On the other side stood the peak of the shinobi's world in terms of cunningness, of looking beneath the surface, of betrayals and of masquerading one's own thoughts. The Nidaime, Tobirama Senju, in his immortal body that lived because of the Edo Tensei, and that had destroyed Konoha, and had ordered the destruction of all the other Shinobi villages…for peace.

And yet both danced to the clawed hands of the third one, who looked and chuckled and waited.

Even though his or her body had been destroyed by Mito's Fuinjutsu, he or she just had to wait, and decide. The first one to fall would become _its_ new host. Either of them would be enough to overcome everything else, and _she_…she'd finally be free once more.

Free and complete, like it was meant to be.

*Finale*

"You know you're being used," Naruto snarled, his right fist driving itself through Tobirama's cheek, as the Genjutsu disrupted itself from the attack.

At the same time darkness descended upon the Godaime's eyes, while the Nidaime's left leg snapped at his kneecap.

Twirling on himself, Naruto's left elbow impacted against the opponent's sternum, as a pulse of chakra later he knew where to charge.

"You are the one being bullheaded," the voice came from the left, but Naruto parried a blow from the right. The chakra condensed, before exploding, blinding his chakra senses. As a hit came from above his head, the Hokage disappeared in a puddle of water, emerging right next to the Nidaime's side, tagging him with an explosive note.

The note did not detonate however, as the ink left the paper and stuck upon the Godaime's own armor, exploding and releasing splinters of armor forward. Blood splattered through the air, as Naruto made but a single hand sign, swiftly followed by the hail of blood-senbons that pierced through the Nidaime's own armor.

The man did not as much grunt, since he felt no pain after all, there wasn't a need to. The Raijin activated just in the nick of time once more, parrying what looked like javelins made of electricity. At least, if Naruto actually had an inkling of what they were made like: all he felt was the ozone in the air suddenly increase, and because of that he used the thunder sword to block whatever jutsu was coming his way.

The sword's handle began to crack, and as the blind eyes of the Godaime narrowed, the sword was sheathed once more. Tobirama's hand merely gestured for the water to appear, transform into a lance-like shape, and then be flung through the sparks of electricity that ran through his body.

"Eeny, meeny, miney, mo…four I throw, how many caught?"

"None," Naruto whispered back, as his own hand went through the single gesture for a Kaze no Yaiba to depart from the tip of his fingertip.

"It's pointless," Tobirama retorted, "I have unlimited chakra. Must I repeat myself? You cannot hope to achieve victory. You should just retreat and leave."

"I can still seal you."

"And then I'd be free, if you ever managed that feat. Only I can dispel myself: so why would I want to?"

Naruto stopped to breathe, closing his eyes since darkness was surrounding him nevertheless.

"You wrote with alacrity against the Hyuga using their caged bird seal. Was all that false?" The Godaime asked, his voice rising, "Were your words on the next generation, on becoming the first through construction, and not destruction, all but lies? You wanted to be recognized as the first, and many even now do so! Why did you choose this? Why did you let hatred guide you? It wasn't the darkness that swallowed you! It was you who chose! We are always given a choice! We can _choose_!"

"Choice is but an illusion!" Tobirama snapped back, "You will never understand, will you? Have something precious taken away by the sheer hands of fate! Knowing that you won't get them back, no matter what! You know not of war! You saw it happen, you fought in it, but did you feel the pain of it? Did you lose loved ones? Did you hold them as life left their bodies? Where you told of your children's death? Did you howl in rage among the battlefields, showing no quarter and no mercy!? You knew nothing of _Pain_ but he was your enemy nevertheless! You know nothing of me yet I am the one at fault! You know _nothing_ at all yet you claim you're right! You are _pathetical_!"

"Then tell me," the Godaime hissed, "Tell me and let me know. You think me stupid." Naruto added, "Know thy enemy, and thyself, and no battle can be lost. I know of Pain, of who he was, of what he became. I know firsthand what it feels like to lose someone close to us, I know what it feels to have one's own heart rend out and smashed for the world to see. Half my life was a lie! The other half was controlled! Yet I stand here against you and you don't even ask yourself why!"

"What is it? For the next generation? For a brighter future? For the dream of peace that can't be achieved without sacrifice? Humor me, Blood-soaked Hokage, my second coming, the frozen wave, destroyed of countries and merciless killer. _Humor_ me!"

"Because I'm selfish." Naruto whispered, before clenching his teeth and staring dead ahead, at where he supposed Tobirama was. "I'm selfish, because only selfish people wish for something they don't have. I want peace. I'll never achieve it and I know it. Yet I want it…but peace cannot be achieved through blood, or deaths. Hatred is a circle that can't be broken unless both sides agree to it."

"So destroy one side," Tobirama retorted, "and the other will obey."

"And in the end, you'd be king of nothing."

"Better to be a king alone, than a servant of the masses."

"That's bullshit! Kages are born to protect the village! We are the first and the last line of defense!"

"Against what!?" The Nidaime chuckled, "Against samurais? Isn't the army enough? Against brigands? Thieves? Murderers? Aren't we shinobi that however? We guard against ourselves. We protect ourselves. We claim we are useful, but to what purpose? We live in the shadow and guard those that live through the day: yet is it true? We are born by the selfish desires: you are right on that regard. For money, we kill. For money, we destroy. Point the finger and off we go, murderers legalized! Thievery granted! Isn't it just the little perfect world? Shinobi against shinobi, while Daimyos dance upon their court. And yet…yet when it comes crashing down, we are called for peace, aren't we?"

"That's not what we are at all!" Naruto snapped back, "We are humans too! We bleed and cry, we are not just tools of war and deceit!"

"Repeat it, keep on saying that, and eventually, will it be the truth I wonder?" Tobirama commented with an amused chuckle, "Answer me! You who destroyed a village, you who killed infants and mothers alike, together with kids and mere Genins: how does it feel? Is their blood not enough? Yet you used this entire plot to fight off Kumo, didn't you? Wasn't New Kiri submerged by Itachi? Didn't your student receive orders to fight off Moryo in the swamp? Who told him that? Who told him to prepare for that ambush? Why not warn the others? Why only him? You wanted him to succeed, did you not? While the others failed, you wanted him to rise above the others. As an act of pardon against what you asked Itachi to do. Yet it wouldn't matter anyway…would it?"

"Shut up."

"You are weak, Naruto Senju…or should I say Uzumaki? Or Namikaze? Who are you? A maelstrom, or a fishcake? How can you be the child of the prophecy, I wonder, if Jiraiya never trained you? How can you bring peace to the shinobi world? Aren't you just the child of destruction, after all?"

"I know of the prophecy, the toad told me," Naruto whispered, "And you know the funny thing about prophecies?" He added, soothingly.

"That they always have a way of becoming reality." Two arms bind themselves around the back of the Nidaime, as a white haired figure of clear demonic origin snarled at the sight of the grey haired man.

The Shinigami itself licked upon its blade, before the blond haired man that held the jutsu, and the second Hokage, came into view in a fluttering of his own shinobi robes.

"What…Nagato destroyed you!" The accusation of the Nidaime was met with the mere narrowing of Minato's eyes.

"I know what he did, but you never had all my body, did you? When I did die…I was brought back again."

"Time delayed Edo Tensei Fuinjutsu," Naruto mused, "wins every time. Terminate the Shiki Fuin! Let's get this over with!"

And just as Minato's body nodded, an extremely shrill voice rang from the back of Naruto's throat.

"NO!" the yell, so strong and fierce, was accompanied with a titanic wave of chakra, that all in one bulged through Naruto's chakra coils, as the Kyuubi's presence tried to return within the boy's body, "You blocked me out! But it's not enough! I'm not going to…"

"DO it!" Naruto gurgled, as his consciousness was abruptly jolted from his body, to stare face to face at the Kyuubi's body.

The purple fur seemed greyed out, as the, normally clean and useable room, was cracking and tearing itself apart. The mirrors were all shattered, except one that seemed to be staring straight ahead at the Shinigami. The walls broke, revealing a scene of hell and damnation around them. Deep blue fires erupted from a volcanic eruption-like place. The Kyuubi itself roared, as its nine tails swiped the area, its claws pointed at Naruto.

"You think you can stop me!? You think I'm going to sit here, and watch you destroy all that I worked forward to!?"

"Yang can be grown again," the Godaime whispered, his eyes bulging in realization, "but Yin cannot, isn't that right?"

"You will not condemn a part of me to oblivion brat! Remember my words! You treacherous backstabber!"

"Listen who's talking!" The snarl came at the same time as Naruto dodged a claw swipe, trying to reach for his Raijin, only to realize it wasn't there.

"_Do you wish to be dead?" The Kyuubi replied, "To eternally sleep within the Shinigami's grasp? To never let your eyes open to the light of the day? To be at peace? Forever, and without troubles? Do you seek the escape from a reality of pain, of darkness, of hatred and of despair?"_

Naruto shook his head, the memory assaulting him like a deep blanket, trying to suffocate him within it.

_"I…" Naruto's words died in his throat…what about Kaa-san? She'd certainly cry, blame Konoha, and leave to drink her sorrows away._ **She lied to me, used me. She's no longer even worthy of being called mother.**

_What about Anko? She'd never realize the beauty of Ramen over Dangos._ **We loved her and she betrayed us. We gave her the world and she stabbed us with it. She smiles while we cry within ourselves**.

_What about Itachi? Would he still go on, laughing and smiling, or would he revert back to being the serious and stiff boy the clan wanted?_ **He was the first to betray, the first we forgave. He was used, he is still used. We use him to make him pay, we know it, but we do so nevertheless**.

_What about Jiji?_ **He used us**._ And Uncle Jiraiya?_ **We never even met him!**_ What about Neji, who he had saved from becoming a fate-crap follower?_** We gambled with his life!**_ What about the truth?_** Living one's lie was better!**_ What about Shizune-Oneesan? _**A betrayer like Tsunade! She had to know!**_ What about Kakashi-Niisan?_ **Loyal to the charge, not to the person!**_ What about Yuhi-san!_ **Used us for money!**_ Ibiki-san! _**Betrayer! All for a sick and twisted love!**_ Teuchi and Ayame-chan? _**Wasn't it for the money we brought to that stall?**_ What about Konoha?_** They spat on us when we were weak! They venerate us because we are strong!**_ What about the chameleon summons, that counted on him to kick salamander's ass?_** They wanted us for strength and strength alone! To prove to the salamanders who was boss! They are worthless!**

**Who do you think you are, to claim you're right? You liar, you deceiver, you backstabber, you monster! You claim darkness hasn't swallowed you? You claim you have escaped it!? I'm here! I have always been here! Look into the mirror, Naruto! Aren't we one and the same!?**

The voice came from around him, and yet it was his. He knew the voice. He knew who it belonged to. He knew that, deep down, the voice was right.

"No…" the weak retort was drowned by the fierce roar of the Kyuubi.

"Even your own self is conflicted! You cannot defeat me! I will be free, and I will be whole once more, because I am the _Jubi_! Nothing will stop me, and the world will once more know me! It will fear me, and…"

"_Stop that. Stop doing it. Stop it," she sobbed, "You're father. You saved me, you're kind, you're gentle, you help people without even thinking about it, you helped Neji, you love Yumi, you love the stall girl, you have an insane passion for ramen, you're loved by the people, Sasuke and Neji would die for you, the students you taught come by to speak about their problems to you, they trust you, I trust you, we all trust you and love you and no, I don't want to lose you to your own thoughts. So stop it…please…please just stop."_

**"That's Kakashi," Naruto whispered, "And if one must look underneath the underneath, then answer me: who is my comrade? The people who share my symbol? The people who share my village? Those who share my ideals? Those who share my blood? Those who share my surname? Those who share my hair color, my eye color, my skin color? My comrades are those I choose to be such." **Was that his voice? Were those his words?

"_Being Hokage sucks."_ **Being Hokage opened my eyes, is that the excuse?**

"_You need…" _**TO **_**DIE**_**.**

"_Because, Hinata, tomorrow the sun will rise, the baker will bake bread, the shinobi of Iwa will walk upon the rocky path of Iwagakure's stairs to take a mission from his Tsuchikage, the Kyuubi will snore, the leaves will move because of the wind's breeze, the ground will dry, the water will be drank, the food eaten, the clouds will move unfazed and nothing, nothing at all, will change. Death is nothing, compared to life."_

_Life will always win over death._

_Live with it._

_So do what you think is right, do what you know is right, cry if you think it's worth it, laugh if you think you want to, and never, ever, feel the need to excuse your actions to me, I trust your judgment._

"I…I…get it," Naruto whispered, his right hand jolting forward, chains erupting from within it, "maybe, in another time, in another place, things would have gone differently, but right now…right here, in this moment, you are threatening my family. The ones I love, the ones I trust, the ones I wish to protect. I will stop you until I draw my last breath. I will fight you until I have won." More and more chains began to sprout from the volcanic ground itself, as the nine tailed fox came with its claws inches from smashing Naruto itself.

"If I'm conflicted, I'll smash the opposition!" He yelled, "If I'm afraid, I'll destroy the cause! If I'm in doubt, I'll annihilate the question! I care not to think, when I can act! You make me doubt!? Then be gone! Trust isn't given or taken, it's always there! It's to us to open our eyes and see the truth! No matter how ugly it is, I don't care! You're going down, and if I'm evil, then so be it! If I'm a savior then so be it! I am what I am! I am Naruto! I am…_**ME**_!"

The chains split and divided, as more and more appeared from the sky itself, landing down with the strength of comets, while followed at the same time by Torii gates, that blocked the entirety of the Kyuubi's body.

"You think you can control me? You think you can take me over?" The Godaime snarled, "I'll fight you tooth and nails, I'll fight you until you surrender and shrivel and die. This is my body, this are my actions! I don't care about your influence on me! I'll tear you to shreds! I can live without you! I will live without your powers!" And then, Naruto clapped both his hands together, and the chains constricted while the Torii gates shrank.

Slowly, ever so, the Kyuubi was reduced of size, until Naruto screamed few final words.

"Your lies no longer work on me!"

With those final words, massive gates sprung from the sides of walls made of chains that had erupted from the ground, closing themselves upon the tightly compressed ball.

"_And stay there_!"

With that final warning, Naruto's consciousness returned, finally, to the world.

*Epilogue*

The air smelled of charred wood, when the Godaime finally opened his eyes again. The Nidaime's husk was laying on the ground, next to the Hokage's and that of the Gedo Mazo. Unknown to him, he had unwittingly missed the final stone on the Jubi's tomb.

Tobirama had tried to conjoin with the Gedo Mazo to activate it, but the shinigami instead had outright reaped both his soul and that of the statue together with Minato's own. The result had been the explosion of the statue, and seeing how Neji seemed to be holding him on the side, it was probable he had been knocked back quite a bit.

"Is it over?" Sasuke's question hung in the air, as the Godaime's eyes went to the prone form of Itachi, ankle deep in the riverbed below the valley of the end.

"That depends." Naruto whispered back, "Is it over, Itachi?"

"It is, Naruto." The Uchiha replied, one of his eyes closed, "But Izanami did not work. I couldn't get Hashirama on our side."

"Mito-san is going to be so sad about that," the Godaime retorted, only for a light snicker to echo in the air.

"It is fine, Naruto-kun," the feminine voice came from a strange ink-black portal that had seemingly appeared on the side of the wall. From there, Mito had stepped outside, soon followed by team Kage and Katsumi, of all people.

"I placed an anchor seal here…it was my favorite picnic spot, before someone decided that trashing it in a battle royal was a fun thing to do," the woman spoke light-heartedly, but it was clear she was waiting for something.

"You're free," Naruto commented, uniting his hands and going through the hand symbols to terminate the technique.

With a light nod and a small smile, the Uzumaki woman simply disappeared in a column of light.

"Oniisan," Katsumi whispered, moving slightly closer, on her wobbling legs, "The…the Kyuubi is…"

"It's still here, but I'm keeping him under wraps," the Godaime tapped gently upon his stomach, "Yours on the other hand has been silenced, if I'm correct…now the seal should be more than enough to hold it back."

Katsumi's eyes merely began to tear, before launching herself to embrace her brother.

"Hokage-sama," Shikamaru muttered, being held up by Shino, "Please tell me I'm not going to become Hokage after you."

"Oh. No! I wanted you as Orochimaru's new apprentice…but it appears he's been kill…"

"Please," the slithering voice of the snake sannin echoed from behind their backs, "to kill me would take far more trouble than it's worth." Kiba himself jerked in surprise, as his neck was sporting an outright protrusion that looked similar to a small white snake.

"Gack! Get him off me! Off!" The white snake merely jumped out of the boy's skin, before peacefully settling on the ground.

"Nobody kills me if I can avoid it," Orochimaru added chuckling grimly.

"Remind me of it," Naruto retorted, before a voice piped in.

"Uhm, sensei? Not that I'm bothered that you told Sasuke but not me, but…would you mind explaining?" Neji's question was met with a thoughtful gaze from the Godaime, before the man himself shrugged.

"Sure! But first, let's get out of here, okay?"

"Kaa-san?" Katsumi's worried tone was met with Sasuke and Neji averting their eyes from the scene, as both had, maybe, exaggerated a bit in putting the woman 'down'.

"She's fine Katsumi-chan," Naruto murmured back, "She's not in any trouble at present. You'll be able to talk to her a lot afterwards…for now we have to go back home...and…wait a minute."

It was but an instant, but Naruto was no longer there, instead having shunshin'd back to the top of Hashirama's statue's head.

There, his eyes scanned the undergrowth of the forest, before taking a couple of hesitant steps forward.

"Come out…I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered, extending both of his hands forward and wide.

A small tuft of grey hair appeared from behind a bush, and when a pair of eyes, one green and one blue, met his, Naruto's breath all but stopped for a second.

"Tobirama?" He whispered the name gently.

"H…Hai." The young boy replied.

"I'm…I'm your father."

"Ah…I…I was told…I was in Konoha, but he…he kind of took me here again…" pointing at the still body of the Nidaime, Naruto merely nodded grimly, before moving closer and closer to the boy.

"I'm sorry…" the man muttered, as he got on one knee in front of the little kid, "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"It's okay," the boy replied, "I'm a grown up, I can take it."

"I'm going to hug you now," Naruto simply stated, as his arms wrapped around the boy who merely returned the gesture, "My son."

And in that silence, in the silence following the aftermath of a battle that might have just as well decided the destiny of the shinobi nation, a grown man and a kid…wept of joy.

_The end._

**Author's notes**

**What do Izuna's eyes have to do with everything?**

**The Mangekyou sharingan appears (in canon) to be a key component to free the Kyuubi once it's sealed. Tobirama knew that Madara could control the Kyuubi with it, thus in the frame of time before the Uchiha challenged Hashirama he plucked Izuna's eyes out, de-facto one of Izuna eyes was used in conjunction with the other one from Obito (that Tobirama stole from Obito's corpse after taking on his 'mask') in order to be able to use techniques like Amaterasu and the likes. (Furthermore, to try and control the Kyuubi)**

**Who are the two who brought Katsumi out? One was the Edo Tensei Minato (under Obito's orders) the other was Suigetsu (Under 'originally' Obito's orders, in truth double working for Naruto)**

**Is Itachi alive or dead? Pretty much alive.**

**How will the zombie duo fare against Gelel powered soldiers? They fared pretty well, me believes.**

**Is Konoha doomed to death by the unstoppable Nidaime? Well, it was trashed and destroyed, but the Nidaime was 'expected'.**

**What does Karin's action mean? Karin pointed out who was the most 'culprit' in the game of giving the fault to another.**

**Why is Konohamaru willing to go to Sasori of all people? It's not willing, but remember that Konohamaru was one of the kids 'kidnapped' by Yugito? Gaara did bring them back, but not before Sasori managed to mind-control one of them. That was something Naruto actually planned, (since his Heredity knowledge spans since Shishui's implant of Mangekyou and his nightly visit at Hokage tower for Kage Bunshin)**

**What the frigging hell is Heredity!? Heredity project is, to be specifically explained, the conjoint usage of two factors:**

**First, the increase in power of the shinobi generations, to increase bloodshed, death, and by paramount ways lower the number of persons the second factor is to be applied to.**

**Second factor is the POWs (prisoner of war camps) to be used to outright 'zombify' the population. Doing so makes it immortal, indestructible, without need of sustenance and thus…peace! The only problem would have been the 'sacrifice' for each of them. For that, the Nidaime had (Firstly) thought about using the Jubi, because ying+yang=creation. The removal of memories, swapping with first/second/third head was done because the Nidaime had, at first, thought about instead using the very own 'ancestor' of Sasori's jutsu to modify people's memory. (Which then led Naruto to use said system by analyzing Sasori's, through Konohamaru's lab-rat status)**

**Oh and…concerning Konoha's water…**

**Recall these lines here? **

"**And really, (The age difference between Hinata and Hanabi is of 5 years, yet she's seen sparring against her…at an eight years versus three? And she loses against a three years old? I hope not.) I've seen all types of small kids growing into tough as nails fighters…and I'm always perplexed. ****Must be something in Konoha's water****."**

**The Ploys used, the possible destination this fic could have had, and what happened in the end.**

**The ploys are as follow, please read this carefully if you didn't understand just what happened.**

**Kyuubi's ploy: Whisper in the ear of the Nidaime to get him to take back all other pieces of him, and then become whole again. From there move to destroy the world. Problems along the route: The Nidaime couldn't manage in a lifetime, so the Kyuubi tried to get the Nidaime and Naruto to cooperate, by sending Naruto on the same 'wavelength' of the 'corrupted' Nidaime. Using the Yin tails, she could enter and control other people's dreams and desires subtly. Thus she went about 'corrupting' ideas in order to ensure unification once more.**

**She tried to convince Yamato to change side, as shown when the man gives Hashirama the seven tails without questioning, while in truth it was a ploy (see below). The Edo Tensei Hashirama and Minato, while created by the Nidaime, were also under the Kyuubi's orders.**

**Nidaime's ploy (divided in Corrupted and Uncorrupted): **

**Uncorrupted: Knowing his mind was slowly changing, he realized it had to do with the Kyuubi's influence within him, but could do nothing at the present, or in the decades to come. Seeing a chance after getting the Gedo Mazo, he decided to risk his luck by claiming the Uchihas as Madara (following Obito's own ploy), the need for a purebred Uchiha was because the Kyuubi couldn't be controlled by something that wasn't the Mangekyou, and in the event of his departure, more than one was needed.**

**However, it slowly began to change and become less about 'controlling' the Kyuubi, and more about going onto a different path, the Heredity one.**

**Heredity (Uncorrupted)= It was meant as a way to increase the power of Konoha, through back-handed means that would have made Orochimaru look like a newt, peace would be achieved by superiority of the genetical makeup of future shinobis, and the creation of clans through that.**

**Heredity (Corrupted)= Edo Tenseing everyone in Konoha, using the ****Jubi**** to supply the Edo Tensei Jutsu requirement. Mad as it was, it seemed such a bright idea.**

**Naruto's ploy:**

**Corrupted (comes first): Having learned of Heredity project, seeing the requirements and the notes left behind, having obtained the info from Itachi about what would happen to Kumo and New Kiri in time, he set about Edo Tensei-ing Mito Uzumaki, to bring her on his side. Secretly he warned Sasuke and had Itachi give him the sword of 'sealing' for fighting Moryo, who would ambush them in the swamps. Sending the land of iron into chaos with the destruction of the mountain thanks to a well-placed Kamereon and Shiromari, he used Karin to be sure of who actually possessed the fault. His plan was to later wage war upon the land of iron with the power of the Gedo Mazo, after stealing it from Akatsuki, and becoming the new 'peace-regulator'.**

**Corrupted-Evil=He would have used Itachi to later kill Katsumi, before the ninth tail could be absorbed, thus avoiding the Jubi unification and foiling the Kyuubi's plans. **

**Corrupted-Redemption= He would have sacrificed himself to save the rest. The Nidaime would have been freed from the Kyuubi's grip, and would have proceeded to get his redemption.**

**Uncorrupted= Realizing just how down he had fallen, the plan would proceed like the corrupted version in order to avoid the realization from the Kyuubi, but once separated, through the usage of Yang chakra, he'd balance the Yin with the Yang, in order to grant back the single tail of Yin chakra to the Kyuubi while keeping his own life with it. The seals placed to prevent the Kyuubi's remerging with Naruto fail towards the end, and he is forced to make a stand. Actually knowing what is going to happen, he asks Yamato to play along, handing over the seven tails so that, once the Gedo Mazo is nearly completed, he can use a delay-timed Edo Tensei jutsu to resurrect either himself or Minato, in order for either to use the Shiki Fuin and seal the statue, and Tobirama, in order to avoid the return of the Jubi.**

**Shion, Amaru, Shinno and those who were not presented at first were to be, but I later realized that adding them would have just prolonged the 'agony' of the readers, waiting to see how the story would have ended.**

**(Furthermore, the Amaru-Shinno land of sky thing went nearly the same way, except the No-Tail was trashed, Shinno killed, and Amaru kept to operate the thing for the evacuation part.) Shion was freed from Moryo's grasp, (albeit if you prefer to think of her dead, it's your call) and she went her way.**

**Endings for all!**

**I left the end 'open', but I'm going to give you the usual 'this is how I would have written about, you go your own way if you dislike them'**

**Kushina is pardoned, she gets along with Katsumi but is no longer a part of Naruto's family, (albeit he does tolerate her) the sacrifice of Minato's own soul makes Kushina bitter with Naruto.**

**Katsumi actually marries Shikamaru, of all people (being rescued has this effect). **

**Ayame goes with Kakashi, who's actually alive.**

**Orochimaru (after getting a body he can actually call his) gets along well with Tsunade, albeit he kind of has to look out for strange thunders falling from the sky every now and then.**

**Sakura and Sasuke marry. Go and have fun mentally SasuSaku fans.**

**Karin actually goes with Kiba. (Don't look at me, Kiba *is* kind of a second Naruto when push comes to shove)**

**Hinata is brought back to Konoha. Having suffered severe chakra backslash from the Kyuubi's own removal from her coils, she no longer can use chakra. (This isn't bashing. Original plot was to have her die right there and then) However in the course of years she reverts back to the normal/non-creepy attitude, she gets Sutego back from Orochimaru and raises him.**

**Suigetsu's 'other side' of the deal is Zabuza's sword, that Itachi delivers him after destroying the Edo Tensei Zabuza. (If you'd rather have him freed together with Haku to enjoy a Yandere/Zombie relationship, your call)**

**Naruto slowly becomes a sort of easy-going Hiruzen, but doesn't reach the hyperactivity or the happiness of a normal 'canon' Naruto. Furthermore, when the time comes, he outright seals the Kyuubi within himself, and carries him to his death.**

**Yumi grows up to become known as the 'Apple of Konoha', something to do with Apple-based Genjutsus.**

**Tobirama becomes the Rokudaime Hokage, while Shikamaru after the training with Orochimaru takes on the mantle of snake sage and becomes the general strategist for Konoha.**

**Anko is kind of the 'divorced' wife that still lives with the family. However, lacking the Kyuubi's control and corruption, she slowly comes to term with the fact, and tries to honestly regain Naruto's love. Whether it worked or not is something no-one, but the reader, can decide.**

**Neji actually gets accused from Tenten of peeping one too many time, and the two go along from there onwards.**

**Then there's Ino-Shino (don't ask) if you want, or otherwise forget about pairing everyone up.**

**Yamato's daughter (who was Yumi, actually) comes to term with who her parents are, but still goes with both.**

**Konan will be later seen banding together the ragtag groups of shinobi that survived all the 'village' exterminations. They would finally enter Konoha as a whole, and through the destruction of the shinobi borders, peace would at last come by uniting everyone under a single banner: Konoha's. (A and Mei were against it, in principle, but mellowed after realizing they actually had no home to return to)**

**Final Words.**

**At first, my idea was to make a bitter Kyuubi who's only purpose was to be killed in a sort of exemplary suicide, because 'the price of immortality' is loneliness. Then I realized that the other Bijuus would still be around, and thus changed it to a Kyuubi who wanted to be rejoined to the others and would lie her way all throughout the plot in order to get there.**

**Really Final Words:**

**If, by any chance, some piece is still 'not' clear, do not hesitate to ask. I'll pm you the reply without problems or maybe outright write a final chapter with the answers. As with most of my fics, the ploy works but I'm unable to render it openly, because after all, the more one rants the less I find the battle actually to have a sense. (I kind of stretched it a bit with Tobi versus Naruto and the others, but even then)**

**If, by any chance, the chapters get corrected/edited, then maybe, maybe, this chapter might be reworked in order to be 'less rushed' and more 'human'. **

**Till then, this is the ending. These are the 'ends', and…I hope you enjoyed it.**


End file.
